[Closed] So was the Olympics woth the cost ? 9 billion and counting... 6months on

bencooper - Member
Bread and circuses - nothing much has changed in 2,000 years

the benefits of a classical education 😉

I missed out on the bread and they were nice to the animals, not exactly Circus Maximus

I don't watch EastEnders...

I hate it so much

I'm a liberal parent but

NO SOAPS!

I thought it was great!!, despite not wanting / expecting it too.
Can't say that I've felt like I've had to cough up 9 billion for it, possibly because I don't live in London, or buy lottery tickets.

My opinion has not changed one bit. I kept to my vow of not watching any of it, nor reading about it.

I think that it may have been a genuine loss for you. Had you watched and disliked then fair enough, but you might have really loved it. I never imagined that I'd like an opening ceremony - just not my sort of thing, and wasn't planning on watching it, but was so glad I did. It was fantastic! Sat in a grassy field the night before a race with a thousand other people watching on a big screen laid on by the sponsors was so heart-warming. But I would have ever believed it would be had someone tried to sell the idea to me.

It was a UK government project, how much more reason do you need to believe it will go over budget and/or be late?

It was late!!!!!

I didn' say it wouldn't over budget, I said we could afford it.

Still, I'm sure £9Bn of public funds to advertise the health giving benefits McDonald's and Coca Cola will go a long way to fighting off this epidemic of tubby related diseases sweeping the country.

Well if your memmory of the games is The Great Taste Of .. then I feel sorry for you. They were compleletley absent from my memory until you mentioned them and even now I can't actually find any commercial symbols in my memories or photos

Yup, I was surprised by that too. Before the start I'd pretty much imagined they'd be a big golden MacD arch in the middle of the stadium.

Worth every penny.
Millions will have happy memories for years, long after the moneys been repaid.

cinnamon_girl - Member

NO NO NO

My opinion has not changed one bit. I kept to my vow of not watching any of it, nor reading about it.

Seeing as it was going to happen whether you liked it or not and you could actually have experienced some of it at no extra cost do you not feel a little like you missed the chance to actually make an informed opinion about it?

In a world full of halfwits from stupid reality TV shows who are "role models" to so many young people the Olympics hopefully opened their eyes to the truly awful individuals and fame hungry brats they really are

If nothing else, it was worth it for this.

People actually working (often together) to achieve something worthwhile, other than just massaging their own stupid massively boring ego.

So if that 9 billion hadn't been spent on the Olympics, would I have noticed some of it making it's way into my wallet? No, so I don't give a toss how much it cost. It was great.

[i]I kept to my vow of not watching any of it, nor reading about it.[/i]
You missed out, that is for certain.

I didn' say it wouldn't over budget, I said we could afford it.

Well if your memmory of the games is The Great Taste Of .. then I feel sorry for you.

No, my overriding memory is the irony and hypocrisy of claiming an event that will inspire healthy lifestyles being sponsored by a burger bar and a sugary fizzy drink.

I wouldn't get worked up about that. McDonalds is not a problem in itself, choosing to eat too much McDonalds is a problem.

I got the oportunity to take these photos - so yep, worth it for me!

[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]

No, my overriding memory is the irony and hypocrisy of claiming an event that will inspire healthy lifestyles being sponsored by a burger bar and a sugary fizzy drink. And in case you'd forgotten, the world's largest MacD's was built just for the occasion. Guess you missed that as well, eh?

genuine sympathy. No like most of the UK population i didn't go to the olympic park so never saw it and never new that it was there. But I'm sure that they are greatful to you for the publicity

oh good, so no cuts to health, education or other public services then?

I'll try again

When we agreed to fund the olympics then we didn't know that this liabilty was looming

"The scale of the support currently provided to UK banks has fallen from a peak of £955bn to £512bn, but the amount of cash currently borrowed by the government to support banks has risen by £7bn [to a total of £124bn] since December 2009. "

As a result of the banking crisis we had a recession which reduced govermant income

So assuming we hadn't spent the money on the banks and or had a recession we could have afforded the olympics. We were at that point looking at real terms growth in almost all public apending

Excellent some one else started the photos

[url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8441/7761065974_db5330e301_c.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8441/7761065974_db5330e301_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/john_clinch/7761065974/ ]london 2012-34[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/john_clinch/ ]John Clinch[/url], on Flickr

[url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8301/7761072062_2d36f9a3b0_c.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8301/7761072062_2d36f9a3b0_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/john_clinch/7761072062/ ]london 2012-16[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/john_clinch/ ]John Clinch[/url], on Flickr

And worst of all I was never asked if I wanted the Olympics...

Are you serious?

I'd also like to add that I felt the 'Lympics did more for us as a nation than the overseas aid budget (which is just an atempt to buy political influnce) and the huge sack of cash we give the EU every year...

genuine sympathy. No like most of the UK population [s]i didn't go to the olympic park so never saw it and [/s] I don't bother much with the news much other than the sun and daily mail so never realised who the main sponsors were and never new that it was there.

BigButSlimmerBloke

Thanks genuinley made me laugh

Not sure you have fully got know me, my politics or media preferences

I of course knew who the sponsors were and had reservations

But thanks to your posts i have realised that despite the olympics being in my thoughts alot I had completely forgot who the sponsors were and that side of things

Given that it all happened a long way away, I guess I'd have enjoyed it nearly as much if it had been the Paris Olympics, which would have been cheaper.

I think it brought a huge return on the investment in terms of [url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_national_happiness ]gross national happiness[/url]

Not financial beneficial in the middle off a recession
so just memorial of sport and what equates to a huge financial business loss.
All you see now is a very large concrete wasteland when you drive past.

It was worth it, 9bn is a drop compared to what was spent propping up the banks, wars in the middle east, foreign aid and the EU gravy train...I know what gives me the most pleasure, the Olympics are fantastic whatever country hosts it but this time it was our turn and didn't we do well?!
As a sports fan it was probably the most entertained I've been in years, the memories will be lifelong....couldn't give a toss who the main sponsors were, nobody forces people to overeat McDonalds or guzzle Coke.

My opinion has not changed one bit. I kept to my vow of not watching any of it, nor reading about it.

All you see now is a very large concrete wasteland when you drive past.

The real question this thread should be addressing is "So is it worth still grumbling on and on about the Olympics ... 9 months on?"

😀

Why do folk keep saying that I had missed something? I don't see it that way at all.

All this vanity project has done is alienate Joe Public, many of whom are struggling day to day. What message does it give them? Sport is elitist?

"Worth" is a difficult word, as one persons "worth it" is another persons "not worth it". Considering what else we spend billions of pounds on (like benefits for people who don't seem to benifit in the slightest, or bombing the sh*t outta 3rd world countries for some reason on other than no one can remember) then yes, i think it represented good value! In a day an age where social media increasingly allows people to sit at home and whinge about stuff (me included) to see real people get off their ass, and just work bl**dy hard to be absolutely world class brilliant at something is awesome imo.

As this is an MTB forum, here's a suggestion: Get yourself onto one of the guided Hadley Farm Olympic MTB course sesions, and see what time you set, and for a few of the fitter guys and gals on here it could be quite a decent time. But then compare it to the first, and more importantly last, lap of the real athletes who ran in the full length Olympic MTB race. Humbling? You betcha!

cinnamon_girl - Member

Why do folk keep saying that I had missed something? I don't see it that way at all.

I am interested to know how you know if you did or not - if you'd attended (unlikely) or just watched some of it (not difficult) you might have been converted. But you didn't, so you will never know...

Why do folk keep saying that I had missed something?

Becasue you did.

All this vanity project has done is alienate Joe Public, many of whom are struggling day to day. What message does it give them? Sport is elitist?

CG, with the greatest repeat, and I love you to bits, that is utter bollocks. Try being positive for once, eh? Everything you post on here at the minute is negative and 'anti-something'

PeterPoddy - Member
Why do folk keep saying that I had missed something?
Because you did.

He's right you know. You really did miss something.

All this vanity project has done is alienate Joe Public, many of whom are struggling day to day. What message does it give them? Sport is elitist?

[img] [/img]

I was pretty cynical about the whole thing - especially because work refused to let me go on holidat at he beginning of July because of it (we do corporate entertainment, so were kinda busy over the Olypmics itself).

The opening and closing ceremonies were bonkers, and as someone who works on those kind of things, it was genuinely groundbreaking. (some of my mates were heavily involved in the shows themselves).

I watched the mens road race live, which was deeply disappointing (although nothing to do with the organisation), then gradually got more into it. Super saturday was amazing, and I got really into the track cycling too - Hoy, Kenny & Trott's wins - just fabulous. Peaked with going to both the mens and womens MTBing. The Women's race was a great event. The men's truly awesome. Organisation and crowd management was perfect, and the volunteers (and army!) were all brilliant. Can't recall seeing McDs on site at all, although there was a fair amount of Pepsi on sale - but also some fairly healthy stuff too, and plenty of water if that's what you wanted to drink (we took empty Camelbaks and filled them on site).

We'll have to wait and see what the legacy brings - but yeah, overall I thought it was superbly done.

Is the mountain bike circuit open to the public and has anyone used it?

Yes and yes. (Albeit even with assessment and coach led rides, there have, contrary to the common "my Granny could ride it on her shopping bike", theory, been numerous accidents some pretty serious), so opening to the great unwashed is defered until such time as either an on-site A&E department is constructed or alternatively sensible modifications are made to stop it being closed about 30 miniutes after they are let in.

Why do folk keep saying that I had missed something? I don't see it that way at all.

Well they keep saying you missed something, because obviously you did.

You missed the Olympics.

And it was fantastic.

HTH.

Yeah, the rumours are true I'm afraid...your efforts to prove you aren't interested have resulted in you missing some jolly good sports entertainment.

But what ever floats your boat...I'm sure you spent the time doing something a lot more worthwhile than enjoying yourself 😛

All this vanity project has done is alienate Joe Public,

Well over 1 million were so alienated they went to watch the time trail watch Wiggo won.

You did miss out CG, loads of people were inspired by the Olympics not just the elite few, I'm a support worker for people with LD's, young addicts and young offenders and I saw some that were inspired either to buy a bike, go swimming or just try to move a bit more,
now every other Friday I get paid to ride my bike with a young lad who saved £500 (a huge amount to him) and bought a spesh hardrock disc, and he loves it, he's getting fitter and more confident, got himself a girlfriend and got a job..
To me that's worth 9billion on its own, it wasn't all Dressage and rowing you know..

I'm sure you spent the time doing something a lot more worthwhile than enjoying yourself

Tidying her cave probably

now every other Friday I get paid to ride my bike with a young lad who saved £500 (a huge amount to him) and bought a spesh hardrock disc, and he loves it, he's getting fitter and more confident, got himself a girlfriend and got a job..

The win is strong with this one...! Love it! 🙂

I dont get the "alienate" statement, what i remeber most was pretty much everyone i spoke to at the time talking about how great it was. An example was me out on my bike and stopping to some old geezer who was picking blackberries, his openening line was "did you see that wiggins lad in the olympics?" twenty minutes later we had talked at length about the whole thing and what we had enjoyed, he was 77 years old so was not likely to benefit in any way from any "legacy" but enjoyed it non the less. It was the first time in a long time that i saw people generally being more comunicative about the country and dare i say positive. Maybe i'm just a more positive person.... 😀

i missed the lot. im just too busy in work that time of year. oh and i dont have a tv. i feel like i missed out a bit.

the money though? course its worth it! and thats coming from someone who had to contribute but watched none of it and had no benifit from it due to living in wales.

£9 Billion really isnt that much. its not far off what we have allowed vodaphone and starbucks not to pay this year if certain sources are to be believed

Yes.
Was in the stadium when David Weir got his gold in the 5000 I think and it was one of the most powerful situations I've been in, the noise and emotion were amazing.

A friends 13 year old daughter who is an amazing swimmer ....she gave it up and preferred doing the usual things with her friends instead.....

She saw the olympics....inspired her and got back into it and she is now selected for olympic training.

I'm biased, I was a Games maker - so I am going to be positive about the whole games experience. Was it worth it? Very had to quantify it. No doubt we will end with some 'white' elephants and £9Bn is a lot of money. In pure monetry terms, probably not.

But in gave the majority of the UK population and summer that few will forget. We showed that the UK can deliver a massive projects on time. We invited the world to a party, they came and celebrated with us. We talked to each other on trains, buses, pubs, parks about what we had seen and what we liked. Watching tired children being taken home after a day that they will never forget.

The nay sayers said
- We couldn't do it
- no one would come
- the tickets would never be sold
- no one would watch the Olympic Torch relay
- Team GB would not win any medals

Well we did it, we came, we wanted to go to the events, we all wanted to be part of the dream, and our athletes delivered.

So was it worth it? You can make up your mind up. Sadly today $9 Bn does not go a long way and not all the money is wasted (new stadia, cleaned up a small part of East London). But how do you value dreams and memories?

Yes it was worth it, Yes C-G you missed something. I was completely cynical about it. Then I sat in a field watching the opening ceremony on a big screen. Then joined the hundreds and thousands lining the roads for the mens road race. Then rode on closed roads the following morning to the cheers of the games makers and marshalls. And stood in the rain cheering the women on that afternoon. Seeing that many people cheering on cyclists, seeing girls from the likes of Mexico, Hong Kong and Venezuela flying into a wet corner through a wall of noise with massive grins, preceded by bike cops high-fiving the crowds...

I am a grinch and as a rule hate crowds but it was epic. I can only imagine what being in a stadium or velodrome was like.

I think it transformed our image of ourselves as a nation- the press went with us all being negative and pessimistic only to be completely confounded by the vast majority.

- the tickets would never be sold

The handling of the ticket sales was a bit rubbish though imo.
Along with the logo.
And the Mascots.

Phew, I was beginning to think I'd have nothing to moan about 🙂