What a fantastic summer of sport we have experienced, that seems to be heading into a great autumn with The Ryder Cup, Premier League Rugby, ICC World 20-20, Premier League Football, World's Strongest Man and the climax to the most unpredictable F1 Championship in years.
As vehement critic of us hosting London 2012 I have spent the last six weeks explaining that I am not against the Olympics or Paralympics, just that the bid was won on lies and deceit to both the IOC and the British public. Grass roots sports funding has been actually been cut in the build up, the promise of 2 million people freshly involved with sport (a line item deliverable in the original bid) was formally dropped 12 months ago and the 'budget' was actually an all you can eat cash buffet for developers, management consultants, construction companies, local councils, elite sports yada yad yada yada.
For the detail have a look here Olympics Money Breakdown
In many ways this is all old news and certainly there is nothing that can be done about it now, however moving forward there is the 'legacy' that everyone keeps banging on about.
The 'Legacy' seems to be a number of vague promises and a wish list of things that would be great. Those items that had £ signs attached to them were all miraculously delivering sufficient returns for London 2012 to turn a profit for GB Plc
These promises appear to break down into a few main areas, so let's see how we are doing against these targets
- Increased interest and uptake of 'grass roots' sport (Olympic Bid) - Funding actually cut for grass roots sport, government commitment for 2 million extra people to be involved in sporting activity formally dropped over 12 months ago.
- £750Bn increase in consumer spending during the games (VISA - Olympic Sponsor and the only card you could use to buy your tickets) - Retail spending fell over the weeks of London 2012
- £20Bn boost to the UK economy (David Cameron) - As above, also London showed a reduction in business activity during the games, people actively kept away from the city. Small British businesses were prevented from benefiting from London 2012 due to over strict policing of the Olympic trademark by LOCOG. No significant investment or commitment to invest has been received in ANY area of commerce as a result of London 2012. Time will tell
- Regeneration of the area and increased affordable housing (Olympic Bid) - Nice park, swimming pool, velodrome, railway and stadium. Reports already that the locals will be priced out of the 'affordable housing when it is available, and lucky you West Ham it looks like you'll get a stadium that effectively will need re-building (probably at our cost) to be an effective football arena.
- "Promoting community engagement and achieving participation across all groups in society through the Games" WTF??? - Actually speechless
- Increased acceptance of people with disabilities - Don't patronise me or them.
As a fan of sport and sporting excellence, of course I have enjoyed the Olympics and Paralympics. Who can fail to be impressed by hard working, dedicated and talented people at the top of their sport, performing beyond their personal bests and creating drama and excitement that lift the spirit?
There is no sarcasm here at all, I will remember 'Super Saturday' as one of the greatest sporting occasions I have seen, along with Ian Botham's 5 wickets for 1 run at Edgbaston in 1981, Damon Hill winning the F1 championship 28 years after his father, Johnny Wilkinson with 'that' drop goal, Paul McGinley holing the winning putt for the Ryder Cup in 2002 and Andy Murray winning the US Open last night. We all have our favourite sports, moments, heroes, villains and inspirations.
And that is precisely my point, sport is leisure and entertainment and should be self sustaining, if enough people are interested in a sport it will be publicised and financially supported by sponsors and TV companies. Minority sports are just that, I am involved in the sport of Strongman ( #projectstrongman ) we have no 'grass roots' funding, lottery backing and struggle for sponsorship even though over a million people watch World's Strongest Man every Christmas on TV with 2 Brits in the top 4. The point is we don't expect taxpayers' money we choose this sport and do what we can to fund it.
Athletics is a minority sport, FACT more people go fishing than compete in athletics. My daughter is an aspiring athlete, she was before London 2012 and she will be afterwards. Her club will be slightly busier for a few weeks whilst the jonny come latelys come and try different events and decide that it's actually hard work day in day out, year in year out and go back to their playstations.
Parents will still taxi, scrape together for memberships and equipment and support their children towards their goal and that's the way it should be. Sport is demanding and enjoyable but ultimately selfish, we all choose to participate (or not) in sport. So why should any sport expect government funding, my tax £'s and especially the £9 / £11 / £23Bn (delete as appropiate) that London 2012 cost, could have been far better used to regenerate areas around the country not just the East End of London. Or maybe providing adequate rehabilitation facilities for injured servicemen and women, or education, or healthcare, or provision for the elderly who's pensions have been mismanaged and cannot afford proper care.
Sport (Definition)
1.
a. Physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively.
b. A particular form of this activity.
2. An activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively.
3. An active pastime; recreation.
So it's been a great summer of sport, they usually are if you love sport. There's Tennis, Football, Rugby, Tour de France, F1, Cricket, Strongman, Table Tennis, Cross Country Running, Triathlon, Horse trials, X-Games, Boxing, Martial Arts, Powerlifting and pretty much a sport for anyone. Not just the summer either, sport is big business and year round we all enjoy it and pay for it, personally I would rather pay for the ones I support not have my money spent on my behalf.
Toast and celebrate the successes of London 2012, but the bill is extortionate, the hangover will be painful
Promise this is the last time I will mention London 2012
