Just a gold medal?

New York Times:Report: Games Impact “Marginally Positive” on Vancouver

Some view that Olympic is just an event that countries gather to enjoy competing against each other, but Olympic can be seen as a “Marginally Positive” tool which some countries are trying to benefit from.  On the other hand, others think that Olympic “has been mostly unaffected or minimally affected in a negative way.” Overall, the report finds “a very slight positive impact” on Vancouver by the lead-up to the games.

I think that Olympic definitely benefits an individual or a country rather than harming them. For example, it is predicted that  Kim Yu-na, an ice skater who won gold in figure skating with overall score of 228.56, will bring enormous economical benefit to Korea. Korea already loved Kim Yu-na even before the Olympics. She made great results in competitions such as Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, World Figure Skating, and Grand Prix Final even before the Olympics. From the top of my head, I can remember 7 commercials of her that I saw when I went to Korea for summer and winter breaks. Also, she appeared on tv shows or had her own charity ice skating show to raise money for the poor. However, now she won the Gold Medal in Figure Skating, I am expecting to see her 24/7  in Korea. It is estimated that Kim Yu-na earned about 800 mllion won and this has risen to at least 1.2 trillion won ahead of the ongoing Olympics through commercials and tv shows.

Moreover, it has been reported that Kim Yu-na will receive $1 million from Lloyds Insurance Company in England for breaking her preset record which was 207. Her Gold Medal is not just a medal. It will bring more “Marginal positive” outcome than expected. The world is now interested in Kim Yu-na, therefore gaining interest in Korea at the same time. I am excited to see changes that Yu-na will eventually bring.

Therefore, I think Yu-na’s gold medal will bring more demand for  Yu-na as well as Korea, creating a positive shift in a demand curve. The income for Yu-na Kim will increase and if people demand Yu-na from outside of the country, the income for Korea will increase as well.