£9 billion, £10 billion, £11 billion. Whatever the final cost of the Olympic Games in London, it's hard to get your head around what that actually gets you.
On the face of it, it's a huge sum of money and many will associate it directly with the finished products like the velodrome, the stadium and the aquatic centre.
What's less understood perhaps is the level of investment in the things you don't see, such as the cleaning of the river Lee, the demolition of the existing structures on the site or the decontamination of millions of tonnes of earth for the vast swathes of new natural landscaping.
Permanent or temporary, the effects of London 2012
will be felt for a long time to come
These grand visual gestures are one thing, but it was the smallest attention to every detail that surprised me when watching each of the sports on offer during the 16 days.
It's clear that the games organisers brought specialists from each participating sport to set out the requirements for that event, it's venue and it's participants. What's great about that is that it meant every sport had a unique feel and a different approach to how it was run.
Take the beach volleyball. Enjoyed by many and a real hit of the Games for more obvious reasons than others, the venue at Horseguards Parade had a real carnival atmosphere. Dancers would invade the sand at time outs and between sets, while the crowd would join spontaneous conga lines and dance around the tiers. There was a real, if slightly stereotyped feel of Copacabana beach in the heart of London, synonymous with the sport and contributing to it's overall success.
This level of detail was also laid on for those of us watching events through the tube. In the basketball, the logo 'Inspire A Generation' was written on the inside of the hoops, seen only by the small camera located behind the backboard and those watching the pictures they provided. It's the kind of thing you may not normally think of, but those more accustomed to the professional game would advise on as it's a popular place for commercial slogans or adverts as some who watch the NBA regularly would recognise.
Whatever the final sum of the games, it's far better to think it as the summation of hundreds of thousands of smaller things, from beach volleyball dancers & DJ's to basketball hoops. Of course, some things have bigger impacts than others and many will be taken away now the Games have concluded, but the effect that this level of organisation and expense has had is both literal in it's impact on East London and figurative as we fondly remember the little things that combined to make a truly impressive Olympic Games.
The more I think about it, the more value it appears to have been. I just hope the effect of this intense focus of expenditure and organisation is far further reaching and a lot longer lasting.
Dugald, good article. There was a bit of me that would have enjoyed the OGs having one or two wee problems in their delivery. Such as over budget, behind schedule, delays on getting in, transport issues or maybe some wee technical hitch - nothing that would impact on competitors you understand. But nothing, zilch, nada just positivity throughout and you know what I can't be anything other than complimentary about the whole shooting match. They were great and the coverage excellent. I hope the legacy is real and good and that the many sports benefit from the feel good factor.
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