The Terry Project on CiTR #35: What is the Olympic Spirit? A debate (Recorded live at BARtalk)

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Design by Arianna Mao/AMS

Design by Arianna Mao/AMS

What is the Olympic Spirit? Is it a celebration of tremendous human achievement? Or are the Olympics merely a $50 billion boondoggle. In partnership with the AMS, we hosted a BARtalk panel on Feb 13th. Four panelists, and special call-in guests.


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Panelists:

  • Jake Wetzel is a former Olympic athlete and a doctoral student at the Sauder School of Business. He co-authored a UBC study looking into the economic effects of the Olympic games on real-estate prices and the urban economy.
  • Margot Young is an associate professor of law at UBC. Her research interests include social justice, human rights, gender and sports.
  • Robert VanWynsberghe is an assistant professor in the UBC Department of Educational Studies. He led the 2010 Olympic Games Impact study looking into the long-term effects of hosting an Olympics event. His report concluded that locals enjoy the biggest benefits of hosting the Games including better transit and facilities.
  • Chris Shaw is a professor of ophthalmology at UBC and has been a vocal critic of the Olympic games for many years. He is also the author of the book “Five Ring Circus: Myths and Realities of the Olympic Games
  • and hosted by Gordon Katic (@gord_katic)

Call-in guests:

  • Councillor Tim Stevenson: Openly gay city councilor who was sent to Sochi by the City of Vancouver in order to lobby for LGBT rights.
  • Senator Nancy Greene Raine: A champion alpine skier and voted Canada’s female athlete of the 20th century.
  • Professor Blayne Haggart: Political Science professor at Brock with a Globe and Mail op-ed entitled “The CBC has corrupted itself by giving into Olympic demands.”
  • Samantha Retrosi: Team USA athlete who competed in the 2006 Winter Olympics and recently wrote an article for The Nation entitled “Why the Olympics are a Lot Like ‘The Hunger Games.'”
  • Professor Victor A. Matheson: Sports economist at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA

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Gordon Katic (@gordonkatic) has been student coordinator for the Terry Project for over two years, and in that time started BARtalk, and the Terry Project on CiTR 101.9FM. A former Ubyssey columnist, and now a student at the UBC Graduate School of Journalism, Gordon is trying to use journalism to tell important stories about global issues.