91Èȱ¬

The legacy I would like to see is as follows:

1. A Britain once again confident that it can take on multibillion pound construction projects and deliver them on time and broadly on budget, with knock-on effects for the wider economy over the next 50 years.
2. The political legacy that, some of the time, for specific projects, cross-party co-operation is better than dog-eat-dog confrontation at Prime Minister's Questions.
3. A set of facilities around the country to allow youngsters, wherever they are brought up, to aspire to excellence if they have the talent (in conjunction with Manchester 2002, Glasgow 2014 and perhaps XXX 202X in another regional centre).
4. An understanding of the value of integrated transport networks to major events venues, thereby leading to the long-term improving the efficiency of British life and the view of foreign guests as to our capabilities in that arena (something which Liverpool City Council might profitably examine with regard to new football stadia proposals).
5. A belief that, if we build vision, political alliances, compete internationally and never lose our belief, that we can win major global competitions on merit (hopefully the soccer World Cup may add to that in 2018?)
6. An ability to translate that skill-set into wider business winning capabilities internationally, in particular through leveraging the contacts made at high levels across the entire globe through the London 2012 hosting process.
7. A long-term transition to the concept of self-sustaining community action through the realisation that any community in the UK can be part of the London 2012 process if they sell themselves constructively, realistically, successfully and reliably.
8. A deep understanding of the role of exercise and sporting competition in a human's life, holistically integrated through the major phases of childhood, adolescence, adulthood, parenthood and into middle age and later life, with resultant impacts on diet, medical treatment, healthy living, community design and political funding priorities.
9. A satisfaction that, through sport, Britain started to find a new role for itself in the world.
10. An Olympic Park whose use after 2012 was decided collaboratively based on balancing financial, community and sporting needs, thus becoming a benchmark for global thought leadership in post-event site management.
11. An acceptance of our unique UK climate and how to optimise major events HERE, not trying to emulate the Meditteranean, California, China, India or Brazil, whose climates are and always will be different to ours.

I'm not sure whether all that will be achieved by 2020, although much of it could and should be.

But then again, Lord Coe believes in setting challenging/bordering-on-the-unrealistic targets which WILL be hit, doesn't he??!!

Roger

I had a quick look at the 21012 Olympic Legacy Action Plan. In see that the promises are:

1. To make the UK a world-leading sporting nation.
2. To transform the heart of East London
3. To inspire a generation of young people
4. To make the Olympic Park a blueprint for sustainable living
5. To demonstrate the UK is a creative, inclusive and welcoming place to live in, visit and for business.

I doubt that 1 and 3 will be achieved. Where is the evidence that building state of the art sports facility in a particular location and spending millions of pounds on elite athletes will achieve these aims. I've long argued that to turn the UK into a sporting nation and to gain the health and social benefits from this, what is important is the provision of infrastructure and other resource throughout the UK. The money being spent on the 2102 Games would be better spent on this. In my experience, people will take up sport if there are good facilities available nearby at an affordable cost. The availability of training is also important; funding coaching in schools would also be a better use of the resources. The argument that producing a few "stars" in athletics or whatever sport will transform the UK into a nsporting nation is fallacious - if I'm wrong in this assertion, please show me the evidence.

There is in my opinion too much focus on elite sport. We will only turn the UK into a sporting nation if we can encouarge the population to take up and participate in sport for most of their adult lives. In my experience, there is too much focus on identifying talent and streamlining that talent to the elite level of sport and not enought resource spent in encouraging mass participation.

nedafo - That is a fair point.

We will get the usual 2 weeks of people getting excited by sports they don't usually see or can even afford to take part in before the mainstream sports take over again or will there be enough facilities for kids attracted by Olympic winners to get invovled and be able to manage the cost.

Roger

Thanks for the response. I agree that it its not an either or situation. There is an element of chicken and egg here; can you have mass participation without role models and can you have excellence at elite levels without mass participation (tennis is an interesting example). My view for what it is worth is that while role models are important to encourage participation, access to training and facilities is more important. However, I'm not sure that this is reflected in the funding.

Off te top of my head, the UK's most sucessful Olympians ovwer the p[ast decade or so have been the likes of Chris Hoy, Brad Wiggins, Redgrave and Pinsent, Rebecca Addlington and Shirley Robertson. I have to doubt that may people have access to track cycling, rowing or sailing. I'll admit that swimming does have greater participation (although livbing in the North east of Scotland, I would need to take a 250 mile round trip to get to my nearest 50 metre pool - just ask Hannah Miley who comes from the area and trains in a 25 metre pool). I did row as a schoolboy and, bearing in mind the equipment costs, it is not surprising that the majority of the competition came from private schools. Indeed, it would be very interested to have some analysis of the schooling of the 2008 Olympic UK team - what proportion went to private/indepenedent schools as compared to the state sector. The point is that access to facilities and training in the private/indepenedent schools is way ahead of state schools. If we want mass particiaption in sport, children need to be encouraged at a young age to try a wide variety of sport. This needs funding for facilities and coaches. In my view, the emphasis should not be on identifying the few that may go on to excel but on allowing people to find a sport which they enjoy and can play at their own level well into adulthood.

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Veering off topic I know, but any planned live coverage from the 91Èȱ¬ tomorrow of the Olympics 2016 announcement at 6pm. This would clash with the 6 o'clock News, but will News 24 opt out to bring it us live and uninterrupted, or perhaps put it up on the red button?

Fingers crossed for Rio - still too soon IMO for them to return to America, just 20 years after Atlanta, and effectively for the third time in a generation considering the games were in LA just 12 years earlier.