Who Stands to Gain from The Summer Olympics?

It seems that you can’t turn on the TV or browse to your favorite website these days without a mention of the Summer Olympics. It’s pretty fashionable to cite incredible performances of athletes, drop WAGs names better than a tabloid Sports section or enter into well-informed arguments over which Olympic team swims-shoots-runs-throws-jumps better (hint: whatever the discipline, the Chinese are a safe bet). Olympic Games represent one of the most noble pursuits in sports, that of reminding people of fair play, health, history and camaraderie. Spectators are also granted some truly fantastic sights at the competitions, some of which cannot be seen in any off-season events (like table tennis, for instance); many disciplines are simply below the radar for most of the year (in this case, years – since Summer and Winter olympics rotate every 2 years). And yet, Olympics are not all that they seem, especially from monetary standpoint…

Indeed, the Olympic Games can associate with nobility, valour and outstanding achievement, but not with money; for one simple reason: the contest is basically a sinkhole for funds, a one-way street for public expenditure and taxpayers‚ money. It may not have been so in Ancient Greece, but nowadays, it’s unlikely that the city-host of the event so much as breaks even. The initial figure for the event, planned way, way back in 2002-2003, was USD 3.9 bln (sans VAT and security costs, the latter of which were simply a non-issue before the 7/7 attacks). With East End regeneration, building an Olympic village and renovating the venues around London, the bill quickly increased to more than three times the original price tag. Some construction projects, like the Olympic Park’s Aquatics Centre, had their initial estimate inflate fourfold, from $118 mln to $434 mln.

Even so, latest estimates put the final cost at around USD 11 bln, which is still much better than expected. That projection stood at an astounding £9 bln(ca. USD 14 bln). On top of that hefty saving, there’s still around $700 million set aside for unforeseen emergencies, which bodes pretty well for the overcrowded and sold out competitions. Budget is lower than expected for a few reasons – cut IT costs, reduced expenditure on risks and placing certain competitions in the same venues (instead of building new ones). Being under budget also means that less money from National Lottery funds and city council goes „to waste„, but here’s the catch: the actual hosts (LOCOG), who use private funding to run the games, had to raise just £2 bln and still received the additional £736 mln from the government, meaning that someone stands to make a killing on the games – just not said government or London itself. Why?

The reason is very simple. Olympic games are basically a non-profit enterprise – or at least, it was so before Juan Antonio Samaranch entered the fray and made it a huge, televised worldwide celebrity event, with sponsorship deals and big money being poured in from all directions. Exclusive deals with TV networks, global brands and corporations mean that there can’t be incidents of using the games’ popularity, its logo or even hint at the 5-star-symbol in order to cash in on the sporting event without the blessing of the powers that be.

The rules are so stringent, in fact, that there’ve been accusations of bribes being given to I.O.C. members, unethical behaviour (like buying escort services for officials) and other less-than-savoury dealings, all in the name of landing that Holy Grail of sporting events. It’s not really important now whether this is true, though; after a long court battle, some documents came to light regarding the rules that a host has to abide by during the games. Apparently, it’s almost like a city within a city: everything that happens during the Olympic Games has to be attributed to Olympic Games or LOCOG, not to any outside parties, government or small-scale vendors. Boris Johnson, current mayor of London, has a monumental task before him; he has to make sure that at least some of the Olympian spirit rubs off on the capital, earning it something more than just prestige.

Interestingly, back in 2003, the bid might not even have been allowed by then-Prime Minister Tony Blair’s cabinet – they were afraid that losing to Paris (the old rival of London) would humiliate the country and provide too much negative publicity for the city. One has to wonder: are Londoners so better off now – and will they follow in the footsteps of denizens of Barcelona and Sydney as Olympic success-stories? Time will tell. For now, we have to enjoy the overly sophisticated Opening Ceremony, mayors hanging from zip-lines and NBC commentators not knowing who Tim Berners-Lee is, to hold us over while sportsmen break record by record.

VOCABULARY
to turn on – włączyć
mention – wzmianka
to cite – przytaczać
performance – wyniki, osiągi
WAGs (wifes and girlfriends) – żony słynnych sportowców
tabloid – brukowiec
hint – wskazówka
a safe bet – pewniak
noble – szlachetny
pursuit – poszukiwanie, pościg
to remind – przypominać
fair play – czysta gra
camaraderie – koleżeństwo
spectator – widz
to grant – przyznać, dać
competition – zawody
off-season – poza sezonem
table tennis – tenis stołowy, ping pong
below the radar – tu: mało znany
to rotate – obracać się, zmieniać się
standpoint – punkt widzenia
to associate with – kojarzyć się z
nobility – szlachta, tu: szlachetność
valour – odwaga
outstanding – niezwykły, wybitny
achievement – osiągnięcie
sinkhole – tu: dziura bez dna
a one-way street – ulica jednokierunkowa, tu: pułapka bez wyjścia
expenditure – wydatki
taxpayer – podatnik
ancient – starożytny
to break even – wyjść na zero
initial – pierwotny, wstępny
figure – liczba, cyfra
way back – dawno temu
sans – bez
latter – ten drugi, kolejny, następny
non-issue – nieistniejący problem
venue – miejsce publiczne (np. stadion)
bill – rachunek
price tag – cena (na etykiecie)
estimate – szacunkowa wartość
to inflate – zwiększyć się, wzrosnąć
fourfold – czterokrotnie
hefty – pokaźny
saving – oszczędność
to set sth aside – odłożyć coś na bok/na później
unforeseen – nieprzewidziany
emergency – nagły wypadek
to bode well for sth – dobrze czemuś wróżyć
overcrowded – przeludniony
sold out – wyprzedany
to cut costs – ograniczyć koszty
to be under budget – zmieścić się w budżecie, poniżej budżetu
to go to waste – zmarnować się
the catch – zagwozdka
to raise (money) – zebrać fundusze
to stand to do sth – mieć coś przed sobą, mieć szansę na zrobienie czegoś
to make a killing – zarobić krocie
enterprise – przedsięwzięcie
to enter the fray – wejść do gry
celebrity – gwiazda, znakomitość
sponsorship deal – kontrakt o wyłącznym sponsorowaniu czegoś
to pour in – wlewać, wpompowywać
exclusive – wyłączny, na wyłączność
to cash in on sth – zbić na czymś majątek, zarobić na czymś
stringent – surowy
accusation – oskarżenie
bribe – łapówka
I.O.C. (International Olympic Committee) – MKOl, Międzynarodowy Komitet Olimpijski
behaviour – zachowanie
escort services – usługi pań do towarzystwa
less-than-savoury – ciemny, niezbyt ciekawy
to attribute sth to sth – przypisywać coś czemuś
regarding – co się tyczy, odnośnie
to abide by (the rules) – trzymać się (zasad), przestrzegać (prawa)
vendor – sprzedawca
mayor – burmistrz, prezydent miasta
monumental – monumentalny, ogromny
to rub off on sth – odbić się na czymś (np. pozytywnie)
to humiliate – poniżyć
publicity – reklama, nagłośnienie
to follow into sb’s footsteps – pójść w czyjeś ślady
denizen – mieszkaniec
sophisticated – wyszukany, wyrafinowany
zip-line – lina wspinaczkowa, wykorzystywana do zjazdu, lina do zjeżdżania
to hold sb over – przetrzymać kogoś, pozwolić komuś przetrwać