The Winter Olympics is well underway. As I watched the athletes compete in various events, something arose in my mind.
The Olympic Games is arguably the largest sporting event in the world (the only competitor for this title is the football World Cup). So sometimes I found it astounding that the responsibility of hosting the Games is given to just one city. This means that a large number of venues have to be built in the host city leading up to the Games. Getting around town during the Games can be a nightmare. After the Games are over, the taxpayers of the host city are left with a huge bill and venues with little future use. Since a number of Olympic events in recent Games are already being held far away from the host city, perhaps the IOC should consider awarding the Games to a country instead of a single city? The host country would assign various events to different cities based on currently-available venues, to be upgraded if needed. The opening and closing ceremonies can even by held at different venues and the torch relay can continue within the host country throughout the Games. (The cauldron may become optional because of this, but I am sure that the cauldron would remain.)
By awarding the Games to a country, the honour of hosting the Games would be felt throughout the country. The cost of hosting the Games would be spread out throughout the country. The construction cost may even decrease since suitable venue for more events are often already built. Back-up competition venues would be readily available in case problems arise. This would result in fewer White Elephants. The burden of hosting the Games would not be carried by just one city. More people can experience the Olympic Games close to where they live. Traffic problems due to Games-related activities would be less severe.
This suggestion would likely take away some of the intimacy of the Games — athletes would have fewer opportunities to meet people participating in other events and attendees would have to travel further to attend multiple events. Since the events are more spread out, the cost of attending the Games would also likely rise. To solve the cost (and travel) problem, viewing areas, with big-screen monitors and free/low-cost seating, can be set up at public squares or parks within each city hosting Olympic events so that both visitors and residents can follow out-of-town events live. Having multiple cities hosting Olympic events would cause disruptions in more cities, but the impact in each city would be at more acceptable levels. Athletes' village can still be built in various host cities, but in smaller scale. Video conferencing equipment can be set up at each village so that athletes and officials at different villages can still "run into" each other.
I am sure the IOC would consider this suggestion outrageous, but I will throw it out in the hopes that someone smarter than me can find ways to make this proposal work in practice.