Were the Olympics worth £9 billion?

[brixtonA23]

I have to say yes. £9 billion (without mentioning the financial sector) can go a long way to help people who need it. But to unite a country and show why sport is so important and to create memories, then £9 billion, fair enough. I obviously don't support West Ham before you ask.

 

[Prettyboyshaw]

Yes brilliant event whole country behind it (well 99%) real feel good factor, plenty of benefits to the economy that would have probably got near covering the bill and showed the world we are still a great nation.

 

[LU7 RED]

Yeah - we can't let money rule our lives ALL the time can we? Need to put a price on memories etc..

OK I'm biased as I ran in the test event (steeplechase) in the OS after the opening ceremony and 2 days before the athletics started - and had a ticket for Super Saturday

Still worth it I reckon, but what legacy it will leave lifestyle wise, not so sure...

 

[deletebeepbeepbeep]

Yes it was brilliant.

 

[dougdeep]

Biggest olympic profit ever?

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Its a pointless headline figure.

Show us the NETT cost to the nation, then ask us if it was worth it.

 

[Wozza]

Were the Olympics worth £9 billion?

No, I'd say around £8.1bn.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

Presumably nearly all that 9 billions stayed in the UK, so it didn't really cost us much at all I imagine

 

[teaboy]

It made London a truly brilliant place to be. People were happy, and even spoke to each other on public transport!

 

[Simster]

A truly unifying experience and a fine antidote to the depressingly shite weather we'd had to endure. It was utterly brilliant.

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

A truly unifying experience and a fine antidote to the depressingly shite weather we'd had to endure. It was utterly brilliant.

Before it started I was a complete anti to quote Al Murrays pub landlord "its gonna be shit". But by the end I was a complete convert. Plus it gave the country a much needed shot in the arm.

Tho then again as far as legacy is concerned we shall have to see. Its probably helped that since then we have a wimbledon winner, doing well in the ashes another Tour dE France winner etc.

Shame the footballers are DINLOWS

 

[WhingForPresident]

It made London a truly brilliant place to be. People were happy, and even spoke to each other on public transport!

This should never, ever happen.

But yes, they were.

 

[Sergei's Celebration]

It was amazing and worth the money.

 

[teaboy]

This should never, ever happen.

But yes, they were.

It was pretty odd, and hard to get my head around. But it was nice. The genuine, infectious excitement united people who would normally just stare blankly forward, even if the person next to them caught fire. I miss it.

 

[Hillian1]

Before it started and I hadn't got any tickets I was all a bit Meh.

From the opening ceremony to the closing I couldn't get enough.

And the highlights for me were the rower, can't remember his name, bursting into tears for "letting us down" when he only got a Silver ffs, and Mo on Super Saturday.

Honourable mention to the Paralympic archer holding the bow with his foot and using his teeth to pull the string, aim and fire.

 

[Simster]

Before it started I was a complete anti to quote Al Murrays pub landlord "its gonna be shit". But by the end I was a complete convert. Plus it gave the country a much needed shot in the arm.

Wise words, and you were far from alone. I'm just SO glad I got involved with ticket purchasing the year before despite the prices.

And the fact that West Ham are now playing there and keeping the track will probably be a good thing for us all too, as the alternative of it being bulldozed and replaced or simply turning into a white elephant would have been hard to stomach.

 

[theyellowdinosaur]

My friend is from Stratford and nearly everyone he knew lived on a council estate/house. We were talking the other day about how his cousins who still live on an estate feel that it takes the piss that the government can spend so much on the olympic village but they cant keep the community centre open

 

[Brovion]

Not everything is about pounds shillings and pence. Leaving aside any rows about infrastructure and legacy the intangible benefits to Britain were, to borrow from the MasterCard advert, 'priceless'. We felt good about ourselves, not just for the sporting achievement but for probably the first time since WW2 we DIDN'T just muddle through on a wing and a prayer with everything held together by Sellotape. The country as a whole is 'better' for the Olympics, and no I can't point to specifics, that's why the benefits are intangible.

 

[spring hall convert]

I'd be a lot more interested in a net cost, which I would suggest is virtually impossible to calculate. For one thing, how many people would have been encouraged to visit Britain as a result of watching the Olympics at home? We just don't know.

If 9bn were the net cost, that's an awful lot of schools and hospitals.

 

[goldstone]

Were the Olympics worth £9 billion?

Absolutely unequivocally "NO".