Legacy is key after this mad and memorable celebration

It seemed so obvious: London would host the 2012 Olympics and the surge of interest would inspire a whole new generation to take up running, cycling, rowing or whatever.

A nation crazy about watching sport would become a nation mad about taking part in it too.

London 2012 bid leaders made a big deal out of it, promising in Singapore that the youth not just of Britain but of the world would be inspired. There was, and is, one big problem: it doesn’t just happen like that and Hugh Robertson, the Olympics and sports minister, is well aware of the challenge.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“I wouldn’t for a moment underestimate the difficulty of what we are trying to do. No previous host city has managed to boost participation on the back of an Olympic Games so we have set ourselves an incredibly difficult challenge,” he said. “I don’t think anyone appreciated that it is like turning around a tanker. We are looking at long-term increases in participation, not short-term.”

The figures about increases in participation in sport have not been encouraging. The previous government committed first to getting two million people more active, then one million more people playing sport, and then that was watered down again to one million more people playing more sport.

So is Robertson fighting a pointless battle? He insists not.

“Clearly we want to win medals and World Cups but I also want a real focus on extending the opportunities for mass participation in sport. It is the right challenge to set. This is the most important thing in sport and I think the ‘Whole Sport Plan’ being run by Sport England is right.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

There are many different aspects to legacy of course, and to focus on just sporting participation misses other key areas.

Legacy in terms of bricks and mortar is just as important: permanent facilities such as a velodrome, aquatics centre and a modern athletics stadium which London has, for bizarre historical reasons, been without. Many of the Olympic sporting facilities will also be used on a daily basis by communities and schools.

The other benefit is in funding with the £125m in Lottery cash that UK Sport distributes to Olympic sports continuing through to 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.

There is also the small matter of national pride, something that Robertson believes will swell noticeably over the next year.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Pride in the Olympics is incredibly difficult to quantify and is tied up with our national character,” he said. “In this country we tend to come to the party a little bit later than some other nations but I believe when the Olympics arrive people are really going to embrace it – I think it’s going to be mad and memorable.”

Related topics: