Just because someone sacrifices their lives to do something doesn't inherently make that valuable - there is no society in the world where that is true.
There's a significant argument to be made that the Olympics were originally setup to demonstrate who was the greatest in the activities of the day, and the activities now are no longer relevant.
Classic Olympic events are not much more than stylized version of military training for Hoplite warriors. We may not do the Hoplitodromos[1] any more, but the running, jumping, throwing, lifting events go straight back to infantry training in antiquity.
I understand what you're saying. However for the Olympics, in which you're representing an entire country, with tons of money flooding in, should the athletes not see some of that? I don't see this as any different than professional sports. You could easily argue that Olympic level is above Professional, and a FAR greater commmitment.
The answer is simple: Don't take the deal. Do something else with your life. Until enough people do that, nothing will change.
I see it as a lot like "game programming"; the reason why game programming is the cesspit of our industry is that too many programmers become interested in programming because they played a lot of games and want to make them, thinking that making games is somehow more fun than other sorts of programming. Consequently whereas most people trying to hire programmers report having a hard time finding candidates, the big games companies have people busting down the doors to get in. Whereever you get gross labor oversupply like that, you're going to get the same treatment of labor.
The truth is that the athletes are replaceable cogs. Entire countries can drop out of the Olympics and the Olympics just go on anyhow. Athletes have even less leverage. Find a different dream, or pay the price. There's not much alternative; the odds of the Olympics being changed to pay athletes even a living wage are very, very long. The economics just don't favor it.
This isn't special to the Olympics; this is a general life principle. You get a set of options in life, with probability distributions over the costs & benefits... you don't have all that much power to change the choices. (Sometimes you can "make your own", in some sense, but you don't get much power to change the existing ones. Not... quite... none... but I wouldn't bet much on that.) You need to deal with that, because nobody is going to rescue if you choose a choice that involves costs you didn't really want to pay.
The only thing you're doing is redirecting blame to the athletes, which is the reason this article was written. Clearly athletes know they aren't getting into this to get rich, but I don't think it's unreasonable to provide some type of standard pay that is more than what a kid can make mowing lawns. Farm team players for baseball get paid six figures, and there are a zillion people below them that would play for half.
Sure, they are replaceable, but so are you and most everyone else on this planet. That type of attitude is why things like labor unions were created. To protect themselves from shortsighted remarks like that. Also I don't think there is a "gross labor oversupply" of Olympic level athletes in the world.
The "no one is forcing you to do anything" argument is completely tiring. You hear this for just about everything now, especially in the gaming industry, where companies are finding new ways to release half the product, for twice the price. People are allowed to complain, that's how things change. You don't just go around saying WELL THEN DON'T BUY IT. Maybe we WANT to buy it, but the circumstances are terrible, thus the complaints. But I suppose you've never complained about anything in your entire life. You just accept what you're given, because no one is forcing you to do it.
"But I suppose you've never complained about anything in your entire life. You just accept what you're given, because no one is forcing you to do it."
No, I lived my advice. When I was in high school, I took a sober look at my "dream job" of somehow composing music professionally, realized my talents and skills didn't put me in the requisite top .001% or so to make a decent living at, and switched to something that still brings me great satisfaction, while also letting me make a living. Everything about the subsequent 20 years has convinced me that was a great decision.
The problem with your post is that while you're collecting the emotional feel-goodz of saying something you think virtuous and enjoying the brief frisson of attacking me for saying the badthink, you're offloading the costs of that rather brief and fleeting pleasure onto the Olympic athletes and their significant privations so you can say that. I find it morally abhorrent for people to take brief pleasure in saying things and feeling morally good about it at the cost of other people having to pay the costs of living good chunks of their life in poverty. (See also advocating college while sneering at the idea that one should obtain a marketable skill from it.)
Stop idolizing the Olympics, and people will stop sacrificing their lives to it.
And think about what you're really asking people to do before spouting mindless rah-rah "Follow your dreams!" stuff. It's not consequence-free.
Trust me when I say this, I do not idolize the Olympics, in fact I hate everything about sports in general. I'm looking at this purely as an outsider, and what should be a reasonable compensation for any line of work. Yes, this IS a job for these people.
That's fine that you didn't even attempt to pursue your dreams, but these people ARE the top .001% who made it, and they still DO NOT make a decent living at it. That's the point.
The fact is: roaches get baited, mouses get trapped. Try not to be a cockroach is what jerf is saying. Follow your dreams are fine but dont be a cockroach for someone else's Olympic bug park. Unfortunately these kids are their own worst enemies. Like you mentioned, no union, no bargaining. Just a lot of expendable roaches that are unfortunately ruining it for eachother and competing in sports games with eachother, ironic.
I don't think it's fair to expect most high schoolers to be as clear headed as you were. Many Olympic athletes train since they are kids, before they even know what .001% means.
Given the current popularity of mixed martial arts competitions, and the profitability of professional fighting, I'm surprised that they haven't brought back pankration with IMMAF amateur rules.
There's a significant argument to be made that the Olympics were originally setup to demonstrate who was the greatest in the activities of the day, and the activities now are no longer relevant.