Author: Jason Gewirtz

The situation involving the U.S. swimmers who appear to have fabricated their story of being robbed in Rio de Janeiro has no doubt struck a nerve with Rio 2016 organizers. One of the many issues leading into the Games was the notion of security not just for the athletes but for spectators as well. And […]

Sponsors have long sought to use the Olympic Summer Games as a way to boost their presence in the host city. But in Rio de Janeiro, Cisco has been taking the prospect of South America’s first Olympics as a way to boost its business across the entire host country of Brazil. Tucked away in a […]

Merchandise is a big part of the Olympic Games, especially once the official logo and mascot are revealed. That’s no different in Rio de Janeiro, where two “megastores” have been erected to sell official merchandise—one in the Olympic Park, and the other on the beach in Copacabana. But if you’re looking to bring something home, some […]

Rio de Janeiro is a big city, let’s just get that out of the way. And while we’re speaking about things out of the way, the Olympic Park is not exactly close to all those landmarks you see in photos of Rio de Janeiro like Christ the Redeemer, Copacabana Beach and Sugarloaf Mountain. As a […]

The view of the Olympic Summer Games can often be different from the other side of the world. Leading into the 2016 Games in Rio, coverage focused mostly on things that have or could go wrong. In the city, there have been issues for sure. Athletes initially had complaints about the condition of the Athlete’s […]

After several days of events, one trend that is hard to ignore at the Olympic Summer Games is the number of empty seats. This issue has come up in years past, including in London, with regard to the lower-bowl seats most in view of television cameras—those reserved for Olympic “family” members and sponsors that sometimes […]

When you talk to International Olympic Committee members or U.S. Olympic Committee executives, the talk eventually comes around to the Olympic “movement” and its power to inspire. And while the logistics of the Olympic Summer Games can amaze (in good ways and bad), there are nights like last night that make it hard not to […]

It may have been be a hot day in Rio de Janeiro at the Olympic Summer Games, but for an hour or so on the beach at Copacabana, the 2018 Pyeongchang Organizing Committee was already thinking winter. What, you’re not ready for some luge and curling after watching a week of swimming and gymnastics? Well, […]

LA2024 officials held a briefing in Rio de Janeiro to discuss their bid for the Olympic Summer Games and the message they were sending without explicitly saying it was that Los Angeles would not have nearly as many problems for the International Olympic Committee as Rio has had concerning infrastructure. That’s because only one venue […]