The 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games arrived in Los Angeles this weekend, with plenty of fanfare welcoming the 6,500 athletes and representatives from 165 different countries. While the Opening Ceremony – which included appearances by the likes of Michelle Obama and Justin Bieber – ran without incident, it was a much different story just four days before.
Athletes descended upon Los Angeles Tuesday from various origins around the globe, only to be met with confusion and discomfort. Flights from Norway, Mexico, Venezuela, Kenya and the Cayman Islands were delayed, and after those countries’ representatives finally made it to Los Angeles International Airport, they were stranded, forced to sleep on the gymnasium floor of nearby Loyola Marymount University.
The situation was such a disaster that the Red Cross had to provide aid, in the form of 1,200 blankets, 3,000 bottles of water and food, which resulted in fights over the insufficient supplies.
What’s done is done, and the city should apologize. But an apology isn’t enough. The city needs to take a good, hard look at its preparation and learn for the future. Plans need to be developed, back-ups need to be secured and, ultimately, Los Angeles must be smarter and kinder the next time around.
As a major metropolitan location, Los Angeles is often in the mix in regards to hosting large events. The city made the shortlist for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games before losing out to Boston, clearly proving that Los Angeles is respected as a host location.
Massive logistical miscommunications like the one that occurred on Tuesday night should be prevented and will not be tolerated. Further, the events of Tuesday night call into question Los Angeles’ ability to host these events, since the city couldn’t provide basics such as transport and accommodation.
Delayed flights, which are a common occurrence, are no excuse.
What heightens the level of failure is the fact that many of these athletes require accommodations and other resources that could not be provided for them upon their arrival. Some ended up sleeping in cardboard boxes in attempt to achieve some level of personal space. The idea behind the Special Olympics is inclusion and equality, and this level of disorganization failed to provide that.
Los Angeles officials are no stranger to coordinating this many athletes, as 6,829 participants arrived for the 1984 Summer Olympic Games, which was also partially hosted by UCLA. While that event was not without its problems – 14 communist countries boycotted those Olympics in retaliation for the United States’ boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympic Games in Moscow – there were little logistical hangups despite the larger amount of participants.
Other sporting events such as the X Games, which drew crowds of close to 92,000 in 2013, also successfully avoided any disasters like the one last week. In other words, Los Angeles officials are well used to hosting large-scale sporting events, and the fact that they fell down on the job during the arrival of hundreds of Special Olympics athletes is unacceptable. Those in charge should have prepared for every eventuality, which clearly was not the case.
Luckily, the Opening Ceremony – as grand and spectacular as it was – went off without a hitch. And it appears that the World Summer Games have moved on. But the city shouldn’t.
These athletes came to Los Angeles to compete and be celebrated, not to spend the night on a cold gymnasium floor. Los Angeles should apologize to those athletes involved and learn from its mistakes.
Did a 6th grader write this? And spend more than 10 minutes on it?
You guys know the city of Los Angeles had nothing to do with this, right? The Special Olympics is a nonprofit that rents their own buses, and they didn’t rent enough that night.
whoaaaaa, you mean nobody fact-checked this?