OLYMPIC LEGACY
whether we like it or not. Just like the idea of building a legacy was in place long before the Game started, the trends for sport involvement, and the numbers of people participating is sport, has consistently grown since the Olympic bid was won back in 2005, with just under one and half million more people playing sport regularly. The important thing will be to keep
tabs on what happens over the next five years, ten years and beyond that. The slight drop off in people participating in sport may be down to the weather, but who’s to say that this same bad weather won’t carry on for years to come? We are not far away from the completion of the Olympic Village into homes for local residents, and when
fun fair you’ve ever been to, when it packs up and moves onto the next destination, what is leſt behind?
Just like the greatest
the Olympics. Since 2006, this figure had steadily been growing, but there has been a drop-off that has occurred almost exclusively among the 26+ age range, with 280,000 fewer people in that demographic playing sport since October.
Add to this the fact that nearly 30
and ideas – better all-round financially and ecologically – is a fantastic alternative to empty buildings going stale once the Games have moved on. London was the first Games to have a legacy plan in place well before the Games, with the organisation set up in 2009. Athens, for example, only got around to advertising for employees for their legacy office on the day of the opening ceremony in 2004. London has changed the way the Games will be planned and organised forever. But before we pat ourselves on the back and tell each how great we have all been, it isn’t all good news. A survey conducted by Sport England showed between October and April there had been a 220,000 drop in those active for at least 30 minutes once a week, among English people over the age of 16. There was also a year-on-year decrease between April 2012 and April 2013 following what had been a surge in the build-up to
of the sports that receive funding from Sport England have showed a decrease this year, when compared to last, and it becomes clearer that the legacy isn’t what it might be, not yet anyway. And this isn’t just for smaller, less well-followed sports, or even sports that Team GB didn’t excel in. Sports such as athletics and cycling, where Great Britain performed above and beyond expectation, have both suffered since last summer in terms of funding and newcomers up-taking their respective sports. The reverse of this, however, is that a sport such as swimming ,which fell somewhat flat at London 2012, has actually seen an increase in people taking it up, when compared to before the Games. It is important to stress, when it comes to topics like taking up new sports, and getting more people involved in sport and exercise, that having one of the coldest and wettest years for a long time will undoubtedly take its toll on involvement; it sounds like a clichéd excuse, but it is true
we are able to see how that influx of people affects the local area, the feeling and atmosphere it creates, the potential community that appears as a result, will we know if a legacy has been created in and around Hackney. From a purely personal point
of view, among my own friendship groups, there has definitely been an increase in the amount of sport my peers are doing. The usual football has been supplemented by plenty of cycling on their commute, as well as organising cycling routes and trips, not to mention the number of people participating in events like triathlons, Tough Mudder, marathons and alike, with all the training that goes along with it. The swimming pool that I go to regularly is busier than it has ever been - good and bad for me – and I would hedge a bet that it is the same for plenty of others. Essentially, it is a matter of “watch this space”. But it also has to be more than that, in the sense that we have to do more than watch. We must discuss, highlight, take part in, promote, encourage, and share, anything that we think will help. There is no point in sitting back and passing judgement, then complaining when things don’t go well; we’re in this together. A legacy isn’t something that just happens; it is something we must create together.
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