A desultory discussion has broken out again about the Olympics legacy. Comments
range from one miserable view in today’s Times that ‘the Orbit should
be taken down and the stadium razed’ to Lord Moynihan’s (responsible for
the British team at the London Games) sceptical, if political,
prediction last year that ‘the 2012 London Olympics will fail to deliver
any lasting sporting legacy for most young Britons’ to various
specialist journals who are less pessimistic about the impact on their
discrete sectors.
The first excellent legacy will be the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The
plan is that, by next year (or the year after), the Olympic Park will
become an exciting new visitor destination and community park. It will certainly look good, if it is properly maintained. And
it will hugely benefit the people of the area and be attractive to
visitors, no doubt to foreign visitors, for some years to come. But it is a major commitment maintaining such a huge area (560 acres). I
visited the 1970 Osaka Expo (a sort of commercial Olympics) Park a few
years back to see the site of one of the most successful British
promotions. Sadly, the park is now a bit derelict. But the proposed usage of the London park, and the overseas interest, suggests it will survive.
The next obvious legacy arises from the commitment to ‘Inspire a Generation’. Some
effort (if not massive funding) has gone into a school sports promotion
and the signs are that young people in Britain have indeed been
inspired – there are reports from up and down the country of increased
memberships at boxing gyms, archery ranges, athletic clubs, etc and
reports of major sales by bicycle shops. There was also a recent survey which found that 5m more adults had recently signed up to sports clubs too. This
legacy was of course the pledge that won the Olympics for Britain, but
it was made with no evidence that I am aware of that Olympics do in fact
inspire anyone to do anything (except watch more television). The
Sydney Olympics of 2000 has apparently had no such legacy, since
Australian athletes won fewer medals this year than athletes from
Yorkshire. The feel-good factor
of both the general euphoria at these Games and the pride of the success
of Team GB has though it seems inspired many.
As
we struggle with the Olympic hangover (described by one blogger as
picking out iced gems biscuits from a dish after someone has eaten all
the icing), and in a country beset with obesity in every age group,
maybe even the immediate interest in exercise and health is good news
and legacy enough. Of course the
adults may have been less encouraged by the toning as by the salacious
undertones of watching a succession of finely honed, semi-naked bodies
for two weeks. But even that’s a start.
However, apart from the Olympic Park, it’s clear to me that inward tourism will benefit enormously from the London Olympics. Security
is good after all, the transport works after all, it doesn’t after all
rain all the time, the people are wonderful; why shouldn’t foreigners
pour into London next year? The
Olympic period has apparently not been brilliant for shops or hotels,
although I remain unconvinced that anyone visiting for the Games would
stay or shop in Central London anyway, so any hopes of such a bonanza
may have been misplaced (pricing may also have had a bearing here), but
London theatres seem to have done particularly well in the last two
weeks. And it appears that the
Paralympics are also set to be a success too – all advertising slots on
TV during the Games has been sold, all ticketed event are sold out. I’m
not sure how much Paralympics I will watch; I will watch the start, but
somehow feel awkwardly voyeuristic (in a different way from when I was
watching the beach volleyball intently and over and over of course).
The
longish debate before the Games started over this question of legacy
hinged primarily on whether the Games would actually offer a return on
investment and lift Britain out of recession. I
felt at the time that this was a sterile debate; I don’t think the
intention was ever that hosting the Olympics would make a profit and
provide an immediate boost to the economy. Any effect was always going to be long-term. And the economic forecasts are not bright, particularly with the Eurozone going backwards.
There
was a temporary construction boom of course and unemployment has gone
down also in the short term, and there is some optimism in the business
world that companies will feel confident enough or will feel that the
populace is now self-confident enough for them to expand employment. And
we have seen companies showing growth, Land Rover Jaguar for example
have just introduced a three shift round the clock employment to cope
with burgeoning demand. And,
once sponsor-imposed advertising restrictions are lifted, engineering,
construction, design, etc companies in particular feel that they could
benefit from the Olympic venue showcase.
The Olympic Village owner is also introducing creative selling/letting plans which should help first time home owners. This
will be of particular benefit to Londoners, since so many first-time
buyers seem to want ‘affordable housing’ near Central London.
The
blue Union Flag segment of Team GB has also become something of a hit
around the world too and has been turning up on fashion clothing, bags,
etc. I’m not sure whether any royalties are paid for this, but the interest in the brand is a plus.
And perhaps that’s the most important legacy. Our confidence and patriotism will not have gone unnoticed around the world. Coupled,
as I say, by evidence that all is well with British infrastructure,
this will encourage a new wave, or reassure an old one, of investors in
Britain. Our system of free
market enterprise depends vitally on companies investing in the country,
both through M&A and green-field start-ups, as well as the
employment of British expertise in a range of sectors. The Olympics has been one of the most successful investment promotion campaigns we’ve ever had. And
this comes at a time, not of British desperation, but of the faltering
of the Eurozone, accompanied by unrest, notably in France, Greece and
Spain, but even in Germany, as economic measures bite. Britain must look a good bet in Europe at the moment.
And perhaps the surge in self-confidence and renewed pride in our nation, as it is today, is a legacy to be proud of in itself. I
have seen many comments from members of the public which encourage me
in this thought, several from those who have seen the patriotism of
immigrant athletes or the camaraderie of different nations’ athletes,
and even comments from immigrants about how proud the Olympics made them
(including from one who had always thought Madness’ Our House was an
anthem of skinheads and racists, but hearing it at the Olympics opening
and closing ceremonies now sees it as an inclusivity anthem). And
one has to say that the very natural way in which athletes and
performers from all ethnic backgrounds have represented Britain in the
last two weeks has been quite remarkable (or maybe I mean not
remarkable?). All this makes one feel that multi-culturalism does have a place in a peaceful world. What a legacy that would be! (Of course Peter Hitchens takes the opposite view of international competition. But that too only encourages me in my view). Wouldn’t
it be wonderful, if the sight of a united kingdom encouraged divided
nations – N and S Korea, Israeli and Arab, Syria, Ireland even, to put
aside their differences? OK, sorry, that was a bit of daydreaming there for a second.
But
it is true that the foreign athletes and the foreign spectators
returning to their own countries will be the best ambassadors we could
have. They had great time, they loved the people, they loved the country. And
maybe the appearance of Iranian athletes at the Games (despite the
threatened boycott) and of Saudi women (despite criticism at home) will
have reassured some sceptics of the harmlessness of such gestures.
But,
one has to say, I still have this sneaking suspicion that the whole
Olympics programme may just have been one massive political ploy to
convince Scotland that it is better off joined inextricably to England
in a sort of Team GB. In the present wave of mass euphoria, Scottish Ministers must now begin in earnest their campaign for Scottish independence. Who will now listen? Can this have been the Government’s first shots across the Scottish bows? Anyway that’s a whole different question. But even Andy Murray has shown that he is not after all a miserable git and has clearly now been adopted by English spectators. The Olympics has, if nothing else, shown one thing – that anything is possible.
Hi Neil.. so.. what is the matter with this picture? Its bland,, I'm confused.... LOL.. all there are is words.. have you not finished with anything?? no background at all..
ReplyDeletehttp://babsonthego4.blogspot.com
Is where I'm at..
Babsy...