Olympic Games are golden

When Salt Lake City scored the 2002 Olympic Games, locals cheered. It meant Utah would be put on the map.

This week, when the citizens of Sochi, Russia, were granted the 2014 Winter Games, the Russian people cheered as well — not because the Games would put Russia on the map, but because it could put the nation on the right map — the map that lists all the countries that are seen as progressive, idealistic, capable and good citizens of the world.

In short, the Olympic Games are a gold star on the forehead of any city — and country — that hosts them. It's a very exclusive club. Gaining the Olympics puts a place into rarefied air, up with the ski jumpers themselves.

There's a reason, of course, that being host for an Olympics is more prized than, say, playing host for the International Poker Championships or other world events. It's because, more than an event, the Olympics are an ideal. Part of that comes from good marketing, of course; but part of it is the fact that when so many distinct competitors from so many nations and so many walks of life can get together and fill two weeks with skill, strategy, drive, desire and passion — without killing anybody — it speaks well of humanity.

The Olympics are special because the athletes who compete are special — coming from diverse backgrounds, but holding similar dreams and playing by the same rules. Russians, looking to shed their image of corruption, clueless political machinations and workers tipsy on vodka because of the hardships, wanted desperately to get the Winter Olympics to show the world they can be a light on a hill as well. It's why South Korea, China, Mexico and dozens of other countries have lobbied long and hard for the privilege of getting the Olympic Games.

The benefits don't always pan out as planned, of course. People still wrangle in Utah over promises made about the effect the Games would have here, but Salt Lake City wouldn't trade those 2002 Games for the world. They were a shot in the arm for a small, Western state capital looking to move ahead.

Now the Russians hope to benefit from that same lift.

We wish them well.

And we welcome Sochi to the club.