Over the weekend, in the Washington Post Outlook (Op-Ed) section, came this indictment of the Winter Olympics: Where the Rich and Elite Meet to Compete.
While it is easy to say this, but the Winter Olympics, unlike many competitions in the Summer Games is a sport classification needing--cold weather, snow and ice. The last time I checked, there is not a lot of that in most countries in the world, so naturally those countries with a long history of winter sports will dominate the Winter Olympics. That is no reason to denigrate the games.
Additionally, the Winter games is much more equipment dependent than the summer games. Bobsleds, skis, snowboards, ice skates, all cost money, sometimes significant sums of money. That is not to say that other countries can't afford those costs, but rather are young athletes from warm climates willing to move away from home (at considerable expense) and train for years on their own dime to develope expertise in winters sports. If so, you have the makings of a winter athlete.
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