Helene Elliott: Olympics lose their way through grotesque growth and small-minded leadership

BEIJING — My introduction to the Olympics occurred in a quaint town in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York. You might have heard (or seen a movie) about the U.S. men's hockey team pulling off a stunning upset at Lake Placid in 1980 and confirming the power of believing in miracles.

In the era before the internet or cellphones, Lake Placid was a charming but isolated place with a main street named — what else — Main Street. There were few ways to know the dramatic impact the hockey team was having on the outside world