18 replies to this topic

[FYI]

well Greece is still only half that figure at 11 million. Plus, they also let go by almost half of their prep time. No ones fault but their own.

[Guardian]

With this situation in the background, amongst the contenders for 2020, it will be interesting which cities get the chance to be candidate ones for those Games in May. I don't know about this, but isn't some of Athens venues, used for 2004, is in disrepair and abandoned?

[Olympic Fan Darcy]

Athens 2004 wasnt hugely advertised in my opinion, i mean 2000 olympics was huge, everywhere was sydney 2000 (i live in australia though) but beijing was huge all over the news (i mean the fog but still publicity) london heard tons about yet athens not so much, it was more low key but still cost alot, it was a waste of money. didnt significantly affect greek debt but it kinda contributed imo

[baron-pierreIV]

Olympic Fan Darcy, on 08 February 2012 - 05:37 AM, said:

Athens 2004 wasnt hugely advertised in my opinion, i mean 2000 olympics was huge, everywhere was sydney 2000 (i live in australia though) but beijing was huge all over the news (i mean the fog but still publicity) london heard tons about yet athens not so much, it was more low key but still cost alot, it was a waste of money. didnt significantly affect greek debt but it kinda contributed imo

Well, if as you say, and let's use a kinder term -- Athens 2004 wasn't as heavily 'promoted' as others were--is it maybe because there were only 11 million souls who cared? I mean, Sydney 2000 had 22 million heads to talk it up; the UK will have 62 mil souls; and don't even get me started on how many Chinese heard about their large event in Beijing 4 years ago.

Which just goes to prove my point that you need a larger country for a SOG to succeed magnificently. 10 million or less just won't cut it.

Which brings me to another point about Athens 2004. Having visited Athens and Greece just 2 years ago, I really don't see how they carried it off in such a dense, over-crowded city. Yes, Athens has all or most of the amenities of a 21st century 1st world metropolis, but to absorb even 200,000 visitors over a 17-day period I just could not fathom. And the funny thing is, Athens wasn't even the site, heart and soul of the ancient Games, it was this tiny municipality out in the Pelopponesian hills. So I don't know how Athens got the honor again in 2004. Well, I do actually, but why am I not surprised that the so-called 'glories' of 2004 have not been sustained 8 years later? Because the country is too friggin' small. It cannot survive on 'athletics' alone. And another unspoken problem of Greece, are all the illegal immigrants from Asia and Eastern Europe who are waiting to get to the equally strapped western European countries. But nobody likes to talk about that.

[jimjam]

Interesting discussion - a few points I would like to add

1- Much of the conversation here is that Greece is too small to host the games. Maybe it is the other way around and the IOC insist that in order for a city to be successful in their bid they have to deliver a games that is too big (expensive). Would it really make a difference if the games were a lot smaller in scale and cost? Maybe we would have so many fancy venues, so many IOC lanes blah blah etc but we would still have the sport. Maybe the IOC needs to change its view on how a host country accommodates the games and allows more flexibility.

2 - In a similar vein lets look at the costs in the bid books and compare them to reality. The IOC should be more accountable for performing due diligence on the costs that bidding cities provide. London has tripled its budget from that proposed in the original bid. Athens was about twice the cost (some down to bad planning - but much due to the costs being too low in the original estimate). The IOC needs to stop with the vanity project and be more realistic. Not every games needs to be Beijing!

3 - With all that said the games contributed such a small amount to the total of the financial problem in Greece. It is maybe a good scapegoat but I'm not sure it really makes that much difference to the financial reforms Greece is going through.

Edited by jimjam, 08 February 2012 - 01:50 PM.

[baron-pierreIV]

/\/\ Then it wouldn't be the Olympics if they were done sanely. Just kidding.

Absolutely, they have to be tailored to a host's capability.

Or how about this? The IOC lays down a minimum of what it wants. It then allows the candidate cities to throw in or out a few variables (more or less sports, legacies, etc., etc.) And then based on the combined weighting of the minimum acceptable show PLUS how else it can be made different but deliver a sane, sustainable Games, then make their selection? Indeed, the current process is sway too top heavy.

Edited by baron-pierreIV, 08 February 2012 - 04:46 PM.

[SkiFreak]

She's burnin':
CBC: Athens burns as Greece bailout passed

[baron-pierreIV]

SkiFreak, on 12 February 2012 - 07:20 PM, said:

She's burnin':
CBC: Athens burns as Greece bailout passed

Kinda stupid. Doesn't solve anything. Now I hear Portugal may be next. Can't those Med countries think outside the box?

[SkiFreak]

CNN: Eurozone approves new $173B bailout for Greece

Time to get another Olympic bid going!