by Colin Horan ‘21

The Olympics. The greatest spectacle of international sport the world has ever seen. Covid-19 may have led to the cancellation of the 2020 Tokyo Summer games, but it has also put the future of many of the United States’ teams at risk. It is breaking news when a college football game is cancelled or a big-name player tests positive for Covid-19, but at the same time hundreds of smaller Olympic feeder programs are being disbanded and not a word is mentioned of it. 

More than 350 collegiate sports programs have been dropped in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, with an overwhelming majority of them being Olympic feeder programs for such sports as track, swimming, fencing, or any other sport that does not have a major professional league. These programs, although numerous, do not bring in the same revenue as sports like basketball and football, so they end up being the first on the chopping block when tough decisions need to be made.

Colleges dropping so many programs has the negative short-term effects of hundreds of athletes losing their sport, but there is a less obvious consequence that may take years to fully appreciate. Take for example Stanford University, which despite having produced 270 Olympic medals and 27 alone in the 2016 Rio games, dropped nine programs that include rowing, men’s volleyball, and fencing.The cut programs are responsible for 24 of the 270 medals, and will end up leaving 136 potential Olympians without a university team. Or Clemson dropping its track team, which alone has produced 10 Olympic medalists, including three bronze medals, two silver and five gold medals. Cuts like these have been occurring all across the country, which could leave the United States’ Olympic team in poor shape heading into the 2021 Tokyo summer games and beyond. When a college program is dropped, not only are the student athletes affected. For every athlete, there are multiple staffers, coaches, trainers, team doctors that have just lost their job. So not only are thousands of athletes losing seasons, but there are many more having their lives upturned when a team is disbanded. Many of these coaches will look elsewhere for work, potentially depriving future Olympians and their teams of mentors, leaders and coaches.

The largest issue that will eventually arise from programs being dropped is the disincentivization of Olympic feeder sports. With the majority of cut sports being sports such as tennis, swimming, rowing, or track, colleges have clearly established them as low-priority programs for universities. By doing this, colleges are sending the message to young athletes that these are the sports that will be dropped in any attempt to minimize losses. This may unintentionally push athletes away from the aforementioned programs, as student-athletes could choose to stay away from playing sports where their teams will be the first on the chopping block. The cutting of these programs may not have an immediate impact, but when it does the consequences will be severe: the loss of future Olympians.