Tuesday, August 14, 2012

A PERMANENT OLYMPIC CITY


Boris Johnson: The London Mayor is the Biggest Winner of the Olympics
By CATHERINE MAYER | @catherine_mayer | August 13, 2012 | +TIME


BEN STANSALL / AFP / GETTY IMAGES
From left: London Mayor Boris Johnson holds the Olympic flag next to IOC president Jacques Rogge and Mayor of Rio de Janeiro Eduardo Paes during the handover at the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games in the Olympic Stadium in east London, Aug. 12, 2012.
When a rocket launcher trundled into the Olympic Stadium during the closing ceremony for the Games, my neighbor in the stands thought he had guessed the identity of the human cannonball who would shortly be propelled from its barrel. “It’s Boris,” he said. Wrong. The white-clad figure did indeed prove to be a blonde comedian, but it was Eric Idle, a founding member of Monty Python’s Flying Circus. Just days before, Boris—or to list the sackful of names London‘s mayor has shouldered since birth, Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson—had been left dangling after a failed attempt to ride a zip wire at an Olympic event. On this occasion, the greatest upstager in modern politics chose a more conventional route to the podium for his final Olympic duty, the handover of the flag to Rio, the 2016 host city. His appearance drew cheers of a volume equaled only by those that greeted the Spice Girls, all five of them, Baby, Ginger, Scary, Sporty and Posh . . . .

Peter’s Comment

Well done, Boris something-or-other Johnson, you did well. You did particularly well considering the ghastly setback that Londoners suffered right after the announcement that the 2012 Games would be held in your city. We won’t dwell on the left dangling episode at the opening.

But Boris, don’t you think that it’s time for a permanent Olympic City in international territory and preferably in a place suitable for both summer and winter Olympics?

London and Los Angeles put on well run events. Atlanta and Athens were less successful. All lost huge money on the event. Some businesses in Olympic cities do well from the Games, but we hear very little about other businesses that suffer losses because of the Games.

A permanent Olympic City (capital C) could close the gap between Games by hosting the event every two or three years and it could be available as an international center for training, conventions, entertainment and tourism at other times.

The Games could operate at a profit enabling poorer or remote nations to be given assistance with training and travel. 

What do readers think of this proposal?

No comments:

Post a Comment

BEYOND THE SEAS

This is my latest historical novel  Beyond the Seas When twelve-year-old orphan Nathaniel Asker is shipped from the back alleys of London to...