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Editorial The Olympic Delivery Authority has done just that, delivered; it has made sure that the 2012 Olympic venues are complete or are verging on being finished. The problem however, is nothing to do with the venues, the British are always going to beat the likes of the Greeks on venue completion, but unfortunately we lack the key ingredient to a successful Olympics, and that is spirit.
The Greeks are now staring bankruptcy in the face, with daily news bulletins on whether Germany will endorse along with other European member states a whopping 120 billion euros to stave off a Greek meltdown. Despite all this doom and gloom the Greeks are still going to the beach and nightclubs. The Olympic legacy in Greece has been new airports, roads, stadiums, but Greeks are paying for this big time.
Here in London with less than a year to go frankly we could not give a damn about the Olympics, especially after most of us did not even get any tickets to the main events.
We have the infrastructure, the media operation has been slick, but there will be no euphoria, no real buzz for the Olympics and in the build to the Games, we in London will have a nightmare going about our normal life.
The reality is the Olympics were imposed on us in London. Our Council Tax has gone up, our lives have been a misery with the amount of road works, tube upgrades taking place all for 3 weeks next summer.
It’s rich for Lord Coe therefore to claim that the Olympics in London would be "youth-inspiring" when it transpires that very few young people will actually witness the Games because of the inequity in the ticketing system. It’s not right for the likes of Lord Coe to claim that the Games legacy will lead to a greater participation in sport by the young. Where are the figures? All showing drops in participation.
Moreover the 2012 Olympics are at serious risk of mimicking the Atlanta Games of 1996 where many locals discovered that the Olympics was not "a get-rich-quick program," said Munson Steed, who was awarded the contract to market the games. "The Olympics is about economic development of cities' institutions. It's a corporate event, not a common-person event."
The security costs alone in London will reach £1 billion, despite assurances by the Government that they will be capped to £600 million, the increased threat for Irish dissidents has already lead to more security measures in London.
Lets all hope that the 2012 Games will lead to a bountiful amount of gold medals, an improvement in east London that will lead to a boost for the whole of London and more kids participating in sport. In reality the legacy may well be so insignificant that most of us will only remember the “Olympic Lanes” that will cause a nightmare for all central London commutes next summer.
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