<p>The Olympic Games are a massive sport and marketing event that create significant revenues for the International Olympic Committee. The Olympics are a platform for the world’s most accomplished athletes from an array of sporting disciplines, but they also arrive with a slate of ingrained negative externalities: overspending, intensified policing to protect the spectacle, displacement of marginalized populations, greenwashing, and corruption. Another challenge facing the IOC is an uptick in athlete empowerment expressing itself as athlete activism and advocacy. This article is comprised of three sections. First, I summarize the multi-pronged crisis that the Olympics face in the 21st century. Second, I critically assess how the IOC has attempted to resolve this crisis, concluding that the group’s aspirational proposals and frameworks designed to assuage Olympic partners and entice fresh bids in the face of declining interest in hosting the Games fall short in a number of key areas. Third, I conclude by offering good-faith suggestions for how to pursue alternative paths rooted in social justice, environmental sustainability, and democratic practice.</p>