I've not paid much attention to these Olympics. I can't get excited about watching the awful television coverage, and I don't have time to see if my prejudices are borne out by reality. We've watched maybe three hours since it began, and it's been kind of fun to watch the sporting event. But, I've not been too excited about the games being in Beijing. I'm just glad that there have been no disasters.
However, I'm very keen about the 2012 Olympics, and hope to take my family there in four years if we can make a million dollars between now and then. Either way, Henry lives about 35 miles away from there, and they're going to shape his life one way or the other. I'm worried that Britain's terminal pessimism about itself will end up creating an incredible debacle, so over the next four years I'll be paying attention to what's going on. On Sunday, I'll watch the closing ceremonies and guarantee I'll get all teary-eyed when the Olympic flag is handed over.
So, with that context, I share with you an article in today's Independent about what happens when the Olympics are over. What happens to all the infrastructure? Does the massive amount of investment pay off in any tangible way?
In the opinion of the writer, Athens and Sydney didn't plan too well for what came next. Atlanta did, as did Barcelona. There are important lessons in here for London and other city that hopes to hold the games.
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