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Londons UK Olympics


bauhaus

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How does folk feel about the Olympics taking place over the border. Think they have been such a waste of money, as everthing cost so much more than what was projected, unlike the Commonwealth games which are being organised on budget ( at the moment ). Dont get me wrong, I do like to watch, but why oh why did we need to bid for these games when the costs drain the country of cash. I have through my work met about 12 people working on the London Olympics, ie full time employees benefiting out of the London games, and eh none of them were from the UK. Dutch, Spanish, Canadian, aMerican, Brazilian and a Sudanese guy. Are we really going to benefit from this open cheque book, and before anyone thinks its just the Olympics, I wouldnt have had the Commonwealth games either, it just seems the Scottish government has kept the costs a bit more realistic in the pricing, maybe a lesson learnt from the Edinburgh trams nightmare

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It is without doubt a great sporting occasion but in today's financial market it doesn't make an ounce of sense. Yes, many will benifit from it like hoteliers an tacky souvenier shops etc but I really think the money could have been spent on more important issues. I do like to watch some events but not all and find the hype surrounding the event unbearable. I'm affrain the media will spoil it for me and am getting peed off with the Olympics already and it hasn't even started yet. Anyway, the weather will spoil it anyway!

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To me....it was just an opportunity to spend yet more billions, upgrading infrastructure and facilities in London, under the guise of the Olympic games. Last i heard, they reckon the cost could be £30Bn. Wouldnt catch the Govt investing that amount anywhere else, other than London!

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London is really the only place that is going to benefit from this. Huge expense and for me the only people to benefit are those living in London itself. If there is any money made on their billions of pounds of investment then I cant seeing it being distributed equally on the taxpares that funded it!

May watch a few events on the telly but that will be the extent of my involvement

Edited by Libero
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Cost to taxpayer is about £11 billion. Lottery and sponsorship cover the rest. £11 billion is about £3 billion short of what it costs to run the health service. Some of the cash will be recouped by the sale of the lands and buildings that that make up the villages and additional stadia. The previous posters are correct in that there wont be any benifit to the rest of the UK. In fact these games could be detrimental to our tourist industry. Many many people, especially Americans, may be put off from making the journey to Britian because of the additional security measures and possible increased risk of terror attack.

Personally I think its an absolute waste of money at a time when the world economy is crashing down around us.

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When London was announced as the host city in 2005, the UK leaders all thought the economy was hunky dory. I like the Olympics. It's a great sportig event. However there's a few things I don't like:

First of all, I would prefer a Team Scotland instead of an amalgamation of 3.5 countries..

I don't like how Lord Coe et al have hi-jacked the Olympics to turn it into some sort of Royalist, aristocracal, Diamond Jubilee propganda.

This whole carrying the flame malarky. It's a good idea on paper - but not at a cost of millions of pound of tax payers money so that Princess Anne, David Beckham and Will.I.am / W.I.ll.Iam / William / Willy or what ever his name is can strutt their stuff.

Football is not an Olympic sport.

Tennis is not an Olympic sport.

Finally, ordering the Saltire flag to be removed from the roof of Hampden because 'Flags of countries not competing cannot be displayed' for me is highly offensive.

So, to sum it all up........

post-5792-0-68026200-1338230193.jpg

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Speaking as an Englishman, I think CC sums it up well. I like the Olympics but I don't like the same things CC doesn't like.

I do think some people underestimate the value of hosting the olympics. I am sure it will increase the interest of a lot of youngsters in a variety of sports and there will be a significant boost to the tourist industry and a legacy of facilities. Having said that, I think it really is impossible to judge the financial impact it will have. In England at least there will be a general feelgood factor about hosting the games and this may have a positive impact on health although absenteism will rise as folk take time off work to watch Tom Daley make a much bigger splash than he intends.

But the costs really are huge. I am all for the olympics but do they really have to be so expensive? The taxpayer really can't afford this. Mind you, had Rangers paid their tax bill things might be a little different. :tongueincheek:

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I am sick of people being sick of the Olympics.

I don't think its the games itself Chris, more the hype, media overkill and expense surrounding it all. Its especially worse down and it never out of the news.

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The cost is far beyond the quoted figures being given. Those are only the direct costs being met from the Olympic "budget" (hahaha). There's (hidden) billions being spent from other budgets (transport etc) over and above that.

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atos???

Atos S.A. are not sponsors of the Paralympics. They are Partners, they will make money as opposed to donate it, who are providing all the IT support. Atos Healthcare UK, who have the same parent company, are the ones responsible for the Work Capability Assessment farce that occurred recently and are run a a totally seperate company. People should also bare in mind that Atos Healthcare UK are a consultancy company and were hired and advised by the UK government. Though they of their staff had no experience in working with disability they were still hired as assessors. Most of the blame for that should lie at the door of No.10.

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  • 2 months later...

Cost to taxpayer is about £11 billion. Lottery and sponsorship cover the rest. £11 billion is about £3 billion short of what it costs to run the health service. Some of the cash will be recouped by the sale of the lands and buildings that that make up the villages and additional stadia. The previous posters are correct in that there wont be any benifit to the rest of the UK. In fact these games could be detrimental to our tourist industry. Many many people, especially Americans, may be put off from making the journey to Britian because of the additional security measures and possible increased risk of terror attack.

Personally I think its an absolute waste of money at a time when the world economy is crashing down around us.

Agree with you mate! I watched the whole closing ceremony trying to see our soltire (without success) !!

Can anyone tell me how many medals Scots won and in what sports, please ??

Jock.

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Cost to taxpayer is about £11 billion. Lottery and sponsorship cover the rest. £11 billion is about £3 billion short of what it costs to run the health service. Some of the cash will be recouped by the sale of the lands and buildings that that make up the villages and additional stadia. The previous posters are correct in that there wont be any benifit to the rest of the UK. In fact these games could be detrimental to our tourist industry. Many many people, especially Americans, may be put off from making the journey to Britian because of the additional security measures and possible increased risk of terror attack.

Personally I think its an absolute waste of money at a time when the world economy is crashing down around us.

Agree with you mate! I watched the whole closing ceremony trying to see our soltire (without success) !!

Can anyone tell me how many medals Scots won and in what sports, please ??

Jock.

The Olympics is for great Britain and not for individual nations. If your wanting your Scottish fix then watch the commonwealth games in Glasgow. Each nation is represented in that.
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Well i aired my views about the Olympics before hand being a huge expense at the hands of the tax-payers and a London-centric waste of money however I am the first one to admit that I was wrong and I quickly succumbed to the allure of the games. I pretty quickly found myself becoming more and more drawn to watching events and indeed willing each and every British athlete on. By the end of the games i couldnt get enough and was indeed disappointed when it all ended on Sunday. Thoroughly enjoyed the games and was indeed a breath of fresh air to see athletes competing for pride, honour and patriotism rather than the greed and dishonesty that accompanies our nations favourite sport football. Suprisingly football despite being one of my favourite sports to watch was the one i watched least of at the Olympics

Obviously delighted at how well the Scots did at the games too

Its certainly made me reconsider my opinions to events like this and the commonwealth games in glasgow is a much more appealing propspect to me now

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believe it was 13 medals Jock, 7 gold, of which several were part of a team, ie rowing, cycling. Mhairi Spence, the only "local" from Inverness was down about 15th or so in the Modern Pentathlon, but she is the current World Champion.

Overall I think the games were a success, but at what cost to the country.....tourism down huge amounts outwith London, economy will have suffered greatly, but we are being told we must all feel good about ourselves....huh, dont quite get that.

One abiding memory for me, apart from all of the Scottish successes, was the Welsh girl winning the martial arts gold and then running round the stadium with the welsh flag aswell as the union flag.

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Well i aired my views about the Olympics before hand being a huge expense at the hands of the tax-payers and a London-centric waste of money however I am the first one to admit that I was wrong and I quickly succumbed to the allure of the games. I pretty quickly found myself becoming more and more drawn to watching events and indeed willing each and every British athlete on. By the end of the games i couldnt get enough and was indeed disappointed when it all ended on Sunday. Thoroughly enjoyed the games and was indeed a breath of fresh air to see athletes competing for pride, honour and patriotism rather than the greed and dishonesty that accompanies our nations favourite sport football. Suprisingly football despite being one of my favourite sports to watch was the one i watched least of at the Olympics

Obviously delighted at how well the Scots did at the games too

Its certainly made me reconsider my opinions to events like this and the commonwealth games in glasgow is a much more appealing propspect to me now

Excellent post. I was lucky enough to get to Olympic Park twice last week ( Water Polo and Diving). It was brilliant to see how smoothly everything worked including trasport to/fro Stratford, entry through security, getting food. It was a real credit to the organizers. There was an incredible buzz about the Olympic Park. The 'gamesmakers'/volunteers were just amazing - really well trained, helful, cheerful - just a real credit to themselves and the country. Like most others I watched as much as I could on TV, and was enthralled by all of it.

You can't put a price on the 'feel good' factor the Games created for the country. I know there are lots of mean spirited people (including some on here) who will say it was all a waste of money, but I really think they are wrong. If the Commonwealth games are even half as successful it will be great for Glasgow and Scotland.

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believe it was 13 medals Jock, 7 gold, of which several were part of a team,

Just because someone was born in Scotland doesn't necessarily make them Scottish. 6 gold medals were won for team GB by athletes born outside the UK. This was an event for people eligible to represent GB and NI so there is really no point trying to claim Scottish medals. Let's wait till the commonwealth games when athletes who meet the eligibility criteria for Scotland and elsewhere can decide for themselves whether they want to be considered as Scottish or not. I have no doubt that on that basis Scotland will win more medals per head of population than the English.

I think the games have been brilliant. Team GB came 3rd in the medal table with significantly more gold medals than Russia and Germany who normally would be expected to be well ahead of us. Whilst the Government may have spent a lot of money on infrastructure, the athletes have been supported through the lottery and their achievements will hopefully inspire youngsters to try out a variety of different sports and we will have a healthier population as a result. Also, top marks to the BBC. Coverage has been superb - and still is through their website.

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believe it was 13 medals Jock, 7 gold, of which several were part of a team,

Just because someone was born in Scotland doesn't necessarily make them Scottish. 6 gold medals were won for team GB by athletes born outside the UK. This was an event for people eligible to represent GB and NI so there is really no point trying to claim Scottish medals. Let's wait till the commonwealth games when athletes who meet the eligibility criteria for Scotland and elsewhere can decide for themselves whether they want to be considered as Scottish or not. I have no doubt that on that basis Scotland will win more medals per head of population than the English.

I think the games have been brilliant. Team GB came 3rd in the medal table with significantly more gold medals than Russia and Germany who normally would be expected to be well ahead of us. Whilst the Government may have spent a lot of money on infrastructure, the athletes have been supported through the lottery and their achievements will hopefully inspire youngsters to try out a variety of different sports and we will have a healthier population as a result. Also, top marks to the BBC. Coverage has been superb - and still is through their website.

Agreed completely DD. For instance you've got Heather Stanning in the rowing whose has been claimed as a "Scottish Gold". Two significant problems there. Firstly she was one of an otherwise non Scottish team of 2 - just as the two canoeists were, and Hoy was one of a team of 3 and the gynmast guy was one of a team of four etc etc.

And even more significantly Heather Stanning was born in Yeovil of English parents who happened to relocate eventually to Lossiemouth and she attended a local school there (Gordonstoun.)

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believe it was 13 medals Jock, 7 gold, of which several were part of a team,

6 gold medals were won for team GB by athletes born outside the UK.

Yes, I was already wondering whether our 2012 Sports Personality of the Year will be the Belgian/Australian cyclist or the Somali runner! I'd go for the former.

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Over here in New Zealand ( a wee nation of 4.2 million people ) they are rejoicing over 6 well earned Gold medals. Australia ( population over 20 million ) only got 7 gold but won lots of silver medals prompting Aussies to state to Kiwis they meet that " silver is the new gold".

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