CB2328

It seems in the Olympic Stadium that they removed the national flags hanging from the roof. They were there over the weekend, and gone last night, as far as I could see from NBC's wide shots of the stadium. I guess they needed them at another venue?

London had different sets as well, similar to Rio. Swimming was blue and gold. Some venues were orange and blue. And of course others were purple and gold. Each were used consistently within the respective venue. But you are right: Rio's light blue area surrounding the dark blue track is too much. Olympiastadion in Berlin could easily host the Seattle Seahawks.

The blue track and the electric lime Look applications are growing on me. The blue track is a completely different look for Athletics, which I believe takes a lot of getting used to. We’re comfortable with the standard reddish brown track. But given time and exposure, the vibrancy of the blue track gives Rio a distinctive look, and the electric lime just adds to it. Design is always subjective. I never cared for London’s logo nor its Look, but its Look was executed consistently well. I disliked London's purple Olympic Stadium application, but I grew to like it. Although I never grew to like what London did with gymnastics. Athens was the best, in my opinion. But there’s more to an Olympic look than just banners. I miss the cauldron being in the Athletics stadium. And I always enjoyed seeing the logo painted on the grass field, plus the potted plants along the finish line and around the medal podium. I actually like Rio's leaf design on its medals podium, and think the leaf design would have been a stronger Look for surrounding the field of play than its current look, but then the leaf design would be too similar to Atlanta's laurel leaf design. Just my 2 cents.

The Paras should be held first, then the Olympics. This would give the host city ample time to work through all of the logistical nightmares and correct the problems in preparation for the big show.