The Olympic Games. The largest international sports competition where the world's best athletes compete from around the world to win medals for their countries. The Olympics have been a worldwide tradition since the 8th century BC, but they have brought us no benefit as a species. Every time the Games are held, our resources are abused to create the Olympics we want. Huge amounts of money are used to build venues and create medals, only leading to countries hosting the Games going into debt afterwards. There are only rare cases where countries make money by hosting the Olympics, but most of the time the debt they incur takes years, or even decades, to repay. You might ask: why do we host the Olympics if they have these huge disadvantages? The answer is because we want pride in our countries, no matter how temporary it is. Knowing this, we can safely say that the Olympic Games do not help us grow as a species. Many people would wonder whether the cost of the Olympics is worth it. Billions of dollars are used to make the Olympics what they are, and a lot of money is spent producing medals and building arenas for sporting events. Arenas also require a lot of money to maintain during the Olympics, as well as afterwards if they are to be recycled as sporting event centres. Even creating housing for athletes requires several millions, even if it is only used for athlete housing for a couple of weeks. So much money was invested in things like housing, but there were many complaints from all residents that most parts of the building were incomplete or malfunctioning. The original budget of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games was twelve... half of the paper... of How likely would you die doing them - SportsPickle | SportsPickle. (n.d.). Retrieved March 2014 from http://www.sportspickle.com/2014/02/winter-olympics-sports-ranked-likely-youd-dieHow much is an Olympic gold medal actually worth? | For the victory. (n.d.). Retrieved March 2014 from http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/02/gold-medal-worth-sochi-olympics/Did the Sochi Winter Olympics really cost $50 billion? A closer look at that figure. -The Washington Post. (n.d.). Retrieved March 2014, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/did-the-winter-olympics-in-sochi-really-cost-50-billion-a-closer-look-at-that-figure /2014/02/ 10/a29e37b4-9260-11e3-b46a-5a3d0d2130da_story.htmlSochi the most extravagant winter Olympics ever | olympics | DW.DE | 02.06.2014. (n.d.). Retrieved March 2014 from http://www.dw.de/sochi-the-most-extravagant-winter-olympics-ever/a-17411857