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If the IOC picked permanent hosts cities


zekekelso

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the moveable feast is one of the main attractions of the games, for me at least.

I agree. If the Olympics had a permanent host, I know that I'd lose a lot of interest as well. And these forums would loose A LOT of activity (& that's the premise of this website in the first place) since we then wouldn't be constantly debating the merits of bid cities & potential bid cities.

Greece sounds like a natural choice for the Summer Olympics, but what about the Winter Games. Switzerland, Austria? Nah, just leave things as they are. Much more fun & interesting.

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But what would Lord David and others do without their precious bid books! :D

Yea, this is a pretty bad idea. Pretty sure we're not supposed to take an article that seriously when it suggests building a stadium in the middle of the desert. To that end, it's not the worst idea to re-visit past hosts if they have some of the elements in place and not rely on a place like Sochi to build a Winter resort from scratch. There are ways to keep costs down without going to the nuclear option of a permanent host.

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I remember reading that in the beginning Coubertin wanted them to pay homage to Athens, but be centered in Paris making it the new Olympia. What was that thing Tony said about Rome being favored more then Paris??? :P

It's an interesting footnote to history.. most here know the story of the 1992 Summer Olympic bids, that Samaranch used political might to get the Games awarded to Barcelona over Paris. What's easily forgotten is that 1924 was awarded to Paris largely because of de Coubertin. And who did they beat for that honor?.. Barcelona (among others).

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It's an interesting footnote to history.. most here know the story of the 1992 Summer Olympic bids, that Samaranch used political might to get the Games awarded to Barcelona over Paris. What's easily forgotten is that 1924 was awarded to Paris largely because of de Coubertin. And who did they beat for that honor?.. Barcelona (among others).

So 92 was just making up for little Juan Antonio's childhood trauma from 1924? ;-)

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This proposal assumes a host city will keep an Olympic Park in stasis forever. The stadium won't be converted to anything or downsized, the village will be left empty and in Olympic-mode ready for 10k athletes to move in every four years, the IBC will be kept as is, all other venues will be kept in their Olympic configurations.

You're not going to get that proposal past any democracy, so that rules out most recent hosts. The Qatars of this world would be more than happy to put their hands up, but you have issues there which mean the IOC might not like the idea.

That leaves one very obvious option......Beijing, China

A recent host city whose main Olympic Stadium still has its Olympic banners in place (photo from Dec 2013), whose unchanging government would love to be able to claim to be the permanant host, a nation so big that even if the rest of the World gets bored the IOC is still guarunteed TV audiences of a billion plus...

Welcome to the new permanant home of the Olympic movement....

1536452_10152080603496306_1333435666_n.j

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It would kill the games to have a permanent venue. Part of the magic is that it travels the world and one day might end up on your doorstep.

TO keep costs down why doesn't the IOC have move-able temporary venues?

There was talk of some of the London venues being reused in Brazil, but I suspect that was nothimg more than talk.

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Good pic rob, I had no idea the banners were still in place. Also looks like some of the lighting equipment from the ceremonies is still there!!

I can't take credit for it. Found it on SSC. It was a freestyle skiing event in the Birds Nest a couple of months back...

46752_G08_W01.jpg

There was talk of some of the London venues being reused in Brazil, but I suspect that was nothimg more than talk.

I think it was seriously investigated, but it was deemed too expensive and logistically difficult in the end from what I understand (which makes you wonder about Qatar's plans to ship seversl stadiums to African after 2022 doesn't it?!). And when you says some venues I think you just mean the one - the basketball arena. Unless I've missed something!

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I can't take credit for it. Found it on SSC. It was a freestyle skiing event in the Birds Nest a couple of months back...

46752_G08_W01.jpg

I think it was seriously investigated, but it was deemed too expensive and logistically difficult in the end from what I understand (which makes you wonder about Qatar's plans to ship seversl stadiums to African after 2022 doesn't it?!). And when you says some venues I think you just mean the one - the basketball arena. Unless I've missed something!

The Water Polo Arena was temporary aswell, so if an agreement was made, the Water Polo Arena could be transported aswell as the Wings of the Aquatics Centre. But yes, the only Venue I heard of possibly transporting Venue elsewhere, was the Basketball Arena.

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Well

The Water Polo Arena was temporary aswell, so if an agreement was made, the Water Polo Arena could be transported aswell as the Wings of the Aquatics Centre. But yes, the only Venue I heard of possibly transporting Venue elsewhere, was the Basketball Arena.

The water polo arena could certainly have been rebuilt elsewhere as it was a standalone venue, though as I understand it the outer-shell was recycled and the seats reused elsewhere (I wouldn't be surprised if they ended up at Silverstone, those sorts of scaffold stands are often used at motor racing circuits).

The wings for the Aquatic Centre were built specifically for that venue so they'd attach the the sides. I can't imagine it'd be possible to re-use them, so again I'm guessing the seating was recycled into other venues and the outer canvas chucked or recycled.

Anyway, this is getting a bit off-topic, sorry guys.

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If I had to pick, it would be Athens for sure. Winter games are tougher since they've outgrown many of the former hosts. Maybe Salt Lake or Calgary. The article actually has a serious flaw in using golf as an example since the only major that stays in the same place is the Masters.

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If I had to pick, it would be Athens for sure. Winter games are tougher since they've outgrown many of the former hosts. Maybe Salt Lake or Calgary. The article actually has a serious flaw in using golf as an example since the only major that stays in the same place is the Masters.

Not Athens, especially after epic fail of Bids for Legacy (with exception to the Olympic Stadium).

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Not Athens, especially after epic fail of Bids for Legacy (with exception to the Olympic Stadium).

But it's the birthplace of the games, it (or Olympia) is probably the one place you'd get the world to agree upon.

Like i said, though, that's no a prospect I'd welcome.

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Absolutely never ever ever. The Olympics is what it is because it changes location. The bidding, the ceremonies, the cultural differences, the home crowd support, everything comes down to the changing location. The Olympics should never have a permanent host, it would rip out the heart of the Games.

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Athens could probably need the economic shot in the arm. And all those venues would no longer be in vein.

While I'm against the idea, one concept I thought of years ago (which I think could work IF the IOC ever went down that path) would be based on continental rotation, but where an Olympic city is 'host' of 8 years - or three Olympics or so. So the venues are built, used three times (perhaps even for World Champs too), and when they start to age after the end of the 11 year period, the cycle begins in a new host city. To keep it fair, it could be continental rotation based - and never coincide with the Winter Olympics on the same continent - or no more than two years.

So:

1980/84/88 - Moscow

1992/96/00 - Paris

2004/08/12 - Sydney

2016/20/24 - Chicago

1998/02/06 - Nagano

2010/14/18 - Vancouver

2022/26/30 - Oslo

and so on...

I know this is meaningless drivel, and it would never happen, but to me its an interesting, and perhaps more VIABLE idea as there is more bang for the buck. I imagine it would need a bigger global contribution to the host city - but the burden would ease the second and third hosting.

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I think it funny how people say the Olympics are too expensive- but then nothing is said about the trillions spent on Defense every year.

For example, India and Pakistan can afford to point nuclear arms at each other, USA spends more than a thousand million dollars A DAY on defense- the Olympics suddenly start to sound very cheap.

It is just a matter of priorities.

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