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Olympics a boost to Britain’s ego, but is it worth it?
Let's try to figure out what Londoners got out of the Olympics before getting carried away with blue-sky thinking about TorBuf 2024, or whatever it would be called.
Are the Olympics, at the end of the day, a welcome distraction or an unnecessary, opiate-of-the-masses sideshow? The organizers of London 2012 must be pleased since one nationwide survey said most Britons found having the world play and and party in the UK soothed their day-to-day stresses.
A new Guardian/ICM poll has revealed that 55% of Britons say the Games are "well worth" the investment because they are doing a valuable job in cheering the country during hard times, outnumbering the 35% who regard them as a costly distraction from serious economic problems.
The commanding 20 percentage point lead comes despite the fact that respondents were expressly reminded of the cost in the survey, and may indicate faith in a beneficial legacy from the Games.
The findings appear to support the thesis of Lord Coe, chairman of the London 2012 organising committee (Locog), that enthusiasm for the Games would be a "slow burn" but would eventually ignite among the British public. Coe will also be cheered that support for the Games, which have the motto "inspire a generation", is strongest among the young and remains high outside the capital. (The Guardian)
[Slideshow: Which athletes have shed a tear or two?]
This came at roughly the same time that politicians in Toronto and Buffalo resumed hemming and hawing about trying to bid for 2024. (Try not to imagine the logistics of, in an age of ever-increasing security, moving thousands of foreign athletes and other visitors across a border; you'll only hurt your head.)
Toronto has pitched the idea of teaming up with Buffalo, N.Y. to bid for the 2024 Games. It's never been done, although the two cities are actually closer to each other than some of the London 2012 venues are to London. Of course, if part of the reason is the national ego boost and appeal to patriotism, how would it work with two nations sharing the costs and the credit? One city would invariably be overshadowed and America doesn't like being second-best.
[Buffalo Mayor Byron] Brown laughed long and hard at the idea of splitting the cost of the 2024 Games with Toronto.
"Believe me, if I had $7.5 billion to spend, I would spend it all in Buffalo and not spend it to bring an Olympics," said Brown.
Still, he praised [Toronto city councillor James] Pasternak for "thinking outside the box" and said he'd be happy to talk if a bid ever got past the idea stage.
Brown, elected in 2005, embraced the proposal as Toronto's acknowledgement of "all the positive things happening in Buffalo," including a $250-million waterfront project that has been one of his priorities.
Buffalo could also contribute its baseball and hockey stadiums to the Olympic mix, as well as an Olympic-class swimming pool, he said. (Toronto Star)
To hazard a guess, knowing the IOC's love of putting a shiny veneer on the world's problems, it is probably jonesing to take 2024 Olympics to Nairobi, Kenya. FIFA already beat it there with the 2010 World Cup (and another in Qatar in 2022, human rights concerns and playing soccer in 50C heat be damned). It's more impressive than going to back North America.
[Related: Competitive fire still burns in former gold medallist Daniel Igali]
As it stands, it seems debt expansion is the only way to stage the Olympics. London's tab was a reported $14.5 billion US. There might come a time when that will not fly any more; part of the appeal of the Toronto/Buffalo idea, as ultimately untenable as it might be, is at least one elected official acknowledged it. Ask the Brits again in a year if it was the right call.
Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Contact him at neatesager@yahoo.ca and follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.
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