Winter Olympics in Review

"Every subsequent city has a desire to outdo the previous one. It's a runaway train.
"There's a lot of civic pride at stake. So civic leaders -- so-called fathers and mothers in the business community -- they take a lot of pride in their city hosting the Games and welcoming the world to their doorsteps. They just want to put on a great show and they're going to do whatever it takes to impress not just the spectators, but also the global media who come. They have to make a big splash and they have to spend money."
Curt Hamakawa, former director, international relations, U.S. Olympic committee

PHOTO: Alexey Nikolsky/AFP/Getty Images  

Montreal, Quebec in 1976 was proud host to the Summer Games. It took Quebecers until 2006 to pay off their $1.5-billion Olympic debt. "After 1976, hosting the Games was not so attractive anymore", he observed. They became virtual white elephants", he remarked of even a megalopolis like Beijing struggling to find a use for its magnificent stadia once the Olympic torch moved onward. The city's 100,000-seat Bird's Nest National Stadium built for the 2008 Games became impossible to fill.

What rescued the games eventually from bankruptcy was the advent of corporate sponsorships and, said Mr. Hamakawa, "This is the model that has been in place ever since."

"The facilities we built were not going to be Taj Mahals", then chief of staff for the 1988 Calgary Winter Games said. "We looked around at Montreal and the 'Big Owe', and now the nonsense that is going on in Russia ...  We were never out to build monuments. We set out to create good, functional facilities that could host the Olympics. If they remained and could be part of that legacy, that was great, but if they changed into something afterward, that was fine, too." Departments that went over budget, said Mr. Love were "sent to the woodshed".

"Money has driven awarding the rights to the Games. Who in their right mind would have put the Games in Sochi, otherwise? It makes no sense. I'm convinced that what drives them is money. The sponsorships get bigger and bigger. The entertainment packages get bigger and bigger. The TV rights get bigger and bigger. Everything gets bigger and bigger and it's just gotten out of hand", sputtered Bill Rathburn, a veteran security consultant involved in preparations for the 2006 Atlantic Games.

For the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, $1-billion was spent for security costs, and it was paid for by the federal government. Sochi's proximity to Chechen extremists make that venue a far more attractive target for terrorists than any other previous Games site. "You can't find a better opportunity to embarrass Russia or Putin than if they commit a terrorist act [in Sochi]. It would have an incredible impact around the world", Mr. Rathburn said.

"I think it would horrify people around the world. I think it would cause a lot of people to realize the exposure that's created every few years. There would be a tremendous process of re-thinking the feasibility and desirability of having the Olympic Games", he concluded, if a terrorist act turned out to be successful from the viewpoint of Islamists' jihadist agenda.

Labels: Islamists, Olympic Games, Russia, Security, Sports

posted by Pieface @ Monday, February 03, 2014