"It offers pine trees, baubles and the chance to gather around the TV while someone with an RP accent tells us how determined and courageous the British are. The Olympic Games have always presented something of a paradox on one hand, they are the peak of human athleticism, and on the other, they can look like an elite school sports day."
"Is it OK to watch an athlete take a fall? My father cannot enjoy pairs skating, because every time someone is thrown in the air, he's convinced they're going to crack their head open like an Easter egg. The jeopardy of muffing it and falling over is, of course, a key dramatic ingredient in any sport involving balance, precision or, to use the health and safety term, working at height. But it goes double in winter sports, where high speeds meet unforgiving surfaces."
"I accept that, as a sports fan, witnessing injury is unavoidable. But what are the ethics of watching one when it's already happened? After Lindsey Vonn's crash I was forced to confront this problem. For those who missed it live, the full, excruciating footage was right there on iPlayer, and soon I was in the queasy situation of pretending to be interested in the result of the women's downhill when I was really just"
The Winter Olympics are framed as a festive, extra-holiday occasion that mixes peak athleticism with moments that resemble a school sports day. Many events feel familiar and relatable, even to viewers without direct experience of snow or ice sports. Broad, near-comprehensive coverage attempts to explain disciplines to newcomers but cannot answer every question. The spectacle contains inherent jeopardy, especially in winter sports where high speeds meet unforgiving surfaces. Witnessing injury is an unavoidable part of spectating, which raises ethical unease about consuming accident footage, as exemplified by the reaction to Lindsey Vonn's crash and its replay on iPlayer.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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