As the retired basketball star Robert Jaworski once told us long ago, Filipinos bring home balikbayan boxes instead of Olympic medals. Perhaps our continued participation will bring about the reforms in sports that we need. For the host country Japan, it would be no small feat just to keep people safe and healthy. Some 65 percent of the Japanese wanted the games canceled or postponed again, according to a recent poll there.
And at least , Japanese signed a petition to scrap the event. The final decision, though, was unsurprising for that hardy nation. Remember that Japan was still reeling from a devastating earthquake and the Fukushima disaster just two years before bidding to host the games.
Rightly or wrongly, the Olympics is now open. It seems petty to wait for the other shoe to drop, so to speak, just so we can tell Japan, we told you so.
Instead, we should wish Japan and all the athletes good luck. Even if problems emerge later on in the games, we should treat those as opportunities to learn for future international events. If Japan pulls off a successful Olympics, history may remember the Tokyo games as a triumph of the human spirit over adversity. Business Forum. Market Overview. Exam Results. TMT Rewards. TMT Digital Edition. In , Kantar OnlineBus surveyed people aged across Great Britain to gauge public perception about the forthcoming Olympics and their interest.
If this data were extrapolated to cover the whole of Great Britain it would equate to roughly 38 million people having some form of interest in the games! The government clearly acknowledge this as they are taking measures to ensure there are sufficient staff at airline customs desks for example.
Take the coastal town of Weymouth for example, hosts of the Olympic sailing events. This summer will see visitors, athletes and support teams from around the world descending on Weymouth, all needing somewhere to stay and somewhere to eat although some will be provided by the athletes village.
The Olympic torch route also follows a similar trend, attracting people out onto the streets and into parks to celebrate the passing of the torch. Many of these people will be drawn to local restaurants, pubs and shops, improving the economy of the towns involved. All of this increase in business and jobs results in an improved economy and an increase in taxes payable to the government. With this in mind, Britain should benefit financially from the increase in visitors.
Putting it all together. Putting it all together poses some interesting questions which must first be answered before we answer the question, how important is the Olympics? So, why do we need it in London? These athletes train and compete all year right….. Going back to history, the ancient Greeks justified the need as it was a religious celebration and a way of timekeeping.
I doubt that this increase in revenue will meet all the necessary costs and will improve the economy by a great amount, but as the effects are likely to be long term they are incredibly hard to measure. For example, visitors to the Olympic Games may opt to stay in Britain for an extended holiday or may decide to return in the future. Factors such as these all go to help the British economy but are virtually impossible to measure. The sheer variety in cultural differences between the visiting countries is also likely to have a lasting effect and may well bring us a new and undiscovered sports, recipes or dances that have been hidden gems for generations.
With this in mind the question about moving the location of the Olympics becomes simple to answer. Put simply- to let as many countries as possible share the cultural, economic and world recognition that the Olympics may provide.
Briefly putting the social and economic factors to one side, from a sports aspect, what are the benefits? Well, the Olympics are undoubtedly a fantastic international proving ground for athletes.
It gives them the opportunity to compete against athletes of a similar level on an international stage. This gives them the opportunity to compare themselves against each other and to determine how good they are internationally. This is only achievable through the sheer scale of the Olympics and the number of countries and sports involved.
As athletes continually strive to do better, events such as these are vital as they serve as a proving ground for the athletes and a chance to try and beat personal or world records. Factors such as these are vital to the athletes as records and results from events all play a part in future selection processes and sponsorship deals. Aided immensely by campaigns run by Sport England, statistics clearly show that in the lead up to the Olympics there has been an increased interest in sport and an increase in the number of people participating in sports on a leisure basis.
The amount of youngsters interested in sport has also increased and seeing all the publicity about the Olympics has given many future Olympic hopefuls a spark in life and provided them with something to aspire to.
The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part! Cycling is a prime example of one such sport seeing growth in as cycle sales have hit a record high , catching many retailers and manufacturers unaware. This has left many retailers without stocks and has forced manufacturers to rush through production of their models.
One of the major arguments used by the government to justify the hosting of the Olympics was the legacy that the Olympics would leave as many of the buildings that form the Olympic village will be converted into permanent sports facilities and accommodation.
The continued provision of sports facilities will hopefully assist people who have been inspired into sports in to continue with their new found interest. The building of these facilities has already created many jobs, all helping the failing economy. Speaking in , Gordon Brown said. Free of other major political disruptions, the Rome Games became a showcase for Italy, attracting a record athletes from 83 countries.
The Yoshinori Sakai was chosen as the final torchbearer, who was born on the day that Hiroshima was destroyed by an atomic bomb. Meanwhile at the Olympics, East Germany competed separately for the first time.
Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who finished first and third in the metres, gave the Black Power salute during the national anthem as a protest against racism in the US.
But the Munich Games are most often remembered for the terrorist attack that resulted in the death of 11 Israeli athletes. With five days of the Games to go, 8 Palestinian terrorists broke into the Olympic Village, killing two Israelis and taking nine others hostage. The Palestinians demanded the release of prisoners from Israel. In an ensuing battle, all nine Israeli hostages were killed, as were five of the terrorists and one policeman.
New Zealand's rugby team had recently played in the racially segregated South Africa, who had been banned from the Olympics since Taiwan withdrew when Communist China pressured the host country and trading partner to deny the Taiwanese the right to compete. The American-led boycott reduced the number of participating nations from to 81, the lowest number since Countries such as Britain and France supported the boycott, but allowed their Olympic committees to participate if they wished.
Probably due to a lack of competition, the Moscow Games became the most successful for the British athletes, who finished ninth overall. The absentees claimed the Los Angeles Olympic Committee was violating the spirit of the Olympics by using the Games to generate commercial profits. The Seoul Games went on with little interruption, and their success represented a major milestone on the journey from dictatorship to democracy for South-Korea.
Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia fielded seperate teams, while the rest of the former Soviet Union competed as the "Unified Team". Germany competed under one flag for the first time since , while post-apartheid South Africa was invited ending a year ban.
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