A thought while I'm thinking

I have an idea. My idea is that one of the Olympics of the next 20 years should be held somewhere in Africa. Well, anywhere in Africa.

In a country with barely any infrastructure -- so no roads, no running water, no public transport, no hospitals. And all the developed and emerging countries that compete (which is all of them) will shoulder part of the economic burden.

Sponsors will donate technology, services and volunteers to help train locals. Media attention will be brought to HIV, poverty and famine. Buildings will go up and they will stay up. The entire world will see Africa for what it is. And see how much help it needs to catch up.

With the whole world taking part and the spirit of the Olympics driving the entire project, I think it would really make an impact.

Now for reality: if I was seven years old, I would write a letter to Bono or Angelina Jolie about this. But I just turned 27 so I'll just write about it my blog.


FYI: The next comment will be the 200th! Don't all rush to post!

Comments

[everett]

This is so cool. You should put together a website or another blog just for this topic. I would love to see this being realized.

[Rich]

You make a good argument.

but, if you look back at the history of the Olympics, if the host country is "Industrialized", then the wealthy become more wealthy. The city and infrastructure does remain.

However, history also shows that when the Olympics are in a country/city that is NOT "Industrialized", the country and city actually are worse off afterwards than before the games.

Athens is in ruin, for instance. While Atlanta flourished after their games. Just to name a couple examples.

You would think the idea would work, but history shows that it just does not work like that.

[kathy]

hey rich.

that's a good point, but really, how worse off can some cities in Africa get?

though I do see your point. Host cities should plan for the legacy of Olympic venues and other infrastructure from the very beginning. Buildings should be adaptable post-games for other functions, such as Sydney's Olympic Park, and they should be built sustainably and suitably for the city and the people who live there.

it takes fastidious planning and learning from past experiences to get it anywhere near right. Atlanta did a good job, you say. And Beijing seems to have done a good job too in terms of infrastructure planning. If an African Olympics were to happen, I'd like to think that everyone would get involved so past mistakes are not repeated and its legacy would be a strong and enduring one. I'm not talking about a miracle. Just giving Africa a leg up...

this is a good podcast from Australia's ABC network about the legacy of the Melbourne ('56) and Sydney ('00) Olympic Games. Interesting stuff.

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/australiatalks/stories/2008/2327359.htm