By Assunta Ng, Asian Weekly
Did you see there were few Asian countries participating in the Sochi Olympics? Well, most Asian countries are located in the tropics. They’d rather go for Summer Olympics — tropical sports.
Kristi Yamaguchi (Photo from Kristi Yamaguchi facebook page)
There were only 89 countries in the 2014 Winter Olympics, which was considered a record high, as opposed to over 200 countries in the Summer Olympics in 2012.
The truth is, only the richer Asian nations, such as China, Japan, and South Korea, can afford to train their athletes for the Winter Olympics. Winter sports cost a fortune in training and equipment.
Former Olympian Kristi Yamaguchi, who won her gold medal in figure skating for America in 1992, said it cost her family over $1 million for her training. The skates are expensive. A figure skating costume by a famous designer can cost more than $35,000. Notice the athletes need to have three new dazzling outfits to compete for the short, long, and exhibition shows. No athlete puts on the same costume during these programs.
And oh, they couldn’t dress shabby for their practice either, as the reporters were watching and photographing. Their practice dresses looked just as stunning. Just to participate in the figure skating Olympics competition could cost over $100,000. That’s not including airfare and hotel.
Take another winter sport like cross-country skiing. The equipment, including skis, poles, gears, bindings, and clothes (jackets, boots, pants, face warmer, helmet, goggles, mask, gloves, socks, and beanie) are all necessary for the competition. The bill for these essentials is over $100,000. How can an Indian, Nepalese, Vietnamese, or Burmese citizen afford to foot the bill?
Read the full article by Assunta Ng, Asian Weekly.
