Why Don’t Cities Want The Olympics?
The Inquiry
BBC
4.6 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 16 August 2016
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The Olympic Games has a problem. In recent years the number of cities entering bids to host either the Winter or Summer Olympics has dropped dramatically. For the 2004 Summer Olympics, 12 cities bid. For the 2024 summer Games, there are only four cities running.
The 2022 Winter Olympics bidding cycle saw just two cities compete - winners Beijing, China and Almaty, Kazakhstan - after the other five cities that expressed an interest pulled out due to public and political opposition. And in cities that are hosting, the Olympics has been met with hostility.
Protesters tried to put out the Olympic torch in Rio, and in Tokyo public outcry at the cost of the stadium for 2020 has led to a complete redesign. Four expert witnesses pin-point exactly what is putting off potential host cities and discuss radical solutions.
(Image 'No Boston Olympics' permission from Liam Kerr and Chris Dempsey)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is Ruth Alexander with the inquiry. |
| 0:05.0 | A surfer rides the waves of the inquiry. |
| 0:10.0 | A surfer rides the waves off Macomba Beach in Brazil. The crowd cheers as he comes |
| 0:18.4 | on to shore. In his hand is the Olympic torch. The greatest show on earth has come to Rio de Janeiro. |
| 0:26.0 | It's a huge incentive for young and old people alike. |
| 0:35.0 | We're all very excited and confident for these games in Brazil. |
| 0:39.0 | Despite Rio's enthusiasm, cities around the world are turning their backs on the Olympics. |
| 0:46.0 | The city to organize the Olympic Games of the year 2004 is Athens. |
| 0:55.0 | When Athens was chosen to host the Olympics almost 20 years ago, |
| 0:59.0 | 12 cities had been in the running. |
| 1:02.0 | A few years later, when the games were awarded to |
| 1:04.5 | London. The number of cities competing had dropped to nine. Today it's four. One city Hamburg considered it but held a referendum and the people said no. |
| 1:17.0 | As for the Winter Olympics of the six cities that were recently in the running, four pulled out. |
| 1:22.0 | Just two cities were left in the running, four pulled out. Just two cities were left in the race, |
| 1:24.8 | Almati in Kazakhstan and the winners... |
| 1:27.8 | Beijing! |
| 1:28.8 | So in this week's edition of the inquiry, we ask, why don't cities want to host the Olympics? Part 1, the Scare Story. |
| 1:47.0 | The Scare Story. I was once introduced as a speaker and identified as a person who had worked on the Olympics and I got booed. |
| 2:01.0 | Our first expert witness Paul Howell helped stage the |
| 2:06.8 | 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, Canada. He's written a book about it, |
| 2:11.8 | the Montreal Olympics, an insider's view of self-financing games. |
| 2:16.0 | You don't have the book, you should buy it. |
... |
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