| |
|
|
London 2012 – The Body Language of a World City
In this essay, I am keen to address the phenomenal pride London should
exhibit in being elected to host the 30th Olympiad at the London 2012 Olympic
Games. In it I highlight:
• The need to look at the value as much as the cost of the Olympic Games
• The massive developments in Olympic governance since Montreal '76
• How I, as Mayor of London, would insulate Londoners from surcharge
• The benefits of 2012 to Londoners - physical, spiritual and emotional
• My job as Mayor.
The need to look at the value as much as the cost of the Olympic Games
All human cultures anywhere around the world have their high days, their holy
days and their days of atonement - however small their community. In an
increasingly hectic, depersonalized world, humans lose some of these
opportunities to nourish the soul.
To me, the Olympic Games is an opportunity for the world to get together, to
celebrate and to act - as it does so rarely - as a village. London, in 2012, will
have the privilege of offering the world its village green. As such, we will play
host to the world's attention and consciousness for a minimum of three weeks.
What an amazing opportunity for us all, if it is managed correctly and we
approach it in a constructive way.
Not only will London have the chance to celebrate excellence and
magnanimity in sport and organization, we will have a unique opportunity to
showcase every aspect of London's and the British economy - its people, its
skills, services, business methods and capabilities.
Marketeers around the world spend mind-blowing sums of money each year
to draw attention to their products and services. Britain will have a global
audience of 3 billion people who will be more aware afterwards about what
Britain has to offer them and the world than ever before. It would be hard to
put a long-term value on such a promotional opportunity.
Hosting the Olympic Games in 2012 will afford London the chance to
demonstrate via body language its status as a world city - a world leading
community. I am hugely excited by the prospect and, as Mayor of London, I
would devote my energies to ensuring prudent management of the Olympic
venues and organization, as well as ensuring that London hosted the Greatest
Exhibition of itself since the days of Crystal Palace in 1851.
Professionalization of the Olympic movement and governance
Having stated my enthusiasm for the Games, I am well aware that there is
apprehension if not out right opposition in some quarters to London hosting
the Olympics.
The "white elephant" syndrome is the biggest fear - viz the Olympic venue of
the Montreal Games in 1976, for which the city is still paying off its debts.
Since then, the governance of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has
changed dramatically. Its management of the games is now delegated to
commercial brains and is put in the hands of big-project professionals.
Rights management, such as television and sponsorship, has improved
beyond comparison, creating far more income to the host organizers. And the
knowledge bank - from massively successful Olympics in Sydney 2000 and
Athens 2004 - is an integral factor in the preparation of every host city and
serves as a road map to optimize operational efficiency. Nevertheless, I will
still want to be satisfied that the management and preparations are going to plan.
In any event, as Mayor of London, I will want to see that Britain as a whole
becomes a stakeholder in the Games, with the accompanying opportunities
and responsibilities that that involves. I believe the Games are for all of
Britain to enjoy and to be proud of. Consequently, I will not allow Londoners
to shoulder a disproportionate amount of the cost. The Exchequer will be
engaged - if not challenged - to play its part in sharing the load.
The benefits of 2012 to Londoners of hosting the Olympics
Britain's place in the world economically, politically, socially and culturally is
being threatened by aspirant countries and economies - China and India are
the obvious ones, but places like Dubai, Malaysia and other Asian economies
also have big ambitions.
Every now and again, Britain and London need to do things that say: "We are
world players; you will have to work very much harder to emulate us let alone
take us on." I am thrilled that the London 2012 Olympic Games will afford us
that chance.
In the meantime, the benefits to London are there for the taking. London's
infrastructure will enjoy considerable increases in expenditure in the build up
to 2012. Projects are finding private and public funding across the country in
anticipation of the London Olympics - sports facilities, swimming pools,
training sites and venues - as well as additional funds being available to host
high profile tournaments as extra preparation for our athletes in the lead up to
2012. Londoners are certainly not barred from physically participating and
attending as many of these facilities as they wish.
We have such a rich sporting heritage in this country; it is quite fitting that
London should host the greatest sporting event in the world. But there is also
a significant practical benefit of hosting the Games. Given the verging-onepidemic obesity issue we have in Britain, sport is clearly waning as a popular
activity. Any incentive or motivation to increase sporting activity and our
participation would be a hugely desirable contribution to national health.
Not only that, the wider educational and social benefits of sport could be
re-learned. Under the warped interventions in our education system by this
government - the bizarre notion that competitive sport creates psychological
disorder - means that the educational benefits of sport has been lost to an
entire generation.
As well as the health benefits, sport also teaches application, it motivates
people to learn and teaches them how to learn, it teaches interactive skills,
certain sports can teach teamwork and, most importantly of all, it teaches
people how to behave when they win and how to cope when they lose.
Removing any of these experiences from a child's education is the most shortsighted and counter productive way to prepare people for the real world.
Everyone in life faces a series of set backs; what kind of an education system
is it that doesn't prepare people to cope with these? Sport is a great
environment in which to condense most human experiences into a short
space of time in an atmosphere that is risk free.
Therefore, the proximity of the Olympic Games, and the accompanying role
models it will create, should, if harnessed correctly, re-fire people's interest in
sport. As Mayor of London I undertake to prioritize promoting this as a major
contributor to boosting people's interest in their health and their education.
Spiritually, hosting the Games gives us all a chance to feel proud of our
Capital and the impression the world will take from a first hand experience of
modern London. There isn't a family in the land that does not tidy up or try to
make a good impression when someone they want to impress is coming to
visit. London doing the same will give everyone an excuse to do this on a
massive scale. London will be seen at her best in the build up to and during the
Olympic Games.
Emotionally, London and Britain will enjoy spiritual rejuvenation from hosting
something of such prestige and with such a high profile. I have no doubt
whatsoever that this will show Britain and London off to our absolute best.
Pride is a powerful emotion and only pessimists and socialists find the need to
attach to it any form of guilt!
My job as Mayor of London
By now you will see that I am enthusiastic about the Olympic Games. As a
health professional I know how important sport can be for the body and the
mind. Nevertheless, as Mayor of London I believe that I will have certain
responsibilities in relation to the Games.
I have already mentioned the need to protect London financially. Although a
single city may host the Olympics, it is the whole country that benefits and it is
the whole country that should share the cost. I see this as a major priority in
protecting Londoners, especially with the current Mayor of London's cavalier
approach to financial management.
The Games are run by and are the financial responsibility of the Olympic
Organizing Committee (LOCOG) not the Mayor of London. I believe the role
of the Mayor is to represent the people of London and not to seek to become
the figurehead for the Games. LOCOG hosts the Games; the Mayor of
London should only take on the role of host, nothing more.
London 2012 will be a tremendous boost to those companies both in the
Capital and beyond who secure contracts in the building, management and
running of the Games. But I want to see all London businesses benefit. That
means finding every opportunity to present to the world the best we have to
offer, before, during and after the Olympic Games. I will encourage teams
from each business sector to come forward with ways in which they could use
the Games to highlight London and UK business opportunities.
Finally, the Olympic site is massive. Once the games are over I will want to
see the site handed over to the people of London and utilized sympathetically
and carefully, especially for those people who live locally and who have had to
bear the brunt of the disruption in the years leading up to 2012.
Summary
I believe that London hosting the 30th Olympiad in 2012 will be a lifetime high
point for our citizens. As Mayor of London, I will be a proud ambassador for
London, a cost-conscious observer, a gracious host and will do everything I
can to sell London to the rest of the watching world.
Above all, I will ensure that London 2012 is an excuse for every business to
maximize its international profile during the championships and help
Londoners remind other countries and business centres that they still have a
mountain to climb if they ever dare presume to London's eminence and place
in the world.
|
| |
|
