TALKING POINT
House of Lords report on Olympic legacy
T
he UK government needs to provide clear, strong leadership and appoint a minister with
responsibility for producing legacy benefits – or the positive effects of hosting the London 2012 Olympic Games could be lost. That is the key message of the final report by the House of Lords Select Committee on Olympic and Paralympic Legacy. It also calls for strong and sustained cross-party co-operation
to ensure lasting benefits and for different government departments to work more closely with each other on legacy matters. Worryingly, the report – entitled
Keeping the flame alive; the Olympic and Paralympic Legacy – finds “little evidence” of increased participation in sport and states that there has been an uneven distribution of economic benefits of the Games across the UK.
There was also criticism of UK Sport’s
“no compromise” approach to funding Olympic and Paralympic sports – stating that it will lead to a growing gap between the sports which already do well and those which have little realistic prospect of developing in the next few years. Here, we speak to key industry figures on the findings, as well as Lord Harris of Haringey, the chair of the Lords Select Committee.
BORIS JOHNSON Mayor of London
L
ondon’s Olympic and Paralympic legacy planning has been recognised as a blueprint for future host cities; and we are on track to succeed where
virtually no other host city has, by delivering a long- lasting legacy for Londoners. The legacy of London 2012 means we have secured
£11bn worth of economic benefit to the UK in just 18 months, a target achieved two and a half years ahead of schedule. We have already secured the long-term future of all eight Olympic and Paralympic venues. The former Olympic stadium’s status as a multi-use venue, anchored by football, but home to some of the world’s biggest sporting events, is unparalleled in Olympic legacy history. We also welcome the recent call for the Mayoralty
to have stronger powers to lead on the delivery of regeneration in east London. Regeneration and the legacy from the Games is delivering 11,000 new homes and 10,000 jobs in the Olympic Park, £6.5bn of investment in transport, a record number of overseas tourists visiting London and the skills and work experience for 70,000 Londoners from under-represented groups needed in the pursuit of jobs in the future.
received from the government and The National Lottery. UK Sport is responsible and accountable for investing
B
the right resources, in the right athletes and sports, for the right reasons, to develop the performance system which will secure the medals to make the nation proud. We invest to create winners; British Olympic and Para-
lympic medallists that the entire nation can unite behind. We’re committed to an ambitious goal for Rio, to become the first nation to be more successful in both Olympic and Paralympic Games post hosting, by winning more medals and delivering a stronger, more sustainable system for high performance sport in the UK to support and inspire the next generation of athletes. Our investment decisions are aligned behind this goal
and to ensure that they are fair and transparent, we’ve published Investment Principles which are applied to individual and team sports on a meritocratic basis focused on future medal potential. UK Sport is determined to support all sports and athletes with realistic medal poten- tial throughout all future Olympics – summer and winter. Our view is that our ‘no compromise’ approach to
The report wants the Mayor’s office to be given more control of legacy 20 Read Sports Management online
sportsmanagement.co.uk/digital
investment, which has led to the transformation of our athletes’ performances at Olympic and Paralympic Games over the past 15 years, is fundamental to ensuring we continue this success. To abandon this now, and effectively dilute our focus, would enable other nations, who want to replicate our success, to seize upon the opportunity.
LIZ NICHOLL
CEO UK Sport
ritish Olympic and Paralympic high performance sport is in a better position than ever before, thanks to the on-going record investment we’ve
Issue 4 2013 © cybertrek 2013
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