Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s Spanish drama series, ‘Olympo,’ takes us into the cutthroat world of sports, where young athletes are pushed to their physical and mental limits, and the only question that remains is how far they are ready to go to get what they want. The story takes place at the Pirineos High Performance Center (HPC) and focuses on a range of athletes from swimmers to runners to rugby players to cyclists. Over the course of eight episodes, we watch the characters break a sweat, a few bones, each other’s trust, and their own spirit in the quest to become Olympic-level athletes. In the end, however, they are all faced with an ethical and moral dilemma that truly tests who they really are and, more importantly, what they are ready to become. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Olympo Plot Synopsis
At HPC Pyrenees, several athletes prepare to be selected for the Olympics. Before that, however, they fight for the sponsorship given by Olympo, a clothing apparel company that gives the athletes a stage and the means to get to the next level of their game. Amaia Olaberria has been preparing for this sponsorship her whole life. However, she discovers that some athletes at HPC indulge in doping to enhance their performance. She believes that her best friend, Nuria, is one of those people, especially after the latter delivers an extraordinary performance and then suffers a serious health problem following it.
As Amaia tries to dig into what is really going on at the academy, several others, like newcomer Zoe and one of Amaia’s best friends, Roque, are pulled in by Olympo after they are offered the sponsorship. The stress of trying to find out what happened to Nuria, who seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth, and seeing everyone else around her succeed while her own performance suffers leads Amaia to a breaking point. While she tries to expose Olympo, she loses her boyfriend, Cristian, as well as all her friends, and this isolation eventually puts her on a very dangerous path.
Did Amaia Take the Drugs?
Since she was young, all Amaia has done is work hard to become the best at HPC. She has given her entire life to the sport, which is why she cannot stand it when others around her get ahead through illegal methods. Throughout the show, we see her trying to get Olympo’s bad practices out in the open, but she seems to fail at every turn. Eventually, Zoe, Cristian, and Roque see the truth and decide to report Olympo for pumping them with illegal drugs that don’t show up on tests. They wait for Amaia to show up at the meeting the night before the Federation makes its decision on whom to approve for the Olympics. However, she never shows up.
Her friends get worried when Amaia is nowhere to be seen, primarily because they believe that something bad has happened to her. But then, they watch her perform a duo with Nuria, which is shocking because they know Nuria is already on Olympo’s drugs, which means that her performance is exceptionally heightened. No normal person, no matter how good they are, can match Nuria’s performance, unless they themselves have taken the same drugs. So, when Amaia goes toe to toe in the duo, it becomes clear that she has also accepted the drugs from Olympo.
Why did Amaia Accept Olympo’s Offer?
While it is shocking to her friends, especially Cristian, who broke his ties with Olympo because of Amaia, it isn’t entirely surprising. Even as she discovers the truth behind the company’s shady performance-enhancing practices, she realizes that this is the Goliath she cannot win against, no matter how much she tries. And try she does. She tries sneaking into their compound and tries to get incriminating recordings, anything that can prove what Olympo has been doing. However, she keeps failing, and they keep winning. Meanwhile, she keeps missing practice, and this starts to show in her performance, which keeps getting worse, which means more pressure from her mother.
Meanwhile, Olympo keeps an eye on her, and they wait for her to come to her breaking point. When she tries to weasel her way into the duo after Fatima’s timely mishap, they plan things such that Nuria is made the captain of the team, and instead of Amaia, she chooses another player. This completely breaks Amaia, as she finally realises that no matter how hard she works, it won’t matter if other athletes get a leg up on her through performance-enhancing drugs. It is not fair, but Nuria points out that sport has never really been fair. She convinces Amaia that no matter how hard they work, they will never be able to get to the level of athleticism exhibited by their opponents, who are superior to them because of natural advantages. This leaves only one thing for them: to find their strength from someone else.
The fact that Amaia goes AWOL after this and appears the next day, right next to Nuria, proves that she has been broken down and has accepted Olympo’s sponsorship as well as their drugs. The look of glee on the faces of Olympo’s people and the look of shame on Amaia’s face, especially after she meets eyes with Cristian, proves that she has crossed the very line that she was so desperate for others to uphold all this time. She has fallen further than others because she claimed to be the torchbearer for all things ethical in her sports. However, this victory comes with a price.
Does Amaia Die?
One of the reasons why Amaia didn’t want her friends to take Olympo’s drugs is that she was worried that the side effects could end up claiming their lives, which is what she thought had happened to Nuria. She didn’t really understand how the drugs worked, or why they didn’t show up during ADA’s test, but having seen Nuria fall dangerously sick because of it, she knew that sooner or later, the drugs were going to have an adverse impact on whoever took them. She most likely thought of this when she agreed to let Olympo pump her with their drugs, but at the time, she would have been under too much pressure to think about the future. All she could see at the time was her own failure to match the Olympian-level performance she’d worked so hard for all these years, and more importantly, her mother’s disappointment, which is what had been pushing her all this time.
When she takes the drugs, the performance turns out exceptional, and she and Nuria pass with more than flying colors. It is clear that they are to go for the Olympics, but with the way they perform, everyone can’t help but think that they have an actual shot at winning gold. But then, as they walk out of the pool, Amaia starts to feel dizzy, and she falls into the pool unconscious. The first thought that comes to mind is that this is exactly what happened to Nuria, too. The drugs helped her push through her boundaries, but they took a toll on her, leading her to have something akin to a heart attack. Most likely, Amaia suffers from the same thing. However, it could also be the anxiety of facing her friend after having done the very thing that she warned them against.
As Amaia falls into the pool, we see her alone with no sign of help, but with all the people around her, it is unlikely that no one will rush to get her out of the water. Because she is a major asset for Olympo now, they are not going to let her die so easily. If she is suffering from the same thing that plagued Nuria, then her sponsors will most likely put her on the same thing that they used to bring Nuria back to life. It remains to be seen how she reacts to this development and what she decides to do next.
Will Olympo be Exposed? What Does Zoe Give to Yolanda?
The desire to expose Olympo’s dirty secret begins with Amaia, and for the most part, she remains alone on this journey. However, by the end, Zoe and Cristian become wise to their sponsors’ deeds after witnessing the effect of the drugs first-hand. Initially, Zoe does not believe in Amaia’s allegations, but when she is taken into the heart of the facility and is told to take the shots, she realizes that Amaia was right all along. It isn’t just the fact that she will be drugged up, but also her own fear of needles that keeps her from getting the shot. Eventually, she decides not to go forward with it and proves herself by winning the race without any drugs.
Her refusal to comply with Olympo’s demands puts her in breach of contract, which means that her sponsorship is terminated. This doesn’t faze her because before she left Olympo’s HQ, she managed to sneak out a vial with the blue liquid that is pushed into the athletes. With this proof and the testimony of three people (herself, Cristian, and Roque), it seems that the case against Olympo is strong enough. However, when she discovers that Amaia has finally given in to their manipulations, she decides that she is done waiting. She immediately goes to Yolanda, who is in charge of the drug tests by the ADA, and gives her the vial.
What kept Olympo’s drugs from showing up on usual drug tests was the fact that they were much more refined and were constructed to not show up on any tests, not even blood tests, unless someone knew what to look for. The doctors confirmed that there is a residue that can show up in a test, but it is very specific, and a person has to be looking for it to find it. Because the ADA has no idea what to look for, they do the usual tests. It allows Olympo’s athletes to walk scot-free. However, with Zoe providing Yolanda with the vial, the ADA will finally know what to look for, and this will allow them to weed out anyone who has ever had the drug in their system. This means that things are going to get very difficult for Olympo pretty soon, and its downfall has already been written. It is only a matter of time.
Read More: Where Was Olympo Filmed? Shooting Locations of the Netflix Show
