Essay on London 2012 Olympics and Risk Management

Ever since its inception in 1896, the Modern Olympics has hosted an invisible sport: politics. The Olympics calls for “a halt to all conflicts … [and to] strive towards a more peaceful world,” but politics soon spoiled its biennial message. “As the Olympics continue to dissolve into … a political competition … they no longer … justify the time and trouble,” Dave Anderson, Pulitzer Prize winner for his sports column, wrote in the New York Times in 1984. The Olympic spirit has routinely been used as an outlet for political agendas. With political and Olympic ambitions intersected, the great international sports festivity negatively affects all nations involved.

As a sporting mega-event, the Olympic Games have numerous social impacts on the people, not only on those from the host country, but on individuals all over the globe.

The Olympic Games are recognized globally by billions of people. This event is the biggest sporting event not only because it comes once every four years, but also because the world’s best athletes come together to compete for world fame and glory. Hosting the games seems like an honor for most people, however there is numerous risks involved

When Washington University hosted the second Presidential debate on October 9th, estimates predicted a final cost upwards of $5 million. The cost is high by any means, however considering the event lasted one night and security only had to be provided for a few thousand, one can only fathom how such costs compare to other events such as the Olympics. By far the largest sporting event in the world, the summer Olympics specifically are a three-week affair in which tens of thousands of athletes, trainers, journalists, and tourists converge into one gigantic human melting pot. Unlike the Presidential debate, colossal new venues needed to be constructed. So did improvements in infrastructure as well as housing for the influx of travelers. The sum

According to International Olympic Committee documents (International Olympic Committee, 2007) and some previous Olympic bid documents (Cashman, 1984; Stevens, 1999; Woodhouse & March, 2010), it is difficult to definite the Olympic legacy due to the multidisciplinary and dynamic. But in general, the Olympic legacy is something left and have a long term influence to the Olympic host city or the state or country after holding the event. Legacies could be tangible and intangible, positive and negative, direct and indirect, intended and unintended, or measurable and not. Moreover, the content of Olympic legacy normally divides into five categories: sporting, social, environmental, urban and economic. However, most of the research and report are emphasis on the positive and tangible legacies, the negative legacies content could be more than above.

Hosting the Olympics can be a very lucrative and smart investment for a city, as well as a very stressful event that can turn out to be more than you may have bargained for. The London Olympics had over 10,000 athletes in attendance and generate over 14 billion dollars. But London didn’t simply make 14 billion dollars, have a fun historic event and walk away. They spent practically the same amount and only came out with about $18.2 million in surplus. Considering the experience the city had and the history it brings to London, it seems that in 2012 it was an excellent

When there is a huge event where over 8.8 million tickets are sold, security is a big deal; the safety of all the people at the event matters, terrorism needs to be avoided. There were a couple terrorism threats just weeks before the 2012 London Olympics that shocked many, it was mentioned in article, “The threat of a terrorist attack has been in the news in recent days after seven people were arrested in operations for terrorist activity, though none were related to the Olympics” (Riccobono). A couple weeks before the Olympics, there was another case, where three men were arrested due to terrorism threats at a house just a mile away from the Olympic Park where the big games were being held (Watson). 5 days before the article by Traci Watson on USAtoday she mentioned that a man in a neighborhood bordering the Olympic park was arrested due to terrorism threats, he had attended a terrorist training camp with links to al-Qaeda. In the Guardian newspaper

One day in 776 B.C. the Greeks decided to honor the God Zeus with competition and sports.In 1894, the games were resurrected in a modern setting. The olympics have expanded in size, events, stadiums, and athletes since then. From 12 nations, 206 athletes, 60,000 spectators, and 43 events, to 206 countries 11, 237 athletes, 2.3 billion viewers, and 306 events the olympics have changed greatly. Since 1896, the changing of the world has influenced the events, places, and arenas in the games.

The year that London hosted the Olympic games, multi-sport event. London was in the running to host the Olympiad against 4 other top cities including Paris, New York, Moscow and Madrid. Each city wanted to host the Olympics to help strengthen its image and gain high visitor numbers. London pitched their reason as to why they should be chosen due to aiming at the younger generation, regeneration of cities, and idea to build world renown venues. Once London was picked to host, London wanted to choose Stratford specifically as the location to regenerate. The area had potential to be a great place for the visitor numbers due to the games, however it needed some work. It was a very disadvantaged city (5). After the games, London had boosted its economy by receiving revenues of 2.41 billion. The organizing committee for the London 2012, LOCOG made payments to BOA of 5.3 million

Winning the bid for the 2012 Olympic Games by London city has brought the hope for regeneration of the entire Lea Valley in East London which can bring about the biggest urban development witnessed by Europe in the past 150 years (Coatler F 2004). In the year 2003 City of London was bestowed with the honour of being the host for 2012 Olympic Games. It’s easy to win the bid for hosting such a massive sporting event however the planning and development which is needed for successful execution of the games takes a lot of hard work and effort. The execution and planning involved behind the stage is a good measure of the host country’s capability and is put forward in front of the whole world to judge (Morgan, M. 2008). The London Olympics were successful primarily because of the flawless collaboration between the International Olympic committee and London Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic games (LOCOG) with its numerous partners and stakeholders. (Tramantano E , Bishop J , Jones G , Miller A).This even showcased the significance of

Over many lifetimes the Olympic games have been a symbol of the most prestigious sporting event in the world. Throughout time the games have evolved from two events to two hundred. Along with the events, the athletes and vision of the games have changed as well. This paper is going to show the changes for better or worse of the games.

It is known that the biggest Security company “G4S” singed a contract with the organisations of the Olympic games in London 2012. They were making sure that during the Olympic games everyone will be in safe, there were a security check and special technologies checking all the language. The G4S company was a secret guard during the night as well. On land, there were around 12, 500 police officers, some of the with semi-automatic weapons who were making sure that there were not accident and violence. It is known that there was check in everywhere. What is more, to ensure the tranquility and the safety of the Olympic games the Ministry of Defence of the United hired another 18, 200 troops. The security on the Olympic games in London 2012 was almost double than the solders in Afghanistan in order to prevent accidents. In the water, The Royal Navy's HMS Bulwark security was making sure that all the participants will be in safe, preventing the event from terrorist threats and attacks. The security in the water was on boats and jet skis, which made easier the control of unexpected actions. Safety in the air was assisted to numbers of the RAF Typhoon fighter planes which were circling the entire

As mentioned earlier, it was not an easy job to estimate and control the cost of the Games, Armitt and his team had to check the expenditures every day. The cost of many infrastructures, such as stadium had doubled from the previous estimation. The stadium was original bid at £280 million, but the final cost was £496 million. And the cost of the Aquatics Centre had a massive increase up to more than doubled from the original bid. These budget estimation gaps happened because the team rushed to get the proposal done before the deadline, in order to submit to the IOC. They wanted their proposal to receive more attention than the other potential host cities’ proposal.

This is estimated to generate an additional two and a half billion dollars in tourism exports (Arthur Anderson/CREA,1999, p 2). The Olympic games have also provided an important boost to employment. The Olympic Co-ordination Authority(OCA) estimates that more than 35,000 people have worked on Olympic Co-ordination Authority construction sites since the first project at Homebush Bay was started. It is estimated that since the Olympic Co-ordination Authority was formed in 1995, over twelve and a half million hours have been worked on Olympic related projects. There will also be multiplier effects. According to the Olympic Co-ordination Authority, every job created on a construction site created two more off site for suppliers, material producers and transport workers. (Olympic Co-ordination Authority,1999, p5.) The Olympics also boosted North South Wales’ employment by 5,300 in an average year of the 12 years representing the Olympic period. In addition 2,200 jobs were created outside North South Wales over the same period (Arthur Anderson/CREA, 1999, p3).

First of all, the first modern Olympics were held in Athens, Greece, in 1896. The man responsible for its rebirth was a Frenchman named Baron Pierre de Coubertin. Today, the Olympic Games are the world's largest pageant of athletic skill and competitive spirit.