The Olympic Games. The largest international sporting competition in which the world's best athletes compete from all over the world to win medals for their countries. The Olympic Games have been a global tradition since the 8th century BC, but they have done little to benefit our species. Every time we hold a Games, our resources are abused in order to create the Olympics we want. Huge sums of money are used to build venues and manufacture medals, which only leads to countries hosting the Games falling into debt afterwards. There are only rare cases where countries make money from hosting the Olympics, but most of the time the debt they incur takes years or even decades to repay. You might ask why are we having the Olympics if there are huge downsides to it? The answer is that we want pride in our countries, however temporary it may be. Knowing this, we can say with certainty that the Olympic Games are not helping us grow as a species. Many people would wonder if the cost of the Olympics is worth it. Billions of dollars are used to make the Olympics what they are, and a lot of money is spent on making medals and building arenas for sporting events. Arenas also require a lot of money to maintain during the Olympics, as well as afterwards if they need to be recycled into sporting event centers. Creating housing for athletes also requires several millions, even if it is only used as housing for athletes for a few weeks. A lot of money was invested in things like housing, but there were numerous complaints from everyone who resided there, claiming that most parts of the building were incomplete or malfunctioning. The original budget for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi was twelve...... middle of paper ...... by How likely are you to die doing them - SportsPickle | SportsPickle. (nd). Accessed March 2014 from http://www.sportspickle.com/2014/02/winter-olympics-sports-ranked-likely-youd-dieHow much is an Olympic gold medal really worth? | For victory. (nd). Accessed March 2014 from http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/02/gold-medal-worth-sochi-olympics/Did the Sochi Winter Olympics really cost $50 billion? A closer look at this figure. - The Washington Post. (nd). Accessed March 2014 from http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/did-the-winter-olympics-in-sochi-really-cost-50-billion-a-closer-look-at-that-figure /2014/02/10/a29e37b4-9260-11e3-b46a-5a3d0d2130da_story.htmlSochi, the most extravagant Winter Olympics ever | olympic games | DW.DE | 06.02.2014. (nd). Accessed March 2014 from http://www.dw.de/sochi-the-most-extravagant-winter-olympics-ever/a-17411857