Professional Athletes In The Olympics

Professionals in the Olympics Every four years, the Olympic Games occur, alternating between the Summer and Winter games. Athletes from all over the globe congregate together during this prestigious competition to compete in their respective sport. Originally, the Olympics started as a way for amateur athletes to compete in their specialized sport. However, the International Olympic Committee overturned the Amateur Rule in 1986, allowing for professional athletes to compete in the games as well. There are several sports that compete in the Olympics that are purely amateur based, meaning they are sports that do not compete to get a profit from their sport. These sports include swimming, gymnastics, and various others. The athletes that specialize in these sports train every single day for an event that only happens once every four years (Davis 1). On the contrary, the professional athletes however, which compete in sports like basketball, tennis, and
This US team was composed entirely of college players, and, “Though talented, they were young and lacked experience in the International style of hockey played in the Olympics,” (Finnegan 1). During the opening rounds of the Olympics, they played renowned teams that included Czechoslovakia, Norway, Romania, West Germany and tied the powerful team from Sweden, resulting in the 4-0-1 record (Finnegan 1). The young US team made it to the semi-final game, where they would have to play the all-mighty Red Army team from Soviet Union, which was the favorite to take the gold medal, after winning the past four ice hockey gold medals. The Soviet Union hockey team, however not technically considered to be professional, was paid for by the army, making them not amateur either. In the semi-final game, the young US team beat the Soviets 4-3, resulting in the amateur team beating the