Tag: Olympics

XXII Day 4

When I get to it.

I got to it. ek is busy with canines. 😉 TMC

TV SChedule for Monday evening 2/10 – Tuesday afternoon 2/11

8:00 PM NBC: Alpine Skiing, Freestyle Skiing, Short Track

12:05 AM NBC: Short Track, Luge

1:05 AM NBC: Alpine Skiing, Freestyle Skiing, Short Track (Repeat of Prime Time)

3:00 AM NBCSP:  Curling, women’s: USA vs. Russia.

5:00 AM USA:  Curling, men’s: USA vs. China.

5:00 AM NBCSP:  Cross-country skiing: men’s and women’s individual sprint competitions.

6:00 AM NBCSP:  Cross-country skiing: men’s and women’s individual sprint gold medal finals.

10:00 AM MSNBC:  Hockey, women’s: Russia vs. Japan.

10:00 AM NBCSP:  Figure skating: pairs’ short program.

1:30 PM: NBCSP:  Ski jumping: women’s individual K-95 gold medal final; speed skating: women’s 500m gold medal final.

3:00 PM: NBC: Cross-country skiing: men’s and women’s individual sprint gold medal finals; luge: women’s gold medal final runs; freestyle skiing: women’s slopestyle.

5:00 PM CNBC:  Curling, women’s: USA vs. Great Britain.

5:00 NBCSP:  Hockey: Game of the Day.

8:00 PM NBC:  Snowboarding: men’s halfpipe gold medal final; figure skating: pairs’ short program; freestyle skiing: women’s slopestyle gold medal final; ski jumping: women’s individual K-95 gold medal final.

Medal Events for Monday 2/10

Alpine Skiing: Women’s Super Combined Slalom

Official Results

Gold: GER Maria HOEFL-RIESCH 2:34.62

Silver: AUT Nicole HOSP 2:35.02

Bronze: USA Julia MANCUSO 2:35.15

Biathlon: Men’s 12.5 km Pursuit

Official Results

Gold: FRA Martin FOURCADE 33:48.6

Silver: CZE Ondrej MORAVEC 34:02.7

Bronze: FRA Jean Guillaume BEATRIX 34:12.8

Short Track: Men’s 1500 m Finals

Official Results

Gold: CAN Charles HAMELIN 2:14.985

Silver: CHN Tianyu HAN 2:15.055

Bronze: RUS Victor AN 2:15.062

Speed Skating: Men’s 500 m Race

Official Results

Gold: NED Michel MULDER 69.312

Silver: NED Jan SMEEKENS 69.324

Bronze: NED Ronald MULDER 69.46

A sweep by the Netherlands and two brothers TMC

XXII Day 3

So Team USA goes 2 for 2 in Phineas and Ferb edge-of-insanity, kiss-your-butt-goodbye, gravity’s-a-stone-cold-sucker nightmare rail skate track obstacle course of doom and Russia schools in Team Figure Skating.

There’s a message in there somewhere but I’m not quite sure what it is.

    Time     Network Event
7 pm NBC Figure skating team event gold medal finals: ladies’ free skate, ice dancing free dance; alpine skiing: men’s downhill gold medal final; snowboarding: women’s slopestyle; ski jumping: men’s individual K-95.
11:35 pm NBC Luge: men’s singles gold medal final runs.
12:35 am NBC Figure skating team event gold medal finals: ladies’ free skate, ice dancing free dance; alpine skiing: men’s downhill gold medal final; snowboarding: women’s slopestyle; ski jumping: men’s individual K-95. (repeat)
3 am Vs. Curling, men’s: Germany vs. Canada.
4 am MSNBC Hockey, women’s: Finland vs. Canada.
5 am Vs. Hockey, women’s: USA vs. Switzerland.
7:30 am Vs. Speed skating: men’s 500m gold medal final.
11:15 am Vs. Luge: women’s competition; Curling, women’s: Sweden vs. Great Britain.
3 pm NBC Speed skating: men’s 500m gold medal final; biathlon: men’s 12.5km pursuit gold medal final.
3 pm Vs. Curling.
5 pm CNBC Curling, men’s: USA vs. Norway. (Yay!  Fancy Pants!)
5 pm Vs. Hockey: Game of the Day.

XXII Day 2

I suppose I should mention at this point that my listings come from Zap2It which has the great virtue of listing 3 hours at a time, though for this particular purpose I’m taking advantage of their days long by network presentation since there are only 4 channels I have to monitor- NBC, CNBC, MSNBC and Vs. (NBC Sports).

While Women’s Hockey and Curling are my sports of the Games, the ones I’m interested in over the next 24 hours are Slopestyle (aka Phineas and Ferb edge-of-insanity, kiss-your-butt-goodbye, gravity’s-a-stone-cold-sucker nightmare rail skate track obstacle course of doom), luge (let’s lie down on a Flexible Flyer and careen down an ice track at 80 miles an hour), and ski jumping (what can I say, my Dad did it and when he showed me the tree in the middle of the landing hill I asked if that was there when he was jumping and he said, “Oh yeah.  You just have to aim someplace else.”  Yoopers.)

Perhaps you’re looking for an alternative.  AMC has The Walking Dead, Bravo has Ocean’s Thirteen, tomorrow History has Ax Men.

Oh and tonight at 10 pm on CNBC we have Day 1 of the 138th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show which we will be live blogging.

No rest for the wicked.

(Update: Phew, Monday.  I thought so.  Did I mention Zap2It is not always accurate?)

    Time     Network Event
6 pm Vs. Hockey, women’s: USA vs. Finland. (repeat)
8 pm NBC Figure skating team events: ice dancing short dance, ladies’ short program; snowboarding: men’s slopestyle gold medal final; freestyle skiing: women’s moguls gold medal final.
midnight NBC Figure skating team event: pairs’ free skate; luge: men’s singles.
1 am NBC Figure skating team events: ice dancing short dance, ladies’ short program; snowboarding: men’s slopestyle gold medal final; freestyle skiing: women’s moguls gold medal final. (repeat)
3 am Vs. Hockey, women’s: Sweden vs. Japan.
5:30 am Vs. Cross-country skiing: men’s skiathlon gold medal final; speed skating: women’s 3000m gold medal final.
8 am MSNBC Hockey, women’s: Russia vs. Germany.
8:30 am Vs. Luge: men’s singles competition.
10 am Vs. Figure skating: team event gold medal final.
1 pm Vs. Ski jumping: men’s individual K-95 gold medal final.
2 pm NBC Figure skating team event: men’s free skate gold medal final; biathlon: women’s 7.5km sprint gold medal final; speed skating: women’s 3000m gold medal final; cross-country skiing: men’s skiathlon gold medal final.
4 pm Vs. Hockey.
5 pm Vs. Hockey: Game of the Day.
7 pm NBC Figure skating team event gold medal finals: ladies’ free skate, ice dancing free dance; alpine skiing: men’s downhill gold medal final; snowboarding: women’s slopestyle; ski jumping: men’s individual K-95.

Sochi Stray Dogs v the LOLympics

The saga of the Sochi stray dogs continues.

More information on how all the dogs in Sochi came to be without a home – and it was the Olympics’ fault in the first place. The nightmare continues. Keith explains.

But the dogs are getting their revenge.

The opening ceremonies in Sochi are complete. Great. Now here’s why you shouldn’t watch any more of the LOLympics.

We will continue to report on the games and the plight of the Sochi dogs.

Keith has tweeted:

You can find out how to adopt a Sochi Street Dog at the Humane Society International.

XXII Day 1

Short day unless you count the drunk who tried to hijack a plane.  Sigh.  Among the more embarrassing incidents in my life was flying to Tulsa for training with a notorious alcoholic.  Now I’m all for having a pop or a few before takeoff so I can sleep through an experience that at best is inferior to a Greyhound Bus ride but he was waaaay above Tranquility Base.  When our flight was called he got in a huge fight with the bar tender over a single drink (he was wrong and miscounted) and wouldn’t even accept it when I just plopped down the extra money (it only is you know) because ‘it was the principle of the thing’.

When we got to the gate we found out our flight was delayed an extra 2 hours so he parked our butts on the still warm stools and demanded another round.

“I’m not serving you.”

So the moral of the story is, don’t piss off the bar tender at the only bar on the plane side of the security checkpoint.

I’ll slink away now.

Olympics

    Time     Network Event
7:30 pm NBC Opening Ceremony
1:05 am NBC Opening Ceremony
3:00 am Vs. Hockey, women’s: USA vs. Finland.
5:30 am Vs. Cross-country skiing: women’s skiathlon gold medal final; speed skating: men’s 5000m gold medal final.
8:00 am MSNBC Hockey, women’s: Canada vs. Switzerland.
2:30 pm NBC Ski jumping: men’s individual K-95; biathlon: men’s 10km sprint gold medal final; speed skating: men’s 5000m gold medal final; cross-country skiing: women’s skiathlon gold medal final.
9:30 pm Vs. Figure skating team event: ice dancing short dance.
11:00 am Vs. Figure skating team event: ladies’ short program, pairs’ free skate.
6:00 pm Vs. Hockey, women’s: USA vs. Finland. (repeat)

I think I’ll be watching Gold Rush.

Twenty Two

Oh, where to begin.  Perhaps with the fact that Sochi is a sub-tropical beach resort and all the snow is manufactured.  In it’s own way that’s the perfect metaphor for the Potempkin Village that is the XXII Winter Olympiad.

It’s long been known that the International Olympic Committee is the most corrupt governing body in sports, eclipsing Bernie Ecclestone, FIFA, the NFL, Major League Baseball, and the World Wrestling Federation aggregated in a package.  Indeed this 18 day spectacle will cost more than all the previous Games put together, $51 BILLION, most of which is going into the pockets of Putin’s toadies, sycophants, and cronies because it sure isn’t going into the half finished hotels and venues or the stinky yellow water or the two toilet ‘lover’s stall’ bathrooms.

Then of course there’s the Phineas and Ferb edge-of-insanity, kiss-your-butt-goodbye, gravity’s-a-stone-cold-sucker nightmare rail skate track obstacle course of doom athletic safety issues that have competitors standing at the top of the hill debating whether a shot at what is basically just another Gold Medal that will gather dust in your trophy case until you blow it off to show your Grandkids (assuming you live that long) is worth a career and endorsement ending injury, and some are already saying- no.

There is the threat of terrorism delivered by the #1 sponsor of State terrorism, Saudi Arabia’s Prince Bandar “Bush”, who’s pissed off that because John Kerry’s an idiot who should never have been let near the State Department stupidly told the truth instead of lying the way the House of Saud instructed him and his boss Barack to and has made it impossible (so far) for Saudi backed Al-Queda elements to take over the Syrian government and maintain Saudi (and Wahabi Sunni) dominance in the oil trade under increasing pressure from Shia Iran to be the “swing” producer who can cover shortfalls in periods of high demand and dial back production to jack up the prices when necessary.  That’s why it’s soooo important we bomb, bomb, bomb Iran too.

Oh, and for the record I think Mohammed’s nephew had at least as good a claim to be his spiritual heir as any of the regional warlords they called Caliphs, not that as an atheist I believe in anything except the historical (but non-Western) record of 600 or so C.E.

Anyway, this threat has led Budwieser (Budwieser!) to scale back it’s sponsorship (though they’re contractually obligated for some things) and keep it’s executives away from Sochi where they had expected to do the usual round of boozing and schmoozing favored and potential clients.  Coca Cola on the other hand has no problem with private security guards prominently sporting the ‘Coke’ logo while they beat up protesters for LGBT rights and turn them over to the real cops for a nice Siberian vacation in the Gulag.

And let me state once again for the record that I think Mr. “Perky Nipples” Putin has some issues with his own fantasies.  Big game hunting?  Treasure diving?  Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it’s damn hypocritical which is I suppose the best you can say about a Lt. Colonel in the KGB who spent 16 years torturing and murdering people as a profession.

They are also killing dogs.

You may ask yourself, and I have, why I’ll be covering this at all.  My only answer does me no credit, which is that at the Olympics, every 4 years, you get to see some sports that you never see anyplace else.  For me it’s Curling and Women’s Hockey, you might be into Figure Skating or Biathalon.  Women’s Ski Jumping is making its debut and I’m looking forward to that, there are several technical reasons Women might (in time) come to dominate Ski Jumping just as they dominate long distance swimming today.

Here’s how it will work- every day at about 6 pm I’ll put up the schedule for the next 24 hours.  This will be at some disconnect with actual events because NBC is broadcasting most things on an at least 11 hour time delayed basis so if you have an ignorant friend you want to sucker into a bet you can play the ‘Wire’ scam from The Sting.  

I’ll try to include some suggested alternatives if you are boycotting.  I respect your convictions.

Events of interest that deserve live blogging will be live blogged.  If you’re following something and don’t wish to diary yourself, well, that’s what the comments section is for.

Tonight is fairly simple, Opening Ceremony (broadcast) is scheduled for tomorrow.  This evening we have footage of some sports that start early because of the short schedule of the Games.

8 pm NBC Figure Skating, Snowboarding, Freestyle Skiing

From Sochi, Russia. Figure skating team events: men’s short program, pairs’ short program; snowboarding: men’s and women’s slopestyle; freestyle skiing: women’s moguls.

(Slopestyle == Phineas and Ferb edge-of-insanity, kiss-your-butt-goodbye, gravity’s-a-stone-cold-sucker nightmare rail skate track obstacle course of doom)

Repeats at 1:30 am and 3 am.

The Stray Dogs of Sochi

This will break your heart

Thank you, Keith

Racing to Save the Stray Dogs of Sochi

By David M. Herszenhorn, The New York Times

SOCHI, Russia – A dog shelter backed by a Russian billionaire is engaged in a frantic last-ditch effort to save hundreds of strays facing a death sentence before the Winter Olympics begin here. [..]

“We were told, ‘Either you take all the dogs from the Olympic Village or we will shoot them,’ ” said Olga Melnikova, who is coordinating the rescue effort on behalf of a charity called Good Will, which is financed by Oleg V. Deripaska, one of Russia’s billionaire oligarchs.

“On Monday we were told we have until Thursday,” Ms. Melnikova said.

A “dog rescue” golf cart is now scouring the Olympic campus, picking up the animals and delivering them to the shelter, which is really an outdoor shantytown of doghouses on a hill on the outskirts of the city. It is being called PovoDog, a play on the Russian word povodok, which means leash. [..]

Mr. Deripaska, an industrialist who largely made his fortune in aluminum, provided $15,000 to get the shelter started on land donated by the local government. He has also pledged about $50,000 a year for operations. He was also one of the major investors in the Sochi Games and paid for several huge projects, including an overhaul of the airport, a new seaport and the Olympic Village along the coast.

With the Olympics fast approaching, however, there was simply no time to build an indoor space for the shelter, especially because so much work remained to be done on hotels and other buildings for the Games. [..]

All of the dogs entering the shelter receive medical treatment, including vaccinations. All of them will be eligible for adoption, even to fans attending the Olympics. Spared execution – at least for the moment – the animals at the PovoDog shelter barked in a loud chorus as the sun slowly dropped into the Black Sea, which could be viewed in the distance.

According to the article, this is tarnishing the warm and cuddly image of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.Mahatma Gandhi (Indian Statesman and Philosopher)

XXX Olympiad: Closing Ceremonies

Spoiler Alert!

Acutally it’s been on live for a while now and streaming on the web, but I prefer to ‘enjoy’ it in the same manner as my readers, tape delayed.

Which I wouldn’t have minded so much if they’d just published an accurate schedule.

I got to see most of my weird and wacky favorites at least once and caught some of the pivotal moments though I didn’t let it dominate my life.  Title IX really showed its impact at these Olympics making up for some disappointments in areas of traditional strength.

In addition to being more entertaining, the men are grim relentless joyless competitors.

We are once again reminded that most subjective judging is thoroughly corrupt and that amateur umpires and referees make mistakes too often for all of them to be deliberate.  Again we see the demonstrated jingoistic bias and shallow understanding of traditional USA television, but…

Sometimes you get to see something surprising or inspirational or amusing that you’d be disappointed to have missed.  79 Nations got some medal, 50 got at least 1 Gold.

London 2012: A Gold Medal, or An Also-Ran?

The International Herald Tribune

August 12, 2012

There was anonymity. A U.S. shooter, Kimberly Rhode, 33, won her fifth medal at her fifth straight Olympics. No American has ever done that in an individual event, but almost nobody noticed. Her gun was stolen from her car after the 2008 Olympics, then she had a breast cancer scare. Is she on for 2016? You bet.



There were breakthroughs. Oscar Pistorius ran on prosthetic legs and Caster Semenya won the silver medal in the women’s 800 meters. And the Earth continued to spin on its axis. Women boxed for the first time. Three holdout nations – Qatar, Brunei and Saudi Arabia – finally gave up their gender apartheid in sports and allowed women to compete.



“The I.O.C. is making a huge fuss about her being here – their spin is that Olympic sports are opening the door for women, especially Arabic women. Which is kind of a joke,” the observer said. “I think these girls are being propped up by the I.O.C. as their token Islamic female participants.”

I’d really rather skip the Superbowl Spectaculars in favor of rewatching my dvred Bissel Kitty Halftime shows, but they’re not going to be talking about that at the coffee machine tomorrow.

Rule Britannia: Olympic closing ceremony explained

By JILL LAWLESS, Associated Press

22 minutes ago

Organizers say the ceremony will be a celebration of British music “from Elgar to Adele.” Many viewers will have heard of Adele, the big-voiced singer who won six Grammys with her album “21.” Edward Elgar was the composer of the “Pomp and Circumstance” marches and the “Enigma Variations.” His composition “Nimrod,” regarded as quintessentially English, was played at the opening ceremony of the London Games – one of several elements linking the first night of the Olympics with the last.

From there, the ceremony explodes in a kaleidoscope of musicians and eras – from 1960s Mods with The Who, to the 1990s “girl power” of the Spice Girls.



British humor has a big role in the closing ceremony, with an appearance by Eric Idle of iconoclastic comedy troupe Monty Python’s Flying Circus. Expect surreal visual juxtapositions as he sings “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life,” the jaunty but sardonic ditty from the film “Monty Python’s Life of Brian.”

London Olympics: Preview of closing ceremony

By Lisa Dillman, Los Angeles Times

August 12, 2012

Like the opening ceremony, much of what will happen is being kept under wraps. But a few details have trickled out, and some interesting people have been spotted around town, so we can make a few educated guesses.

How else can you explain the rumored appearance of Muse and One Direction?



Annie Lennox, Kate Bush and Kaiser Chiefs, if they appear, could help the gala nudge into bronze-medal territory, up from the DNF zone.



Exact details are kept secret, but expected to perform are Adele, George Michael, the Who, Muse, Spice Girls, Pet Shop Boys, Annie Lennox and Fatboy Slim. No word yet if Sir Elton will be there.

There was one act I heard they were unable to book-

More Spoilers.

XXX Olympiad- Day 19

We close our final day of competition with the Men’s Volleyball Final.  We’ll be having a separate piece on the Closing Ceremony tonight.

Broadcast Schedule

Time Network Sport Competitors
6 am NBC Men’s Marathon (Medal) all
6 am Vs. Men’s Basketball (Bronze) (Medal) ARG v RUS
7 am MS Men’s Water Polo USA v AUS
7:30 am Vs. Men’s Handball (Bronze) (Medal) HUN v CRO
8:30 am MS Cycling (Men’s BMX Final) (Medal) all
8:30 am CNBC Boxing (Men’s Fly, Light, Welter, Light Heavy, Super Heavyweight Finals) (Medal) all
9 am Vs. Modern Pentathlon (Women’s Fencing and Swimming) all
9:30 am Vs. Men’s Water Polo (Bronze) (Medal) SRB v CRO
10 am NBC Men’s Basketball (Final) (Medal) USA v ESP
10 am MS Wrestling (Freestyle) all
10:30 am Vs. Men’s Handball (Final) (Medal) SWE v FRA
12:30 pm NBC Men’s Water Polo (Final) (Medal) CRO v ITA
12:30 pm Vs. Men’s Volleyball (Bronze) (Medal) BUL v ITA
2:30 pm NBC Wrestling (Freestyle 66kg, 96kg Final) (Medal) all
2:30 pm Vs. Modern Pentathlon (Women’s Riding and Combined) all
3:30 pm Vs. Men’s Basktball replay
4 pm NBC Men’s Volleyball (Final) (Medal) RUS v BRA
7 pm NBC Prime Time (Closing Ceremonies)

All this is sourced through the NBC Olympics broadcast schedule.

Competitions designated by (Medal) will award winners that day.  ‘all’ means not specified.  Sometimes NBC especially does mashups and doesn’t include event or competitor information.  Elimination means no round robin, one and done.

These schedules are a place for you to make sure you don’t miss a sport you like and share your observations.  Have fun today!

XXX Olympiad- Day 18

Well, I’m almost sure you’re not up to watch Taekwondo.

UConn Huskies

UConn Husky, symbol of might to the foe.

Fight, fight Connecticut, It’s vict’ry, Let’s go. (go. go. go)

Connecticut UConn Husky,

Do it again for the White and Blue

So go--go--go Connecticut, Connecticut U.

C-O-N-N-E-C-T-I-C-U-T

Connecticut, Conneticut Husky, Connecticut Husky

Connecticut C-O-N-N-U!

C’mon, sing along.  You know you want to.

Broadcast Schedule

Time Network Sport Competitors
8 am Vs. Taekwondo (Finals and Qualifying) (Medal) all
10 am NBC Canoe/Kayak (Last call, Flatwater Men’s 200m K-1 & 2, C-1, Women’s 200m K-1 Finals) (Medal) all
10 am vs. Men’s Football (Final) (Medal) BRA v MEX
10 am MS Modern Pentathlon (Fencing & Swimming) all
10:30 am MS Men’s Field Hockey (Bronze) (Medal) AUS v GBR
10:30 am NBC Women’s Volleyball (Bronze) (Medal) KOR v JPN
noon Vs. Track & Field (Women’s 20km Walk) (Medal) all
noon MS Women’s Basketball (Bronze) (Medal) AUS v RUS
12:30 pm NBC Cycling (Women’s Mountain Bike) (Medal) all
1 pm NBC Rhythmic Gymnastics (Individual Final) (Medal) all
1:30 pm MS Modern Pentathlon (Riding, Combined) (Medal) all
2 pm NBC Cycling (Women’s Mountain Bike) (Medal) all
2 pm Vs. Women’s Handball (Medal) KOR v ESP
2 pm NBC Wrestling (60kg, 84kg, 120kg Freestyle) all
2 pm MS Taekwondo (Men’s 80kg, Women’s 67kg) all
2:30 pm NBC Cycling (Women’s Mountain Bike) (Medal) all
3 pm NBC Retrospective Special
3 pm MS Men’s Field Hockey (Final) (Medal) NED v GER
3:30 pm Vs. Women’s Handball (Final) (Medal) NOR v MNE
3:30 pm CNBC Boxing (Men’s Finals, Light Fly, Bantam, Light Welter, Middle, Heavyweight) (Medal) all
4 pm NBC Women’s Basketball (Final) (Medal) USA v FRA
5:30 pm Vs. Taekwondo (Final) (Medal) all
8 pm NBC Prime Time (Track & Field (Men’s 4x100m and Women’s 4x400m Final), Diving (Men’s Platform Final), Women’s Volleyball Final) (Medal) all
12:30 am NBC Late Night (Wrestling Men’s Freestyle 60kg, 84kg, 120kg Final) (Medal) all
1:30 am NBC Prime Time repeat
3 am CNBC Boxing repeat

All this is sourced through the NBC Olympics broadcast schedule.  Last  Day of competition starts at 6 am tomorrow.  

Competitions designated by (Medal) will award winners that day.  ‘all’ means not specified.  Sometimes NBC especially does mashups and doesn’t include event or competitor information.  Elimination means no round robin, one and done.

These schedules are a place for you to make sure you don’t miss a sport you like and share your observations.  Have fun today!

Olympic losers – the misery of past hosts

Lee Wellings, Al Jazeera

August 6, 2012

The most senior Australian member of the International Olympic Committee, former Olympian Kevin Gosper has said the failure to win gold medals results from cuts to government funding of Olympic sports in 2009.

‘You’ve got to put money in there. That pays for coaches, it pays for international competition. It’s the difference between gold and silver.’

But Australia are not the only nation suffering funding cuts in these austere times.

Spain’s Olympics so far has been grim – 39th in the medal table at the time of writing. I’ve seen and spoken to Spanish supporters in the Olympic Park and spirits remain high amongst people whose football team dominate the world.

At these Olympics their football team was eliminated without scoring a goal – summing up their first 10 days at the Games where no golds and just three medals came their way.



Which brings us to Greece. Hosts eight years ago they have just two bronzes to show for their efforts so far and are out of the top 50 in the medals table. They brought a team weakened to just over 100 members by the crippling economic problems and their modest performances are completely unsurprising.

So bad were their finances after the Athens games that the IOC have had to acknowledge the part of the Olympics in their demise. They told me the problems in Greece are less than two per cent because of them hosting. Less than two per cent of Greece’s debt amounts to a big problem.



Greece, Spain, Australia. Three of the last five Olympic hosts with one gold between them.

It’s a warning to governments in any host nation from Britain to Brazil.

The Elusive Economic Lift of the Olympics

By JOSHUA MILLS, The New York Times

August 10, 2012

Playing host to the Olympics rarely turns out to be an economic benefit for a country or city, and sports economists have convincingly documented how silly the expectations sometimes are, as Nick Watanabe of the University of Missouri did with regard to the London Games (“Yeah, so if we don’t include costs, there is a profit”).

Part of the faulty calculation is a disposition to focus on revenue and ignore many of the costs – particularly the indirect ones, needed to address increases in traffic and thus pollution; crime, littering and so on.



When the Bloomberg administration was pushing hard for New York City to get the 2012 Games, it insisted that a new Olympic stadium would need to be built on Manhattan’s West Side – despite the presence in the metro area of three major stadiums. It also wanted to build a multimillion-dollar equestrian arena on Staten Island (which would be used for what after the Olympics?) despite the presence of Belmont and three other horse-racing tracks.



Chicago, with the enthusiastic support of Barack Obama, pushed for the 2016 Olympics, and its officials said a new Olympic stadium was needed, despite two major-league baseball stadiums and Soldier Field, a football stadium (home of the Chicago Bears) that was recently renovated.



Another piece of the faulty calculation of Olympic benefits is they often fail to acknowledge the displacement of other economic activity. The Greek government and Greek businesses invested billions of dollars to hold the 2004 Games – and while they drew full houses, tourism in Greece was down for the year, because so many people stayed away and many promised improvements were never made (though Athens did gain a much-needed subway system).



In effect, rather than creating new economic activity, spending is shifted from one segment to another. Sports economists have been documenting this for decades.

And that’s to say nothing of the cost overruns that come with almost every major construction project and the upkeep needed in subsequent years to keep athletics facilities clean, safe and functional. Sydney is spending millions each year. The wonderful velodrome built in London will undoubtedly be used by cyclists – but how many and how often and at what cost?



As public schools are increasing class sizes and dropping music and arts programs, firehouses are being closed and infrastructure is failing, how does being the host of the Olympic Games makes economic sense?

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