Are the Olympics worth it?

William Pham

News

The Olympics: a source of national pride and an opportunity for athletes around the world to showcase their talent. But what many don’t know is that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is riddled with corruption. Host countries consistently blow up their budgets, and facilities are abandoned after the games. As the 2022 Winter Olympics start in Beijing, is hosting the Olympics truly a good investment in the country, or is it a waste of public funds?

Athens 2004

Athens hosted the 2004 Summer Olympics, setting a budget at around 5 billion euros (about $8 billion CAD). Due to cost overruns and delays in construction, it is estimated the Greek government spent over $11 billion euros (about $17 billion CAD) solely on stadium construction and planning. Even though it is considered a “success” by the IOC, the effects of such exorbitant spending are still seen in the economy today, 17 years later. In fact, has been cited as one of the key contributors to the Greek government-debt crisis. Due to years of economic mismanagement, the Greek government and Greek banks were unable to repay debts, causing the Greek government to cut government services.

Rio de Janeiro 2016

In 2009, Rio was selected to host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. There were many controversies and concerns surrounding Rio’s capabilities of hosting the games. These include the Zika virus outbreak, crime in Rio’s favelas, and political and financial instability in Brazil. The budget set aside for the games was $4.5 billion and, in the span of seven years, ballooned to a whopping $21.3 billion. As the Zika virus crisis continued to spread across most of Brazil, the Brazilian government allocated more funds to the Olympics than the public health crisis itself.

17 days before the Olympics, the Maracanã Stadium, home to the opening and closing ceremonies, lost power, and the State of Rio declared a state of financial emergency. Water samples taken from Guanabara Bay, where sailing and boating events were scheduled to take place, were contaminated with multiple drug-resistant bacteria, resulting in many athletes to drop out. During the games, money was cut from schools, police, and many public institutions to account for financial overruns.

Rio failed to meet promises to clean up favelas, and forcibly evicted low residents wherever they thought necessary. Rio’s venues remain abandoned and crumbling only five years after the games. Guanabara Bay continues to be contaminated with sewage, bacteria, and deadly viruses. The Olympic Village, which was supposed to become elite housing for the rich, remains vacant. Parks and recreation centres built for the Olympics in this area have been chained up, inaccessible to the public.

Financial Mismanagement

The Olympics has caused many cities to go bankrupt. The last time the Olympic Games made a profit was in Nagano in 1996. Since then, every event has gone over budget and resulted in a net loss for the host city. Rio’s municipal government has been unable to recover running debts to support vital services like healthcare and education. Additionally, bidding to hold the Olympics is expensive, costing cities years of planning and millions of dollars. Chicago spent over $188 million CAD to bid for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. This is yet another cost host cities must take on.

The Real Winners: the IOC

The IOC has a history of economic mismanagement and corruption. During the 1992 Olympics, only 4% of the $220 million USD generated went to the IOC, compared to 2016 Rio, where 70% of the 2 billion USD of revenue generated went to the IOC. Countries often bribe IOC members to ensure their hosting of the Games. In 2001, Toronto lost their bid for the 2008 games to Beijing, after it was revealed members of the IOC had taken millions of dollars of bribes from the Chinese government.

The Rich Get Richer

In 2014, Oslo announced their bid for the 2022 games. This placed them as a front runner, due to their advanced winter sports infrastructure. However, the IOC made demands to ensure Oslo could host. This included a cocktail reception with the royal family with drinks paid for by the city, road lanes exclusively for use by IOC members, and priority treatment at airports and hotels hosting IOC members. IOC also "demanded control over all advertising space throughout Oslo" to be used exclusively by IOC's sponsors. These demands were leaked to the public, resulting in Oslo dropping their bid.

The Future of the Olympics

Less cities have bid for future Olympics. Los Angeles was the only city to bid for the 2028 Summer Olympics. Only two cities bid for this year’s Olympics, Beijing, China and Almaty, Kazakhstan, with Beijing, where it never snows, being selected. Toronto has pulled their bids for the 2024 and 2028 Olympics due to the cost, and may not bid again until 2032. Thomas Bach, the President of the IOC, has proposed to include sustainability as a key factor in the selection of a host city for future games, but only time will tell if these changes will be implemented. Time and time again, the Olympics are embroiled in scandals and financial mismanagement. Are the Olympics worth it?