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The Winter (Olympics) of Discontent · Mark and Pete

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  The Winter Olympics of discontent.
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  Yes, this is Mark and Pete, 2 blokes with half an opinion.
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  Now here's our first thought. Thrills and chills.
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  The Winter Olympics brings skating rings, which gives all
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  the skiers A thrill. But perhaps it's time to achieve
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  harder things like going backwards and uphill Yes, it
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  would make it far more exciting. I'm sure it would do.
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  But there is a serious side to this.
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  Well, the Winter Olympics um, this is the games that's taking
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  in uh, Milano Cortina 2026. It is without any doubt, I think
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  one of the most exciting sporting events on the calendar.
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  But there is a sinister side to this yes, why that is and that's
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  the future of the Olympics itself.
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  From a winter perspective, there are rising temperatures that
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  have led to insufficient snow levels with more snow, small
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  competitions cancelled year on year.
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  This has meant that obviously people are cancelling their
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  holidays, they're cancelling the event, and this is a concern for
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  the International Olympic Committee.
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  Mr. Pete, I ask you, can you tell me, is this something that
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  is a concern because of the climate change that we've seen
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  and the mass amount of information that's come from
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  scientists, politicians and many others?
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  Or are we just seeing that really the games are on a
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  slippery slope? It's nice to put you.
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  Well, the lack of interest in the Olympics as as well as the
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  Winter Olympics, the whole concept of it.
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  I see seen this happening over the past few Olympics.
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  It used to be a big event. No longer.
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  I think it's no longer as big as it was.
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  Let's put it like that. I mean, until sometime after it
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  started the Winter Olympics, I didn't even know it was on.
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  You know, someone mentioned it to me.
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  Oh, is that not, and that's it was because of someone
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  mentioning to me I wasn't, I didn't see it in the media at
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  all. And it it's, I think it's not.
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  This is my point I'm going to make.
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  I don't think it's, I think the climate change is, is an excuse.
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  Yeah, you could have lack of snow due if you have warmer
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  weather. Sure, of course that's true.
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  But we know that there are ways to counter out that because
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  there's always been times when you have lack of snow in the
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  winter and you can produce artificial snow.
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  The problem is not that. The problem is that people are
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  losing interest and here's why this is the the definitive peak
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  theory as to why that's happening.
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  I think it's like it's it's similar to the idea of wokeness.
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  It's the all, all the political shenanigans and ideas which make
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  it distasteful. You know, people, people are so
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  divided against each other. Their politics takes over.
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  It's in Olympics. You have Black Lives Matter and
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  other demonstrators taking it over.
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  Then on top of that you have people cheating, whether they're
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  using drugs in the event. In the end, you think I can't be
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  bothered to watch that? I'd rather watch something else.
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  If I want to watch sport, I'll watch a sport that I know I like
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  and that I know they're actually competing properly and I'm not
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  going to have politics shoved down my phone, whatever that
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  sport might be. So I think it's a combination of
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  those things, not the weather. That's the Pete theory.
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  Well, indeed. Well, here's the mark theory,
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  because I think that the Winter Olympics is a great complement
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  to sporting activities such as new events.
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  And we've seen things like, you know, the the new debut of ski
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  mountaineering. We've seen obviously the
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  skateboarding, the tremendous athletics that typically tends
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  to happen in this, the gymnastics that take place on
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  ice. It's quite extraordinary.
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  Anyone who's watched this would recognise the artistry behind
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  it, but also the physical endeavours.
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  I will say do not try it at home folks, because it looks very
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  dangerous. But the fact of the matter is
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  they've tried to invigorate it. They've brought in new sports.
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  So from that perspective I would say that's a good thing.
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  And I know that they've, it's not just about the Olympic
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  Games, they've also brought in World Championships and many
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  other seasonal events that use the, the of ice, the winter side
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  of it. And I think in many ways that
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  that's encouraging because it brings in a fresh sort of
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  perspective. And there are a lot of people
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  who are very much interested in that.
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  And I, I certainly for one, am very excited to see it.
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  I do agree that sometimes these type of events get hijacked.
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  They get hijacked by politics and many other things.
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  On the climate side. I still have a concern over
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  this. I'm not entirely sure that
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  necessarily there is as big a concern as they're saying.
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  I, I think that it's, is, this is not new.
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  If you actually go back through decades of Winter Olympics gone
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  by, this has always been a problem for the Winter Olympics.
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  Does the venue and do the events have enough ice, particularly
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  the open air events? Of course, anything that's
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  indoor you can control, you know, whether it's, you know,
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  ice hockey or if it's curling or anything like that.
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  And so, you know, for me, I think there's enough variety in
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  the, in the sport. But where I think it's gone
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  wrong is they just haven't promoted it.
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  To your point, you didn't know who was on.
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  I had to sort of bring it to your attention.
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  I have been watching it and I will say that, you know, I, I, I
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  admire what the athletes are doing and the sporting
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  endeavours and the competition is, it's very intense.
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  It's very fast in many ways. I think in some ways it's, it
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  offers a little bit more than the normal traditional athletics
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  that you would see at Summer Olympics.
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  I like the fact that they've got it on the calendar, but I think
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  that maybe they've gone wrong a little bit in their marketing.
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  I, I, I think there's enough in there for people to, to gain
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  something from, there's enough variety.
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  But here's the thing then, do you think that sort of when
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  they're selecting this particular event, you know, they
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  start to look at future Olympics, Winter Olympics, that
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  is, is it that maybe they should have more events on the calendar
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  to try and encourage people? But I think it's the TV, isn't
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  it? That if you don't have that
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  media slot, then it's always going to be a problem, isn't it?
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  And let's be honest, you can't have winter throughout the
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  entire season, whereas you can have athletics pretty much
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  anytime. Yes well, I think I think the
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  only you've got to have a real campaign to win people back to
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  the Olympics, including the Winter Olympics.
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  Yes, I I like the Winter Olympics there's and some
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  incredible physical feats. A big fan of the skiing slalom,
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  which is just amazing that they managed to go get such a pace
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  and and making turns going down. So yeah, there's some great
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  events there. I'm not certainly not against it
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  being successful. I would like it to be
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  successful. I didn't know it was on but then
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  I watched started to watch it once it had been on.
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  So once I realised it was on. So it's not that I believe
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  people have lost interest for the reasons that I said and it
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  need people need to be won back and the you can only do that
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  through a successful PR campaign, which includes new
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  media getting people on board with it.
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  What? I think this is a serious point,
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  listeners, I think really they should consider sponsoring the
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  Marc and Pete Show in order to get the word.
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  Out there, but or. Some other lesser podcasts like
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  Joe. Rogan, another chilling.
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  You need, yeah, they need to, they need to have a proper
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  campaign in order to get get, not just get news out that it's
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  on getting people back interested in watching it.
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  There's so much to say in its favour.
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  I mean, people love watching dangerous events.
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  Why not this, you know, So it's, it's and the, and the tremendous
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  skill and the, the strength and the beautiful women in tight
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  costume. But what?
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  What is there not to not to love about the Winter Olympics?
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  Well, I mean coming back to your.
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  Point. Yeah, go ahead.
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  Well, I was going to say, look, what do I think is unusual in
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  this particular case? And this is where I think it has
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  got something which is slightly different is the artistry.
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  So if you take something like figure skating, which does have
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  technical elements to it, but let's be honest, it is also an
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  interpretation of music and so on.
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  So I think that offers something different.
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  And then you've got something like bobsleigh, which is a
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  completely different thing altogether.
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  A-Team sport where essentially you're taking a, a craft down a,
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  a slope and trying to win, you know, obviously the, the, the
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  fastest time and the, this is very dangerous, believe me.
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  And, and then you get to, you know, on the other side of it,
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  you've then got the snowboarding, which in itself,
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  as I've said before, is an incredible sort of athletic
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  event in itself. And to me, I think that the fact
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  that the, the Winter Olympics has such a variety is surprising
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  that the, the viewing figures are not as high or the
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  following. But I come back to the point
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  here is, is that they are limited by season.
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  And that's always going to be a challenge, yes.
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  But I do think that what they need is they definitely need
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  something else to try and maybe bring it together in a way that
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  builds up the momentum. I don't think they do enough to
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  promote it. I do agree with that.
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  And here's the other thing, I can't name the names of the
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  athletes. And, and I think that one of the
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  things that you typically find in other sports, other athletic
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  sports is you can typically tend to sort of name some of the
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  Olympic winners and you follow them.
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  So it's a bit like other sports, whether you have tennis,
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  etcetera, that you you get to know the the characters.
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  I think that this is where the sponsorship comes in.
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  So I think that the the sport is in a good place in terms of its
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  format. I think it's the marketing
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  exercise that's key. Yes, I mean, I agree with you
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  that it's it's not really climate change that's the
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  problem. I would sort of guide the
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  President of the IOC and said, look, this is your opportunity
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  as you say, come on to the Mark and Pete show.
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  This will certainly raise your profile.
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  If not, the only other thing to consider is putting the whole
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  event on ice.