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The Olympics - London 2012

Bus-Conductor

SC Supporter
Oct 19, 2004
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Is anyone else not a little concerned that just in team funding the average medal cost uk tax payers £4.5 million to achieve. This was just the government funding. A total of £264 million (which represented much less than 10% of total funding I believe) of public money was used to fund the competitors.

To host the Olympics cost £10 billion of public funding. Are we really going to reap some tangible legacy from this ?

I understand how important it is for kids to do sport, but surely we could have spent a fraction of that on improving facilities, participation, coaching and employment within sport - particularly grass roots sport - and still had several billion left over to spend on equally/more deserving public causes.
 

nightgoat

Well-Known Member
Sep 12, 2005
24,604
21,898
I understand how important it is for kids to do sport, but surely we could have spent a fraction of that on improving facilities, participation, coaching and employment within sport - particularly grass roots sport - and still had several billion left over to spend on equally/more deserving public causes.

It's the athletes and their success that inspires the kids to want to use those facilities though. You can build a fantastic community athletics track, but wanting to emulate Jessica Ennis or Mo Farah is what will bring a large number of kids to that track.
 

Bus-Conductor

SC Supporter
Oct 19, 2004
39,837
50,713
It's the athletes and their success that inspires the kids to want to use those facilities though. You can build a fantastic community athletics track, but wanting to emulate Jessica Ennis or Mo Farah is what will bring a large number of kids to that track.

Why does it have to be English Athletes though ? English kids are rarely inspired most by English footballers. How many kids are going to want or have the opportunity to be hockey players ? We spent 15m of tax payers money and finished with a bronze. Inspiring ? How many Athletics tracks could we have built, then spent money on good coaches and good community publicity to attract people ?

I understand the "inspiration" argument but I just think what's the point of spending all that money at the front end and then having fuck all to spend at the grass roots level on the inspired kids ?

What about the £10 billion spent on hosting it ? Our kids could could have watched it in another country and had the £10bn spent on them and/or improved the housing and infrastructure around Stratford any as well.

NO ?
 

nightgoat

Well-Known Member
Sep 12, 2005
24,604
21,898
Why does it have to be English Athletes though ? English kids are rarely inspired most by English footballers. How many kids are going to want or have the opportunity to be hockey players ? We spent 15m of tax payers money and finished with a bronze. Inspiring ? How many Athletics tracks could we have built, then spent money on good coaches and good community publicity to attract people ?

I understand the "inspiration" argument but I just think what's the point of spending all that money at the front end and then having fuck all to spend at the grass roots level on the inspired kids ?

What about the £10 billion spent on hosting it ? Our kids could could have watched it in another country and had the £10bn spent on them and/or improved the housing and infrastructure around Stratford any as well.

NO ?

It shouldn't have to be English athletes, but I would imagine for the most part it is. Football is different due to the sheer saturation of it (and that England are shit) at both domestic and international level. You would expect the average 12 year old to know who Messi is, who Ibrahimovic is, who Neymar is, but if you'd asked them prior to the Olympics to name a non-English track and field athlete other than Usain Bolt they would probably have struggled.

A lot of Olympic sports only really get any sort of coverage at international level where there will more than likely be a British competitor to support. How many kids do you think watch domestic club athletics as opposed to international competitions?

Take road cycling, for example. How many kids do you think watched it during the Olympics and said to their parents 'I want to be like Bradley Wiggins' and how many kids do you think said to their parents 'I want to be like Alexander Vinokourov'?

Also, beware the £9.3bn price tag hung around the Olympics, largely by its detractors in the press. That figure includes the cost of other infrastructure projects which were already planned but were brought forward so they would be finished in time for the Olympics.
 

yanno

Well-Known Member
Aug 1, 2003
5,857
2,877
Why does it have to be English Athletes though ? English kids are rarely inspired most by English footballers. How many kids are going to want or have the opportunity to be hockey players ? We spent 15m of tax payers money and finished with a bronze. Inspiring ? How many Athletics tracks could we have built, then spent money on good coaches and good community publicity to attract people ?

I understand the "inspiration" argument but I just think what's the point of spending all that money at the front end and then having fuck all to spend at the grass roots level on the inspired kids ?

What about the £10 billion spent on hosting it ? Our kids could could have watched it in another country and had the £10bn spent on them and/or improved the housing and infrastructure around Stratford any as well.

NO ?

YUP.

Still, at least we'll get a little cash back from the G4S clusterfuck.
 
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