We know the Olympic police have been out in force removing anything that smacks of copyright infringement; bagel Olympic rings removed from the window of a small East End bakery being one of the most ridiculous moves to protect this overweening organisation’s money spinning game, but has the Olympics actually done anything in the run-up and during the event to help struggling businesses?
Can me a grump about the Olympics, and a cynic about
- kids getting fitter as a result (yes, but what about our other longer term sporting successes – cricket, cycling, golf – having a positive effect)
- schools engaging with Olympic ideals (surely, schools should be teaching good sportsmanship, participation, endeavour without the aid of 20 billion pound event)
- communities in the East End benefiting in employment opportunities (um, G4S couldn’t get it’s would-be security guards to turn up for training – and anyway is that an employment opportunity)
The argument is that the benefits, if not immediate like a contract to build a Velodrome, are long term; raising the profile of the UK in foreign eyes etc. And that this will have a trickle down effect because the Chinese and Brazilians are going to rush in and invest in British business.
Well I thought that was happening anyway, regardless of a bulti-billion pound spend at time when we can least afford it.
Let’s hope that after all the committees, politics, money, suits that the sportsmen and women who’ve taken part in the event have had the time of their life – from the Greco Roman wrestlers to the synchronised swimmers!