Essay The London Olympics

London was not the only option when it came to the 2012 summer Olympics. France was also in the running and was actually pretty close to getting the gig. London won the bidding race with 54-50 votes from the International Olympic Committee. The need of some economic spark for London’s economy may have been the reason why the vote went their way. London’s economy had been stuck in a recession for almost a nine-month period. The question was: “Are the Olympics going to provide a positive benefit for London’s economy?”

London is currently hosting the Olympics this year and in preparation back in 2009 the event was predicted to “provide economic gold at a time of economic need,” however hosting the Olympics is an extremely costly business with the upgrades, new sports facilities, and security that it will cost much, much more than expected.

The Ancient Olympic Games took place during a time of prosperity for the nation of Greece. In fact, they contributed to the success of the Greek Empire. The Olympic Games reinforced the power of ancient rulers, brought peace with the surrounding nations, and created a reliable way to track time. These ancient games have had such an influence, that they are still continued in our modern society.

The Olympic games were an athletic competition help in Greece around every four years from 776 B.C.E. In 776 B.C.E, the first olympics were held in Athens where many competitors clashed during the sporting events. The olympics then stopped in 393 C.E. due to Theodosius I’s orders on stopping the olympic events. Later during 1896, the modern olympics began to take place. The olympics were different from the ancient olympics in that the competition was shaped due to social, political, and economic reasons.

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

Some 3,000 athletes (with more than 100 women among them) from 44 nations competed that year, and for the first time the Games featured a closing ceremony” (History). Since then, the Olympics have been held all over the world including; London, Mexico, Munich, Beijing, Los Angeles and Vancouver. The Olympics continued to be held every four years until 1994 when the Summer and Winter Games began to alternate every two years.

Although the original ancient Olympic Games can be traced back to 776 B.C, Homer’s Iliad indicates they may have existed as early as the twelfth century BC. The Games were then continued for twelve centuries and were devoted to Olympian deities. Olympia turned into the site of these memorable ancient Olympic games that scattered the seeds for the largest global sporting events of current times, the Modern Olympics. The location of the Ancient Olympics is situated in the western part of Peloponnese. The Ancient Olympic Games continued until 393 A.D when Emperor Theodosius I of Rome discontinued them. There were not any more Olympic games for fifteen hundred years before they were resurrected in 1896 in the city of Athens. The man in charge of the recreation of the Olympic games was a Frenchman named Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who introduced the thought in 1894. He proposed to stage the games in Paris in 1900 but representatives, from thirty-four nations were so captivated with the idea that they persuaded him to move the Games up to 1896 and have Athens serve as the host.

"The Olympics are a wonderful metaphor for world cooperation, the kind of international competition that's wholesome and healthy, an interplay between countries that represents the best in all of us,” said John Williams, the composer for theme music for the Olympics (8). The Olympic Games are international sports festivals that began in ancient Greece. The first ancient Olympics can be traced back to 776 BC when people held this religious festival to honour Zeus, the father of all the Greek gods and goddesses. The participants were male citizens from Greece, and these athletes participated in only one event — foot race. Unfortunately, this ancient Olympics did not last forever. The first olympic in 776 BC in Olympia was an significant event

Countries utilize both the vast market and the attractiveness to increase ticket sales, sales in merchandise and tourism in their country. For the 2012 Olympic in London, it was estimated that 471,000 people visited from overseas primarily for the Olympic/Paralympics. ("Visits to the UK for the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympics - ONS", 2013, p. xx-xx) Not only does the country benefit from the ticket sales, but other businesses in the city (Hotels, restaurants, attractions, etc.) will flourish in business due to all the international trades that are occurring. The Olympic also provide jobs since the preparation, and the execution of the event requires a large staff as well as people with different skills. (Performers, construction workers, marketers, designers, etc.) Thanks to the Olympics, the United Kingdom saw a boost of £9.9 Billion ($17,805,486,600 CAD) in trades and investments. ("London 2012 Olympics 'have boosted UK economy by £9.9bn'", 2013) Hosting the Olympics can also make a psychological impact. With the great success Japan had in hosting the 1964 Olympics, (the first Asia Olympics as well as a method of being reaccepted by the rest of the world after World War Two), news that Japan will be hosting the Olympics 2020 significantly brought their citizen’s morale up after being hit with

The Stratford neighborhood is in the Newham Borough on the East End of London with a population of about 17,768, Newham itself having a population of around 308,000 of London's population of 8 to 9 million. The Stratford area is diversely populated with immigrants ranging from West African countries, various parts of Asia, the Carribbean, and from all over Europe. Stratford is the primary retail and cultural center of East London. Stratford is home to Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, where the 2012 Summer Olympics took place. Ever since 2012, Stratford has been on an upward economic swing and is continuing to grow more and more.

The Olympic Games are a set of friendly competitions that bring countries from all around the world together, but many social, political, and economic problems in the past and present including racial and sexual discrimination and apartheid have prevented the Olympic Games from fulfilling their promise to bring countries together.

The legacy of the 2012 London Olympic Games left a lasting impression on the world stage. After all, the opening and closing ceremonies, and the games themselves were an unforgettable experience for millions of people across the globe. However, it was the host city and the British Isles that truly benefited from this monumental event.

Higham (1999) discusses that there are numerous problems, which will be evaluated with hosting an Olympic games such as, development issues, local resident issues, short-term affects, and security issues. In terms of development issues, there is a significant cost dealing with large scale sporting events, and economic benefits are generally received more by big time business interests not the host community. So the host community doesn’t benefit as much as they potentially could by hosting the

Olympic Games, as a global event, any Olympic Games will have a different impact on the environment, society, culture and economy of the host city and country. Especially since the 1980s, with the scale continues to expand, the impact of the Games on the host city and country of more concern. Another important issue will be social communities. For Olympic Games host city, it will has lots of change, like environment, social communities, local economic, etc.… But the host city still got something attractions and cultural staff. For example, Canada Whistler Winter Olympic Games, First, because of economic development, job opportunities increase, leading to increased consumer demand. Second, the Olympic Games will have a great demand for