WhiteS2k

At one time, the Olympics really frowned on allowing "professional" athletes compete in its games. If an athlete was found to have received payment for anything (and it may not even be related to the sport the athlete was competing in), then the athlete is barred from competing. Now I hear about NBA stars competing in the Olympics (actually for several games now) and I am wondering what the current rule is regarding professional athletes. Whatever happened to the spirit of amature athletes competing against each other?

The Gasman

Coubertin and the IOC intended from the start for the Olympics to be open only to amateurs. Amateurism was determined by adherence to the amateur rule, which was originally devised in the 19th century to prevent working-class athletes from participating in sports such as rowing and tennis. Because the amateur rule prevented athletes from earning any pay from activities in any way related to sports, working-class athletes could not afford both to make a living and train for competition. Olympic rules about amateurism, however, have caused many controversies over the years. Such questions as whether an amateur could be reimbursed for travel expenses, be compensated for time lost at work, be paid for product endorsements, or be employed to teach sports have been raised, but they have not always been satisfactorily resolved by the IOC, leading to confusion about the definition of professionalism in different sports. By 1983 a majority of IOC members acknowledged that most Olympic athletes compete professionally in the sense that sports are their main activity. The IOC then asked each ISF to determine eligibility in its own sport, and over the next decade nearly all the ISFs abolished the distinction between amateurs and professionals, accepting so-called open Games. One of the most visible examples of the policy change came in 1992, when professional players from the National Basketball Association (NBA) were permitted to play in the Summer Games in Barcelona, Spain. Professionals from the National Hockey League (NHL) became eligible to participate beginning with the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.

WhiteS2k

Thanks, Raj, for the detailed answer. So I take it that with the "Open Games", anyone is allowed to compete, even professional athletes.

But then, I don't see how the Olympics can differentiate itself from all the other "professional" sponsored "championship" tournaments such as the NBA playoffs, the various tennis "grand-slam", the PGA tournaments, the NHL Stanley Cup, and so on. Each sport already has its own "championship" competition, so how is the Olympics any different? It would be the same players competing against each other -- except now with some more unknown players from some unknown countries who will have no chance against the professionals.

I think this change will eventually lead to the end of the Olympics as we used to know it.

ICEMAN666

WhiteS2k

Given the number of pros playing in the games (tennis, hockey, baseball, basketball, etc.), we have already seen the end of the Olympics as we knew them. . .

Sad.

Bacchus

The difference is most sports in the Olympics are not "professional" sports. They are also international competitions. There are not many swimmers, waterpolo players, archers, badminton players, etc. that can make a living just in there sport. The most popular Olympic sport is gymnastics and they can't make a living in there sport either.

WhiteS2k

How about something like this: The Olympics will only include sports that do not have "professional" equivalents; as soon as a "professional" competition of the sport is born, the sport is removed from the Olympics. This will eliminate sports like soccer, baseball, basketball, hockey, badminton, tennis, golf, cycling, ice-skating, and so on. Will this help to revive the Olympic spirit of amature sports competition?

The Gasman

YOu'd think the professionals would ruin things, but the professional may eventually get bored like in basketball where the US dream team had less and less a list professionals and got beaten by another country (granted they had NBA stars). Professionals will be the best at their given sport and other countries help their athelets develop like in gymnastics. The olympics should be about the best atheletes. In a perfect world they'd all have access to the same training, but it's not a perfect world. In fact it's far from it!