[mtrpcic]

It might be a vain metric in the aggregate, but to an individual, the people who are passionate about their sport and have worked nearly their entire lives to become the best at it across the entire globe, it's an accomplishment that is nearly incomparable.

[derefr]

Maybe we could have our cake and eat it too: award medals privately. In fact, do all the scoring privately. All the public (and the countries) get is a spectacle. If your country so much as runs a news story afterward about what kind of medal your guy came back with, you’re banned from ever coming back to the Olympics. Only the participant gets to know how they did.

(Yes, this is prima facie ridiculous. But also kind of fun to imagine.)