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Global event for global sponsors

Smabs Sputzer/Flickr

A global event for global sponsors and global media barons. All the rhetoric about the Olympic Games delivering a lasting and local legacy for the (socially disadvantaged) of London and the people of England to me is a public relations smokescreen. The mass sport participation legacy to be achieved through the Games, for example, seems out of reach when Sport England reported modest participation growth but a drop in participation among young people (16-19) and women since the announcement of London as the 2012 host.

I am sure many are making money as a result of the Games, and billions of people derive short term pleasure from watching the spectacle, but it is time that owners and operators of this mega event acknowledge the fact that those who pay for the bulk of the hosting costs (Joe and Jill Citizen) are not the ones reaping the majority of benefits delivered through it.

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