Abandoned After the Olympics: Greece's $11 Billion Mistake
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- Опубликовано: 12 июл 2024
- As is usually the case, the reality is more complicated than the narrative.
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Looks like the Olympic Committee objected to our using a couple seconds of B-Roll in the middle of the video :(
You might notice one or two audio jumps in the middle of the video. This wasn't an editing mistake; those portions were removed after an audio copyright claim.
Even with the 10 seconds of missing audio, this is still one of our team's favorite videos!
Classic corruption! Silencing disent. Class act yet again Simon and team!!
I did notice that I just thought I had a bad bandwidth
Not a mistake, a good investment that didn't pay off because of rampant corruption and bureaucratic inefficiency.
Hey, they've gotta make the money back somehow right?
@@PureJosker Yea, grade school class
Our ancient stadiums are at better condition than some of the 2004 Olympics 😂
maybe in 2000 years time tourists will come to Athens to visit them
I mean...when your go to move is piling cut stones large enough to be a pain in the ass to move once you've emplaced them, on top of other stones and covering that with really nice cut, fancy stones...your stuff is going to weather the elements pretty well. But imagine the costs of making those same facilities out of quarried limestone with marble facades and outer finish.
Panathenaic Stadium is almost 2,000 years old, and was buried for over a thousand years, and still looks impressive today.
It’s amazing how fast the hastily assembled Olympic stadia decay today.
I saw several of your ancient monuments. They are awe inspiring. Great job to your ancestors!
so what is the finish date on those they look a bit incomplete :)
This was no mistake. It worked very well in transferring the funds to many wealthy people.
Here here. I live in the states. Massachusetts. Couple years ago a group was formed to explore an olympic bid. It was staffed by a whos who of corrupt individuals whos sole talent was separating the public from its money. The attempt never left the gate.. no thanks guys. We will watch on tv.
Yep it was a crime
*public* funds to wealthy people probably paying 0 taxes.
@@pyrhockz . . . No 'probably' about it. It has been a 'national sport' in most every southern Mediterranean country for decades ... And most other countries - especially those with the ' very rich '.
I believe in the Norwegian taxation approach ; every one's earnings are listed
for public inspection - and the taxes paid . Seems clear and fair .
@@knowsmebyname Out in Princeton, yup.
As a Greek I can say that it was definitely worth it. If it weren't for the Olympics we most likely wouldn't have had a metro and the new airport allowed us to demolish the one and attract a lot of investments (the hellinikon project)
worth it? we still pay all that shit and we don't even own them
Hellinikon investment is a casino.
I am Greek and i want to thank you for addressing this topic, which among Hellenic people is considered a pure scandal
I am Portuguese and it reminds me the Football Euro 2004 in Portugal (which BTW the Greeks won :), the majority of the stadiums are now empty or abandoned. Southern Europeans leaders are a chaos with money!
He got a lot wrong though. Very sloppy research.
As a Greek you know why it is impossible to build an underground railway in Athens and you surely remember why they had to boost security at this extreme price tag - it was the US paranoia following 9/11.
It is happening the world over , they did hit you hard though . Us little guys get nothing . we need to stand up . You were always known as a warrior people , maybe the people will pick up there weapons again . I hope so my friend
@ yes, they probably laundered money on them, but no, the stadiums are still used to this day, and it was much needed upgrades cause those stadiums were a disgrace, and on the long term the owners of those stadiums got their profit back, that we also got in tax ravenue, also the upgraded infrastructure helped a lot of clubs to up their game eventually in the future that made it provide better entertainment. Yes the country has a bad image on corruption and every portuguese agrees on that, but to extend that everything we do or own its garbage, no thanks.
@Jordan & Jordan ??? First Olympic Games held in Macedonia? That's bullshit.
It's not only in Greece nor the Olympics. World Cups left huge monuments to corruption in South Africa and Brazil.
Qatar?
Pyramid building with public resources always leads to collapse (Egyptians). So does the rise of fictionalism and religion (Ancient Greeks), and the Assassination of leaders (Romans).
@@SMunro wtf are you on about
@@SMunro Consuming resources to create monuments is often a sign of decline. I've never known religion to be posited as a sign/cause of decline, before. The very 'need' to have an Olympics/WC demonstrates a lack of societal self confidence. Qatar is something of an exception because they really CAN afford it and they want the WC to infuriate other Arabs. Qatar does not care what the rest of the world thinks. Nor do they lie about a 'legacy' etc
And here in Brazil the overpriced money for infrastructures and stadiums now lives on the pockets of ours politicians. Some of the transportation projects still not completed!!!
I was lucky enough to attend the 2004 Paralympic games in Athens as a coach to a gold medal winning javelin thrower. The facilities were amazing at the time and the infrastructure was first class! I remember being amazed at the trains which ran from the centre of Athens to the main stadium complex literally every 2 minutes! I was also surprised how safe the city centre felt late at night, possibly because of the Greek cultural practice of families eating out together late into the evening. I saw pictures of the main stadium years later in a poor state of disrepair, it was so upsetting :-(
Athens and Greece in general are among the safest places to live, contrary to popular belief. Even more so before the financial crisis of 2008, but still is quite safe. Much safer than any other big western country.
@@SCCGBE Well now we have friendly refuges from turkey that the eu is forcing us to "store"
Congrats on the gold medal coaching! It seems like it's always the most architecturally unique and impressive Olympic venues that are, ironically, also the ones most likely to fall into disrepair - and due to those very same qualities no less!
I sneaked into the main Calatrava stadium without a ticket, so much for high security. The blimp was interesting, remember that? Eye in the sky, lol.
That’s awesome! Congrats! Fellow (former) thrower.
Athens just has to wait a while till the venues become REALLY old and then people will pay to visit them like the Acropolis.
SOLID PLAN :p
🤣🤣🤣 Yup.
So they were thinking long term. lol!!
I live in Athens and that's hilarious
I mean, you gotta be thinking long term when you design and build it...or just be low tech, so piling stones on top of other stones heavy enough to be a pain in the ass to move once you emplace them also works.
I mean, the only people I know of who actually thought like this were the Nazis though...they actually prioritized what their shit would look like when it was "ruins". Hitler( or Himmler)'s Hubris or Prescient Paranoia Propagandizing for Posterity?
I have some additional information. After 17 years, for the first time, the greek government is renovating the Olympic complex. The renovation is needed because the stadiums are barely functional (even worse for people with disabilities). I am a paralympic swimmer and i visit the premises daily.
"Renovating" is our specialty
Prime minister's family is currently "renovating" it's bank accounts
Do you think that they will actually be renovated? I mean do you notice any changes or progress on that?
@@skrap5008 yes. they are even making new pools. but much more work has to be done, for example, the elevator doesnt work at all (which is bad for people with disabilities such as myself). i think the greek goverment sold it so they have to make it presentable.
Also they hosted a big event (world cup water polo finals), after many years.
I had the idea once that maybe the summer Olympics should have remained in Greece with no new venues. The same venue used over and over again to defray the costs involved, a steady source of people to help the Greek economy...
That would have made economic sense though, while most places are excited to have the revenue to build and host. At least 3 times in my life, Chicago has had a decent shot at getting the Summer games.....areas have been cleared, presentations made, and structures designed despite never actually getting selected to host the games.
The cost of new venues every time is kind of ridiculous. It would make sense to have one reused location, Greece or someplace. A safe place with good air, and easy access.
@@Mikedeela, with training facilities that could be used all year round by any participating nation, holding world championships each year, such a venue would make total economic sense.
Heck, it could even be its own new country called Olympus. LOL
I do agree that makes more economic sense but the only problem is that the Olympics are supposed to be a whole world kind of thing. This is coming from someone who dosent really like the Olympics anyway
I agree, the city that gave the world the Olympic Games should host it every time. Or at least the summer games. Love from Canada.
It seems like having the Olympics is a bigger version of "You should give me this meal for free, because you'll get so much exposure from all my followers on social media". Interesting that it doesn't work at either scale.
touche. and we never learn. when large "Crown" govt. corporations want to do a shakeup in Canada, they hire a USA "gunslinger" to come in and shake things up, then "fire" him, sending him back to New Joisey or Oklahoma or Texas. Gunsling La Style Moderne. and he leaves town "avec" a large golden contract bonus, so Cdn. lawyers in Montreal making the real decisions with "advice" from New York firms, can put the blame on him. They then recruit a new guy usually from Britain, who brings over all his "buddies". The Colonies are still the Colonies.
Ah yes, also known as the FIFA way.
Olympic Games = Government Sanctioned Money Laundering
More like a ponzi scheme
Spent 10 billion today make 20billion with tourists over the next few years......
A few countries have gone sweet free advertising and let's update public transport and stadiums just in case.
But most have gone keeping up with the Jones and dropped soooooooooooo much cash on what is a short lived add campaign
@@JackTalyorD indeed, I was very sceptical about the 2012 London Olympics, even as I trained for it. But the games really revitalised a long ignored part of the city (East London) and everything has been greatly improved since then. The area seemed to languish in the 1980s until the games came. Going to train at the under construction facilities, it wasn't out of the ordinary to see a burning car on the side of the road, now the whole area has new buildings, new roads, new transport links, and people from around the globe have moved into the bustling area.
Greece is covered in abandoned amphitheatres, it’s a tradition.
Haha good one
That's true. young people nowadays have completely lost their soul on TikTok and social media. They don't care about real art.
I remember a joke in Greece back then:
IOC: Greece, are you sure you will you be ready for the Summer Olympics in 2004
Greece: When did we say we'd be ready?
IOC: August
Greece: What day?
IOC: August 13
Greece: Morning or afternoon?
IOC: Afternoon
Greece: Oh, yeah, we'll be ready.
GAY
Εεεε Μαλακά κόψε λίγο
Πούτσα, μπάλα και τραμπάλα!
lol
I remember another joke:
in 2006 China declared they already finished everything for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Greece was like "we're ready, too!"
You should absolutely make a series on here just about abandoned olympic facilities
It's Simon, so it'll be an entire channel.
Or abandon mall's..
@@BAZZAROU812 *we have a mall here in Knoxville TN that closed years ago after a decline and is now being torn down to make way for a future amazon distribution center...a pity since it could have been used for so many other things such as multiple community centers, veterans hospitals and a homeless shelter*
@@BAZZAROU812 malls
Millions spent then abandoned
Greece: “The Olympics broke us”.
Brazil: Hold my beer.......
Cervesa*
I wish there was a firing squad for every person who makes a "hold my beer" joke
Brazil has always been broke.
@@sandersson2813 nazi
@@sandersson2813 hold my beer....
One thing I would like to add, is that during the preparation for the Olympics in Athens, there were a lot of infrastructure projects happening in other parts of Greece. Most notably in the small town of Olympia in Peloponnese, where the Olympics started and the Olympic flame is being lit for every Olympic starting ceremony. The infrastructure in the whole region hadn't seen any significant upgrade since the '70s, but because the shot put matches were held in the ancient stadium ( and women competed in that stadium for the first time) the whole region saw a much needed renovation. The roads connecting those rural areas with Athens are still vital to the whole region and last time I visited a couple of years ago, they were still in a good state. A lot of money were wasted, no doubt about that, and Greece probably had high hopes for the Olympics to fix other financial issues that we all knew existed. However, looking at a few decaying stadiums for sports that are unpopular in Europe (such as baseball) and declaring the Olympics of 2004 a complete failure is a bit reductive. Though I admit, pinpointing the exact a effect the Games had to Greek economy is very elusive.
The IOC is the atypical gravy train for that type of person, i bet you wont find an IOC committee member with less than a few million bucks in his or her pockets, similar to FIFA, FIA, FIM et al.
They don't even wake up for a few millions, they all end up with tens of millions
yeah, exactly. these people must emit some kind of mass hypnosis gas, or "glimmer" like vampires. the upper crust of society floats around rolling in cash and accolades in the midst of a circus that makes it all seem worthwhile while multitudes of randos struggle and toil to support them.
As a Greek living in Athens I must applaud for how you presented this matter. Indeed the Olympics were a financial setback for our economy and some infrastructure was left to ruin afterwards, but most of the infrastructure deeply upgraded both Athens and Greece in general, especially the new airport, metro-subway and the 70km Attica Highway connecting Athens' western with eastern suburbs and everything in between.
Greece's debt is a result of a series of bad financial decisions starting in the early 80s and continued up to this day. To sum it up: excessive lending (and spending) created the illusion that Greece is a wealthy country throughout the 80s and 90s. Wages went really high forcing many industries to relocate to neighbour countries or even close. Political & banking corruption played a big part as well. In 1999 that illusion collapsed with the local stock market hitting rock bottom for reasons I can't express in a comment, but feel free to investigate and make a video about it. Next biggest bad descision was our entering the Eurozone in 2001. Prices of almost everything doubled in a couple of years and continued to rise on EU inflation rates, while wages remained the same. People could no longer afford their loans/credit cards/mortages and the 2008 global financial crisis were just the nails to our coffin. Austerity measures forced by the EU and IMF actually made things worse and drove unemployment through the roof while the majority of the highly educated workforce migrated abroad, and all that while fighting tooth and nail to meet demands for the millions of immigrants entering from our east coast. After we surviced all that and finally managed GDP surplus, covid happened... I mean come on...
well said.
Also, tax avoidance was high with a large shadow economy and the revenue service wasn't very good at collecting it...
On the crest of a slump John. Thanks for the insightful, feet on the ground comment.
Very good reply but you forget the wealth the euro brought to our country not in short terms of ricing of prices of the goods but in terms of long term of ricing of the wages, import of big investments who changed our lives. Ok I agree with you that the bankrupt on 2010 was a result of bad policy corruption etc but you have to admit that inside the EU the final consequences where much less than to be out of the euro. Can you imagine our today life not in Euro the last 20 years? Something like Egypt or Albania.
Well, you did invent the "Tragedy" concept all those years ago...
I was at opening ceremony as a kid and honestly that was one of the top things I've ever attended. Athens had transformed from highways to airport etc. It looked beautiful. Only to visit 7 yrs later and see the horror of the venues by the sea. 20 yrs later they are now building one of Europe's largest green parks and Hellinikon project which won't be done till god knows when but it's awesome on paper.
2.150
If there wasn’t so much corruption with “necessity construction for the games” I’d say they’d be better off choosing an island somewhere for the games and everyone chips in
I suggest they create that island next to Peloponnese near the ancient city of Olympia where the flame is lit. They should connect it to the mainland with a memorable bridge and call it the “Olympic bridge.”
Imagine Olympic island. A copy of ancient Olympia with grand stadiums inspired by modern engineering.
As an Athenian who worked for the 2004 Olympics I think I deserve an opinion:
1. No, the Greek financial crisis has nothing to do with the hosting of the Olympics (very well put, Simon, really impressed by your clear view on this)
2. The country had benefits from the Olympics that are not so easy to estimate. For example how do you calculate how much of the rise in tourism in the following years is due to the Olympics? Even if it is half of it, the the hosting of the Olympics was a huge financial success.
3. The preparations for hosting the Olympics gave the country a huge boost. Telecommunication networks, energy networks, roads, the Athens airport, and so many other things would not have been done so quickly and in such a good quality if it wasn't for the Olympics.
4. Yes, some stadiums of not important sports for Greeks, like baseball and badminton, are rotting away, but the vast majority of stadiums and infrastructure are our main facilities for sports, leisure and transport. So, we would have had to create them anyway.
5. All in all, yes it was expensive for Greece to host the Olympics, but only if you compare it with Greece in 1997. Greece in 2004 was so much different (we covered 20 years of progress in less than 7) that yes it was totally worth it.
PS the financial crisis is such a huge subject that I will not even dare to say an opinion in a youtube comment.
The Economic boost in infrastructure, foreign investment, tourism, marketshares, exports and many many other things was gargantuan. Greece created the Olympics, and it was as important to us, as Democracy (which we also invented).
Επίσης πρέπει να περάσετε όλοι όσοι ασχολήθηκαν με τους Ολυμπιακούς Αγώνες ένα εξονυχιστικό ελενχο.
3. I agree that boosting local infra is a good thing, but when you need to host the Olympics to get them done, than there is something else very wrong, it is not a very economical route to take to improve infra
4. One of the problems with a lot of Olympic facilities is 1. no use after the games 2. yes they can be used, but most of the time they are to big for after Olympic use, so yes you have the facillity, but maintaining them is expensive. Like Olympic swimming arena's, yes they are still used, but usually to big for local competitions and events. A much smaller stadium with less seats would fit the bill much better, cheaper to maintain and more atmosphere, no half empty stadium.
For me those are the problems, a city that ends up with some useless facilities and the facilities that are still in use, to big for the city to make them profitable. I agree that some effects are difficult to measure, like effects on increase in tourism
@@questmarq7901 τι εννοεις;
Boston was announced as a recent finalist city and they said, "No, go away."
It wasn't so recently, the bid for 2024 was place in 2014 and in 2015 it was thankfully terminated. I really didn't want to have to deal with that bullshit. As far as I'm concerned, at this point the Olympics are nothing more than a traveling human rights disaster. Got enough of that around here.
As a local resident of the area,, I was torn on the Olympics coming to my backyard. We have some infrastructure, with the local pro sports stadiums/arenas and the various different colleges, and our luck when it comes to having various bodies of water that could host the watersports events. The main problem with me was infrastructure, our subway is greatly outdated, and our roads are what you expect for an east coast city. Our public transportation outside of Boston is also lacking,, which is a problem seeing that the proposal had 5 events (including major ones like rowing, soccer, and boxing) being held in the suburbs.
Someone asked me before the Athens Olympics if things would be built in time, I told him the ancient Games pavilion still wasn't finished and that it had taken 1000 years.
It’s literally an hour of driving with a bike, it’s really close to my house and yeah, I feel very bad every single time I see this stadium, no one uses it and it slowly gets vandalised, basically the smaller stadiums simply got abandoned with a security guard just “protecting” them
When visiting Rio de Janeiro in January of 2018 I was shocked to see how many of the Olympic facilities were completely abandoned and already in disrepair, less than two years after the games.
Yup, we said this would happen before rio had the Olympics, they said no one would lose their homes, country is so corrupt, it should never have been held there....but this is true for all cities that hold the olympics
Same after the 2016 World cup too. They spent millions on a stadium in the middle of the forest and the facility is closed
@@nithilanamudhan6260 Yup, that's the Arena da Amazonia in Manaus. I've seen that too but only from afar. I think it's still occassionally used for local games, or it was pre-pandemic, but they only draw tiny crowds and do little for the local economy.
I visited Rio de Janeiro in December 2016, and the public mood was angry about the corruption and financial overruns.
@@nithilanamudhan6260 You mean, 2014?
Personally, I don't understand why any city would ever want to hold the Olympics. But I guess there are also people who buy a Ferrari when they can't even afford the rent.
I have similar thoughts, especially after knowing that Indonesia aims to host the 2032 Olympics after successfully hosting the 2018 Asian Games.
I think the most common arguments are that it brings exposure and tourism to the country. Also the fact that by the time the Olympics end and the financial issues truly hit, the government individuals responsible would have finished their terms and would not be held accountable.
It's pretty simple. The ego, arrogance, corruption and stupidity of politicians (who incur the obligations but don't actually pay for anything out of their own pockets). They exploit the gullible/stupid public into going along with it on risible claims that it will spawn a renaissance/economic boom in the host city for decades thereafter which NEVER happens.
For Athens in particular it was a matter of historical identity and national pride.
It's also the kind of project that governments use to distract public attention away from other internal problems and make themselves look good, all while leaving the bill for a future government.
Because it transfers more wealth to wealthy folk.
Its interesting to think that some countries considered Greece unsafe for it's athletes and fans to hold an Olympics in.. and yet only a hand full of the years later the Olympics was held in Rio!
I thought the games should have just stayed in Greece for good. After all, they invented both the Ancient and the Modern Games.
Greece hosted the first modern games, but they were invented by Pierre de Coubertin. Anyway, I agree it would have been a smarter move to let them stay in Greece.
@@leopoldbloom4835 This is the most idiotic thing I've read in a while on youtube. The interest over time would dwindle if hosted in one city, along with global appeal.
@@rscoops3986 Seems you don‘t read much on RUclips. Relax a bit.
@@leopoldbloom4835 Pointing out stupidity brings me joy
@@rscoops3986 Yeah, sure...
I'd love a video about Sochi. The amount of money that went missing, building it on some type of swamp, to the numerous constitution failures and the treatment of the people who lived there before.
Socchi was snubbed by the international community citing LGBT respect after Pussy-Riot (with US backing), created a bad scene for Russia. Such talent wasted.... It’s like the great Putin remark: “If Pussy-Riot went and shot a video in Israelis synagogue, they would not walk out alive!” Don’t even mention a Mosque! But Obama who used gay rights beyond balance, attacked Putin & Russia, trying to boycott World Cup. Sorry Barack! Soccer still more important than LGBT or Trans!
@@MichaelDavidFinn You are cavemen, that's why you were snubbed. By still living in the middle ages you will always be treateed as someone less. Just like how you treat your own LGBT citizens. Just like Pootin who will be treated with distain. Get better or get over it the fact that LGBT people exist and always have existed and will always in the future exist. Just because you lot can't handle that doesn't mean we'll let you get away with being found out about and snubbed and treated the same way you treat others. What cums around goes around. You treat people how you want to be treated. If not then you will be shown disrespect.
@@MichaelDavidFinn LoL not gonna lie, the fact that Russia is a shitty expansionist country may have played a role. Oh and also that Sochi has no snow, nor the proximity with Tchetcheniais very attractiv.
I mean, I don't wanna sound bad or anything, but tbh, the Caucasus, a third world part of the world for a winter Olympic where there's mostly rich white people who go there... Nah, not a good idea. And if there is no more snow it will be even worse x)
And if you wanted to win money on the long run with these facilities... Well perhaps the whole ukrainian affair wasn't the best move for your economy.
But not gonna lie, the more the russian government loses money, the less they put money in weapons and the better we feel here in Europe :3
Oh and also, the worse your lgbt citizens feel bad in Russia, the more we get white educated migrants with good qualifications here so yeah, please continue hurting these russians, and let central asian turcs replace them, I ain't against lgbt migrants in the EU :3
The London legacy programme has created a whole new district around the Olympic park and provider affordable and luxury homes for 27k residents, 4 x schools, high speed transportation hub, Westfield shopping mall, profitable sporting venues, a tech and enterprise zone and employment for 11k permanent jobs. Most of all it has positively impacted the environment of a former industrial site.
What about the stadium they gave it away for free. To their friends 🤷🏽♂️
Our Olympics was a huge success and I miss the feeling of goodwill and togetherness it brought (especially during brexit) but I can't see why the hell it cost double the amount per event than Bejings Olympics, a country that literally threw any money it wanted to make the Olympics a success there. I do think we can be very proud of the legacy though. Even with West Ham having the world's most favourable contract to take over the London stadium!
@@warrenjackson6584 ask Boris Johnson, he was mayor and now we know how he loves to spend other people's money 🏅🏅🏅
But building infrastructure and housing is much cheaper than funding a one off sports day for corrupt elitist sports body.
Building stuff without the games would have been better and not need to be "dual purpose" with any life long function being a poor second.
Anyone can do these things. The question that the world seems to understand that Greece doesn't is, "at what cost?" I would have figured Greeks would understand that by now.
This isn’t unique to Greece. The olympics are a giant waste of money and time. Many countries hand to build billion dollar facilities to host them and NEVER make that money back.
@Unlisted - 100% correct.
It is Prestige Projects. They spread country who held the games name thorough the world.
The Sydney Olympics were an outstanding success and most of the facilities were retained and still in use today for sporting events.
Most facilities here in London were repurposed into gyms and public swim centres. Olympic village were turnt into private and affordable housing
@Richard Joniec and it's still thriving to this day
The economics are clear that hosting an olympics is usually a net-negative.
I was glad to hear that they actually are _using_ the "Olympic Village" instead of abandoning it to wrack and ruin. Stay safe, everyone.
Ofocourse, what eles would they do? Why just wreck suitable residential properties? And cost to build more which which always needed outweighs demolishion
I don't know what your praising them for
its a whole town now.
@@heliumnetworking5103 Olympic villages have been left to ruin.
@@MIGBMWLOVER Great news!
@@heliumnetworking5103 I'm praising them because I've recently seen videos of two other Olympic sites whose housing was totally abandoned after everyone went home. All that costly construction, with plumbing and such left for the vandals tio destroy and Nature to gradually take it back.
I still think the 1996 Olympics should've went to Athens. It was THE natural choice. And look at what happened in Atlanta...
Then again, if they did host in 1996, this whole economical mess would've lasted longer
Very interesting video. I visited Athens last October and it definitely became one of my favourite European capital (along with Prague and Rome). It has such a cool vibe to it and the historical sites, especially the Akropolis of course, are breathtaking and so interesting to explore. The pandemic situation was a blessing in disguise for us, because I do not think we will ever be able to experience the historic sites so empty. Great to learn more about the contemporary history of Greece. Greetings from Germany!
Jeqqekqnoo
Hello Simon!
Wonderful job in your new style of delivery.
More lively and with more natural undulations.
It otherwise becomes a little mono tone and tiring.
Enjoyed it very much
Living in Greece, I must congratulate you for a great, thorough analysis, far better than most greek ones I've come across.
Montreal only finished paying for their 1976 Olympics a few years ago. They had no bad world financial problems to blame it on, either. Stay safe, all.🤗
Vancouver paid it's 2010 Olympic debt off in 2014. We are far less corrupt than the Quebecoise. 😁
@@JB-yb4wn Although in general you might be correct, there was a lot more corruption in the 70's everywhere compared to the 2000's, even in Vancouver.
@@Asmahdan
That is very true. Good point.
but pretty much all the facilities are still being used
@@JB-yb4wn winter olympics are much smaller
Great video Simon I appreciate you discussing the entire issue and not just treat it a click bait.
What you are saying in the intro is not entirely correct. The Ancient Olympics were a Greek invention and the participation was exclusive to Greek athletes that represented Greek states. By omitting this part you are not painting the right picture of how important it was for the modern Greek people to host the 2004 Olympic Games and how easily they fell into the trap of being happy with the government spending all that money without much or any accountability.
Don't forget that the first modern Olympics were held in Athens in 1896...
Sochi would be a good one to cover... Given the costs to make it happen and the hilarious infrastructure fails. It's what happens when you enter a pissing contest in a headwind.
In Soviet Russia infrastructure builds you. (I don't know which genius thought bringing the Olympics to Russia was a good idea, but I hope we don't have to deal with any more of their brilliant thoughts).
@@XDSDDLord The mafia and corrupt politicians think it's a good idea.
It's a matter of pretending to have spent all the budget while pocketing as much as you can, and sometimes stuff get a bit out of hand.
Hello Simon. I'm Greek and I live in Athens. Although I was very young when Olympics took place and didn't know half of what you mentioned, I have to say that the Athens National Airport and Metro stations were the BEST thing that happened to Athens, and I truly believe that we ought that to the Olympics. Athens was a capital without infrastructure, and half of its shape today is due to the fact that we had to have proper facilities and transportation in order to host the Olympics.
The point though is the fact that: 1. We could have so much better infrastructure across the country, not only our capital city; 2. This infrastructre did cost so much more than it ought to cost. It could really be much better. Indeed the airport and the metro were constructed also because of the Olympics, however it is obvious they could be so much better for the Athenians, not for the pockets of some constructing giants...
@@Evan_Gr Half of your population lives in Athens anyway
@@antoniousai1989 Is a problem partly due to the fact that the periphery is so much worse than Athens in terms of infrastructure. Being myself from a region at the north of the country and currently studying, working and living in Athens I can see that so profoundly. For example my region is the only one in the North not directly connected to the Egnatia Road, a major highway in the north.
@@Evan_Gr Greece is a strange country, with too many mountains, and small villages. It isn't easy to build infrastructures for every single point in the country. Also, you have the problem of maintaining the infrastructure in the islands. All things considered, I think they are doing decently, and Athens is fine. For certain aspects, it is much better than many places and I've been living in Athens for four years and it's quite ok. The only thing it really lacks is goddamned parks in the city, seriously, Athens is too gray, and it should have a better urbanistic in that aspect.
@@antoniousai1989 Switzerland is a mountainous country, maybe much more even, yet the level of infrastructure, with much more decentralisation is remarkable! Perfection is not a thing , but let us strive to achieve that. As for Athens it has a big problem of housing almost half of the Greek population. Decentralisation is essential for the future. I do agree with your concern regarding the lack of green and parks, for all I literally live inside an urban park (quite an exception, I know 😅)
Absolutely amazing analysis, thank you for that!
It's exactly as stated: the 2004 Olympics were a microcosm of Greek economic dysfunction.
Your videos are sooo good quality. Well done! 👏
This seems to be the standard fate of infrastructures built for time events.
Not so, there are no White Elephants from London 2012 and Sydney 2000, Atlanta 1996 only has the hockey venue abandoned and that was by its football team, the OMNI was demolished and the site rebuilt on. Barcelona's main Stadium has a new tenant and the rest is in use. Seoul has everything in use, even going back to LA and Moscow most of it is still around. This leaves the sources of all the negative publicity Athens, Beijing and Rio. Athens built permanent venues in sports where there is no Greek interest which is frankly stupid but most of it is still used, Beijing just has a dried out canoed slalom course really (something that is a recurring feature, maybe find a river...) Rio - oh boy just no should never have gone there. Tokyo, Paris and LA will all be fine for the next three.
There are Olympic Stadiums in Berlin and Munich that are still operational.
@@LB1973 Hey mate, im from Australia and I can testify that the venues from the games are still in use to the best of my knowledge.
Utah has made amazing use of the facilities and planning to bring the Olympics back we hope
@@LB1973 So in other words, Atlanta (and possibly other sites) simply ate the cost up front and moved on, whereas everyone else falls into the sunken cost fallacy?
I would suggest a video about the IOC. How, why where what do they decide who hosts. How do they EVER think any country/city can profit from the games, all these details if possible please.
I think part of the issues with them making money is this exact situation
The ioc says Greece is to corrupt to host the games
Insert green brain eating blob here
Ok Greece it is 🇬🇷
Translation there gonna pay us enough now and their lobbyist & contractors are ready to bilk the government ha ha ha fools will never catch on
The IOC basically takes over the host city for the Games. (2010 Olumpics for me, CNBC News). I also built the high rise concrete housing in Vancouver, BC but the money is made internationally. Locals need not apply. The guy with the concrete contract showed up from New York (surprise, surprise) driving a bonus 550,000 Bentley. We made wages.
Simon might be afraid of getting sued, no judgment or exaggeration. The IOC doesn't take kindly to investigative journalism.
@@thedwightguy I'm in Ontario and yeah Vancouver did a poster child job of ALMOST breaking even. Like you said, I've heard the IOC basically takes a huge cut of gate, food, TV coverage, etc. POS the IOC is and corrupt as hell.
@@mikeclarke952 and the decisions are not "Made in Canada"; look at the "credit crunch" of the late 2000's. All projects in Vancouver EXCEPT the Olympic venue came to a sudden stop, in five days! (New York money and Quebec law firms (think Mulroney and senior Turdeau) all take THEIR CUT. I have a country cousin that is now a FULL PARTNER in one of those firms (on the sunny side of 40, unheard of) and he says it's an "US AGAINST THEM" game. My point is the more you centralize the more the 1% get their money. And in the decade SINCE, what has happened???? DOH.
Well done Simon. There was a lot I didn’t know already. 👍🤜🤛
Enjoyed that! Bravo 👏🏼
One thing that most news failed to consider with this financial crisis was the transition from the Greek drachma to the EU Euro. Overnight, the cost of living almost doubled, while salaries stayed relatively the same. Yes, the Greek government/economy could have taken steps to rectify this situation, but this can be seen as a much larger failing by the EU in general. Greece is not the only EU country to struggle, as Spain and Ireland have had similar issues. Bring in the fact that Great Britain stayed on the pound but still decided to leave, there are a lot of economic issues within the EU that the poorer member states are taking the hit for.
I liked this piece a lot, but this is a different perspective that is not widely talked about.
You can watch the progression of his glorious beard from the thumbnails
His beard is like a whole star wars character on its own. I don't understand the physics of it.
Well done Simon, but for me as a Greek is painful to watch and remember.
The airport and the underground rail systems are fantastic.
We in Sydney use our stadiums as much as possible. The Olympic park is now having more growth of high rises then when it was originally built. My parents have an apartment 1km away and it’s a beautiful sight at night and event with fireworks.
I hope its not in the Opal building mate!
@@planetdisco4821 nope. Got a good view if it ever falls tho 🤣
London was very successful.
And the Sydney Games, were super cheap to hold.. it was before 09/11 and many venues were just Fairground tin sheds with temporary overlay. It all worked really well though.
Agreed, every year Olympic Park is used for our easter show and throughout the year for many other shows, sporting events etc. Probably one of the most successful stories of Olympic infrastructure being put to good use after the games.
1:55 - Chapter 1 - Background & preparation
3:55 - Chapter 2 - Construction & the games
7:10 - Chapter 3 - Financial crisis , white elephants & legacy
10:30 - Chapter 4 - Another look at the olympic question
- Chapter 5 -
Atlanta did a decent job with their stadium. After their Olympics it was leased to the Atlanta Braves. Twenty years later the lease ran out and Georgia State University bought it and calls it home to many of their sporting events.
Great Video, I’d like to see a video about the 1976 Montreal Olympics as they faced similar challenges and Problems following the games.
I want my country to host the Olympics!
- No One Should Ever Say
Especially small nations with small economies like mine (N.Macedonia, borders Greece to the North). My country's GDP is the amount it cost the Olympic games in Greece, so we will completely go bankrupt if we host them.
Really, time for the games to be forgotten and to fade into history. And each and every member of the IOC to be investigated for fraud and corruption.
Hungarian government does that when they want to distract from even bigger scandals in the country…
Let russia or China hold it, oh wait? Wasn't The Russian city socchi the one city that made money off the olympics?
@@jamesmeppler6375 Let them hold it, yes! And let all the *worthwhile* countries of the world no longer participate in a useless, corrupt farce.
I lived in Athens from March 2002 to October 2004 and was a volunteer for the 2004 Games. I remember walking through OAKA (the main Olympic complex were the Olympic Stadium is located) shortly after my arrival in Athens. The place resembled some third world country that had seen better days. I half expected to encounter a shot up MiG or some other piece of debris leftover from some forgotten war as that is what the place looked like. No construction equipment, no workers, nothing. The Stadium and the Maroussi Indoor Hall where in decent shape but the rest was pretty banged up.
The new ring road, the Attiko Oados was under heavy constuction, and two new Metro lines had recently opened. However the rest of the metropolitan area was still in the "to be done" phase. I talked to some Greek friends about this and their reaction was "when the time comes, we will roll up our sleeves and get the job done". They were right. Within that year and half period, the venues were built, the tram built, new Metro extensions were completed, the new suburban rail completed, the bulk of the Attiko Oados, a huge pedestrianization project around the Acropolis was delivered and more. When push came to shove, the Greeks rolled up their sleeves and got to work.
I have to say that my time in Greece was one of the most magical and energetic times of my life. Although I only live in Greece for a year and a half, the country and its people left a huge imprint on me. Thanks Simon for this look at the legacy of the Athens Games and I am glad that the legacy actually is positive. Greece did get its money's worth even if it sometimes does not appear so.
This should be top. Publicity from the Olympics was the only reason the debt was so low. Tourism exploded, along with business investment
Great video and an interesting look at this.
UK did really well at privatizing the infrastructure after the games, we should’ve done the same :(
we are not UK so :) . We know better as Greeks about the politics 40Years now . Dont forget Uk manage to drop Euro ....
@@scarpedico euro is such a big deal for the world economy. I don't see why dropping the euro is a worthy mentioned achievement of the British
@@dimitrisgiannakopoulos4096 Greece, Spain, Italy's inability to devalue their currency has kept them poor. The euro was just an awful idea.
@@Mansare94 well we agree to disagree
Well privatizing things in Greece comes with a high political cost, even for businesses that are consistently losing money the media will portray their sale as "national treason"
As soon as calatrava is involved you know it’s going to be a nightmare
Do tell!
Oh yes, his bridge was a nightmare...
In Venice (Italy) as well!!!
@@silasmarner7586 every project he does runs about 200% over budget and have fundamental flaws in the built fabric, like it’s not watertight, or needs structural remedial works etc.
Simon’s smile at 6:04 is just amazing... seems he enjoyed the Baghdad comment a lot 😂
Just found your channel I’m subscribing,,cool videos and important stuff 👍🏽
As a Greek and bourn and raised Athenian, I have to say that Greece's 2004 olympic games indeed costed more than they should and as in every single global event host not all venues have been leveraged they way they should. NEVERTHELESS... The majority of the infrastructure built apart from stadiums is being used and is very useful to everyday Athenians, major highways, Athens international airport and many more.
I visited BC, Canada a couple years ago, host of the 2010 Winter Olympics. Surprisingly most of the stuff built for the games is still up and in use. The $6.4billion price tag is paid off and the rinks have been converted for public use with the ski slopes used for training athletes, overall it looks like it could host the games again. The next Winter Olympics were Sochi, cost $51billion and the negative aspects of that debacle could spawn a series.
Even bore holed wood was ingeniously used to build the one of the main rinks. It was otherwise garbage wood. Canadians not only have the most beautiful women in the World, they are pretty intuitive! Eh!
The opening and closing ceremonies at the Athens Olympics were probably my favourite of all times.
It might be "nostalgia" talking, but I'll never forget the Barcelona OC, in 1992, when the Olympic Torch was actually lit by a freaking ARCHER, who fired a flaming arrow across the entire stadium, and lit the damn thing from like half a mile away! IMO, That's a level of torch-lighting talent that has never been equaled, at any other OC!
You can probably find a video clip of the feat somewhere on RUclips, now that I think about it...
Thanks for this
By far still the best olympics ever, especially the opening ceremony
As someone who lived in Athens at that time, that was nice but not terrific either. Sure, there were worse games (for ex. Rio 2016 or Sochi 2014). But Athens 2004 didn't match its tremendous expenditure.
It was great to watch, especially the music.
London 2012 was the best, then again I do live in Britain
Athens 2004 ware really the best Olympics ever.
@@cupcakefairy87 Personally I find Beijing Olympics much better than London Olympics.
I like the chapter titles you are now using. And it allows you to catch you breath Simon! Nice touch!
“The only place worse than Athens to hold the Olympics was Baghdad.”
Then only a few years later, Stratford in London won the Olympic bid and that statement was proven totally false.
Qatar football wc 2022 would like to have a talk with you.
@@Psi-Storm Qatar is actually a great place to hold the World Cup
You dont know what youre talking about in reality. It may be fun to joke about East London but we brought almost wasteland back from dereliction and every venue is either still in use, or was dismantled and given to Rio for their Olympics. There is a massive media centre which all main TV channels have used / continue to use. If it wasnt for the Olympics Westfield wouldnt have chose Stratford for their second London shopping centre. That entire area was regenerated and now includes a massive green space and housing with a school and a hospital.
Now dont you seem silly to everyone else.
Source: I worked on both the Olympic project and Westfields.
@@kanedaku I still work and live in East London and the Olympics has priced everybody other than the very well off out of the area. Its done nothing for the crime rate and that Westfield has done nothing to help the local area. Hindsight is 20/20 and the London Olympics hasn't helped anyone other than the already well off.
Not a fan of the English political system then- certainly not a fan of facts.
When you remodel your entire house for a date with your ex and she dumps you after one night because she wants back to her old BF.
That sounds very specific, happened to you?
Sounds like personal experience! 😅😅
Greek here: The 2004 Olympic Games were used to modernise the country - to turn Greece into a proper 21st century European nation. It's easy to forget (or if you're not Greek, not know) just how poor the infrastructure and facilities in Greece were prior to 2004. As you said yourself, ''the only city worse off to host the Olympics was Baghdad''. The projects completely revamped the country and turned Greece, particularly Athens, into a modern city which is experiencing a steady and impressive growth in tourism since the 2004 games due to how the new projects facilitate tourists. As for the economic crisis... the crisis was decades in the making and the Olympic Games were nothing more but a headache when you've been shot in the head and bleeding profusely.
Just one correction: the Olympic stadium wasn't constructed by Santiago Calatrava, it was built for the 1982 European Championships in athletics (in fact, the 1997 World Championships took place there).
It was only renovated for the 2004 Games. Calatrava's touch was the addition of the roof.
Excellent analysis nevertheless!
We should also add that the roof of the Olympic Stadium isn't retractable, while the photo when this point was mentioned in the video, was showing the velodrome's roof. Also, the aquatic center had three pools venues. The indoor one (used for diving and final games of water polo) the big outdoor (used for swimming) that was about to get a roof but didn't and the little one that was used for artistic swimming.
Nope,that is false. You refer to the peace and friendship stadium built in 1982. Athens has two stadia and they indeed built one designed by Santiago Calatrava for the Olympics of 2004 in no time...
@@xekourdistolemoni I think you mixed up things a little bit. The Peace and Friendship stadium is a domed gym and was opened in 1985 as a multisport arena that can host indoor athletics, basketball, ice hockey (as it has an integrated ice basin) and a lot of other sports. Its first international event was the European Indoor Athletics Championship that same year and this is where you're probably confused. The Olympic Stadium was indeed completed in 1982 for the European Championships in Athletics lacking the roof at the time. Calatrava was assigned the roof (constructed in 2004) and other structures within the complex (roof of the velodrome, wall of nations and the Agora which were at the surrounding areas of the stadia). He also constructed a pedestrian bridge at a central avenue of Athens (Mesogeion & Katehaki crossroad)
Bologna?!?!
@@NetrinoYT
?????
This was a very fair presentation of the matter! However, having memories of Athens before the Olympics, I must admit that despite the cost and the current state of many of the facilities, the 2004 Olympics really brought Athens to pace with the rest of the western world in terms of infrastructure. Athens got a serious upgrade that helped it with attracting tourists, and more importantly, helped the day to day lives of us natives.
While rest of greece left rotting as always, specially the north
@@Wok_Agenda Then people of the north should do something about it. Plus I hear that Thessaloniki will get its underground soon!!
@@stavvagi Yea the people of the north should do what Athens did.
Have the rest of the country pay for their renovation.
2004 Athens games were the best ever! We got many highways, bridges, and brand new airport, a brand new metro, new ports, Athens was transformed…yes Greece went into debt but lots of infrastructure projects were completed.
Glass ceiling ha ha ha never a dull moment with you Simon.
As far as Olympic venues go, I've been to Lake Placid. A small town that hosted the Olympics TWICE. Which is a pretty cool fun fact that such a small town in NY hosted the Olympics twice while much bigger cities hosted the Olympics only once. The venues are still maintained (with the cauldron still in the spot where it was first lit) and they even considered hosting the Olympics a THIRD time for 2026 until the USOC decided to not pursue a bid for those games
Lake Placid had local committees and leadership to prevent going broke, from Olympics, in 1980. The earlier Olympics, they used the high school facilities for many of the events.
for 1980, Lake Placid built a new facility to house the athletes. After the athletes left, the facility would become a jail or prison. That was the plan. However, USA won gold, in hockey, and the housing facility never became a prison or jail. I stayed at that facility training in 2004. There is a lot more, about this subject, that I learned before training, there. Many foreign teams bought real estate, in Lake Placid, because they did not want their athletes to feel like they were staying in a building that would become a jail or prison. Today, that training facility still hosts athletes from around the world. Lake Placid has indeed avoided the financial ruin that the Olympics leave behind. It is one of the few to benefit.
There are many small towns that hosted the winter Olympics: Albertville, Lillehammer, St. Moritz, Garmisch-Partenkirchen), but the recent list of hosts show that for small towns it might be difficult nowadays. I've been to Lake Placid and of course the facilities there would not be up to the task for events nowadays and certainly not for the Olympics. Also I guess they no longer have a lot of snow now...
The winter Olympics are much smaller than the summer Olympics, so it's a lot easier to get it to work in a small place.
Those were winter Olympics. Summer Olympics are a whole different kettle of fish.
@Avery the Cuban-American lake placid hosted the winter olympics, as others have stated, a much smaller event than the summer olympics. also the most recent Lake Placid Games was over 40 years ago (1980) when the Olympics were an entirely different show
The varying Olympics fiascoes would be a good mega projects. Russia, Greece, Brazil and a few others come to mind immediately.
Don't forget Tokyo 2020
@@randomveezerr2824 you can’t group Japan with those other countries.
The Tokyo Olympics would have been a huge success if it wasn’t for COVID, Japan has a strong stable economy without the corruption that all those other countries have.
Japan would have managed the Olympics well and the nation would have benefited long term from all the infrastructure, whilst all those other countries built beyond their means with no long term plans
@@randomveezerr2824
If Tokyo 2020 ends up not happening the 2032 Summer Games will be automatically re-awarded to tokyo because the 2020 games were canceled due to an unforeseen act of god rather than due to war (Tokyo was supposed to host the 1940 Summer Olympics) or hpw financial considerations (lack of funding) caused Denver Colorado to surrender their hosting rights to the 1976 Winter Olympics.
@Varoon what do you have against religious people?
I appreciate your use of the word Plethora, it means a lot .... 😉🖖🏽
As other Greeks pointed out in the comments, I like your point of view in the analysis and the fact that you do not concentrate only on the negatives of the whole event
Business Blaze suggestion: the economic black holes these type of mega-events (Olympics, World Cup, World's Fairs) turn into for their host cities/countries. Which they've vied for! It's like having an auction where the winner gets donkey-kicked in the jewels, and they line up to bid.
It's a lot of prestige for politicians and a free pass to spend mega boatloads of other people's money. By the time everyone realises it was a mistake, the politician has moved on to his next job.
The 1976 Montreal abortion. The white elephant stadium dubbed the "Big Owe" took over 30 years of taxing smokers to pay it off. It now stands as a crippled soldier.
I'm originally from BC, and that province is still paying off the bill from the 2010 games. They did nothing for the province except saddle taxpayers with an enormous bill. Hope it was worth it to the athletes, because it sure as hell wasn't worth it to me.
@@dyveira Everyone knows of BC now. It helped to put you on the map. Your international reputation has grown. Long live USA.
Great video ,but your mistaken with the first every Olympics,that were held in Olympia, Peloponnese in 776 B.C
It's a pity that the venues are in such a state.
As a New Zealander, I have very fond memories of the 2004 Olympics. Sarah Ulmer's world record and gold medal in the cycling individual pursuit. New Zealanders coming first and second in the triathlon. The Evers-Swindells in the double sculls. Good times!
Good video. 👍 I went to the Sydney 2000 Olympics and Athens 2004 Olympics. I asked athletes which Olympics they liked better who went to both Sydney & Athens and they all preferred Athens. The atmosphere was magic. The weather amazing. The culture just right. The nightlife better.
Athens still uses the Olympic stadium for athletics and other events. Unfortunately Sydney doesn’t use their one for Athletics and may struggle to use it again. Nor does Atlanta. Sad.
Those few stadiums shown unused in Athens are of sports not popular in Greece. The quality of these stadiums beat Sydney. So did the opening ceremony. The Athenians pulled off a fantastic Olympics.
The metro in Athens is beautiful too and it’s still being expanded.
$2bn to build a new twin runway airport is amazing. Not expensive at all. As for safety, Athens is very safe.
Athens will host it again. I think in future, the IOC should assist host cities and be more responsible with their expectations.
I worked at the Sydney Games. I thought it was pretty special. It was held in our Spring, right at the end of winter and was quite wet on some days so the weather wouldn't have been good as Athens. Athens 2004 looked wonderful. I went to the London Games as a tourist. I thought London 2012 was truly spectacular, I will never forget the Opening Ceremony. So pleased I went.
@@gilbydog7350 Sydney’s beauty was unbeatable, especially around the harbour and beaches. Probably one of the most beautiful settings in any Olympics so far.
Actually the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics turned a profit. One of very few to actually do that.
Also one of very few that didn't have to build many new stadiums. IIRC, only two were built, and they're still in use - the swimming stadium, which I think USC uses, and the velodrome, which was built to be moved, and it was, to Colorado Springs, where it is (or at least was, at the time) used at the Olympic training facility there. One problem that sites outside of the USA had with recent olympics: what do you do with a softball stadium, which, by the nature of its field size, has to be small?
That's because they already had the infastructure to accommodate large sporting events and large crowds visiting from around the world
B4 the all marketing tv rights and craziness
They didn't need to pay for a new air port, they had plenty of courts and arenas....the tax is 10% or higher, people raised the prices several times so they made more money on one day then they did the whole year, thats not a good thing, that made the gap between poor and rich even wider...people come in from out of country and get treated better than our own citizens
1996 Atlanta games also made a profit. Most US states have multiple venues that can be used in the Olympics.
The 2002 winter games in Salt Lake City didn't break the bank. We used temporary seating at the existing skiing venues and the rest of our facilities are used regularly for training by athletes. We used several existing stadiums as well which were used before the games and continue to be since. I worked in the official merchandise tents during the games and had an amazing experience being part of it.
Awesome!!!
I think one of the reasons the IOC disliked Atlanta is because they were able to find creative ways to pay for the games while utilizing existing infrastructure for all of the events. It’s a lot harder to cultivate a culture of fraud under those circumstances
I don't think the terrorist bombing helped, either.
At the time Atlanta had no idea they were going to have to deal with a domestic terrorist bombing it was literally a bolt out of the blue., that being said they still managed to complete the games even though they locked this city down for all practical purposes. I know because I was on staff working at Georgia Dome for Randstad doing parking area security as a side job while also working contract security at Hartsfield International as my regular job. You want stress try clearing construction workers through security working on the new international terminal being built prior to the games in Atlanta period, we basically had to treat the construction areas like they work on a military base and every employee at Hartsfield had to be issued new ID no exceptions
The IOC dislikes using large wealthy and prepared cities like Los Angeles, and others because they don't need to build new venues, not as much money moves around with corruption and bribes if no new facilities need to be built. They should just choose one large city per continent and rotate the olympics around those same cities. Something like Los Angeles, Tokyo, London, Sydney, etc I am not sure which cities can handle it in africa and south america without it being a drain on the locals though.
Having been born and raised in pre-2004-Olympics Athens, I find the upgrades that were made for the games absolutely inestimable. A net positive, despite everything else.
Completely agree the city transformed, it would have taken decades for the city to develop in that 5 year period. Olympics were used as a scapegoat.
Good point...would the Greeks have invested that much in housing, local sports clubs, upgrading the airport and transportation if the Olympics hadn't been held there? Probably not.
Behind the scenes, I feel certain a lot of countries are not one bit interested. Special accommodations for millionaire athletes while your own people survive in poverty?
Forget it!!
They all have special accommodations for millionaires anyway.
God damnit Simon i didn't need another channel of yours to watch but this video sounded interesting.
1. The new airport was nessesary for Greece in general
2. The metro and tram were also nessesary for Athens in general
3. The Helleniko will bring huge growth and revenue now that they finally will be developed
So, some of these cost have had important value to Greece and Athens. However, they did spend on things they did not need what so ever.
yes,yes,yes...We are waiting a casino from Hard Rock and a new town in helliniko (with limited access for regular people)...And of cource, Lamda development will pay only 900M euros to buy the land, insteed of 9B (todays price). Good job.
There is no neccesity for you to try to connect some "sport" or "cultural" or "whatever" event or "festival" with the .... infrastructure like roads, metro, etc needed in a country. These things can be done REGARDLESS of the Olympic events. Olympic Games didn't offer INCOME to Greece so that we could use it to build infrastructure. It has put Greece in a big "hole" of expenditure and dept. So, all facilities in a country cannot be "connected with" some sports event. Metro is needed regardless of any sport event or festival !!!!!!!!!!!
I'm so happy that my city, Sydney, managed to get it right.
The last great olympics in my opinion. Had COVID not happened I think Tokyo would have surpassed it.
London did very well... yes there was overspend (as with all olympics). But all the permanent infrastructure is still in use, many have since been developed and expanded further.
That kinda surprised me, plus to see how many people made it to Sydney for the Olympics
Very interesting topic as always! I noticed the editing was a bit choppy? Not up to your usual standards!
A ton of jarring and abrupt cuts, I'm glad I'm not the only one who shares this opinion
part of the reason that they're revamping their selection process is because for the round where they picked 2024, every single contender pulled out on their own except Paris (who got it) and Los Angeles (who got 2028 on the spot because the IOC didn't know if there would even be any bidders for the next cycle).
My only complaint about the Olympics is them wasting so much to build something that will only be used once and then to only go abandoned
And this is really why only "wealthy" nations can pull this off anymore. Because only wealthy, fully developed, nations can afford to reuse these facilities beyond just the Olympics. There's a reason the City of Los Angeles, alone, has hosted the Olympics on more than one occasion, and why the United States has hosted a grand total of seven olympiads, in its' history.
The IOC pushing these games onto "developing" countries is actually doing more to set them back, than to really push them forward. Future games need to remain in fully developed nations. Attending an Olympic Games is life-changing, and unforgettable. Hosting an Olympic Games can potentially ruin a nation, if done hastily, or without good financial support. The IOC needs to come to grips with the difference between these two concepts.
@@jacob4920 I agree with your sentiment here, as sad as that may be. But LA is not the only city to host the olympics multiple times.
London was the first city to host it 3 times. With Paris and LA both set to host for a 3rd time in 2024/28 respectively. And Tokyo due to host its second later this year (hopefully).
@@richardkent6608 And there you go. I probably worded it incorrectly, but I didn't mean to suggest that ONLY LA has hosted the games multiple times.
The short list of cities that has accomplished multiple hostings is desperately short, though, because it's not easy. Lake Placid stands out, because that's such a podunk town, even in the US, one can't imagine that it has actually hosted TWO Winter Games! But back before 1985, it was easier for an Olympic venue to be hosted in a smaller city. That's definitely not the case anymore. We will never see another games hosted in Lake Placid, as beautiful as that real-estate is (and it is beautiful!).
Off the top of my head, we have:
1. Athens (1896 and 2004)
2. Los Angeles (1932 and 1984)
3. London (1908, 1948, and 2012)
4. Paris (1900 and 1924)
5. Innsbruck (1964 and 1976)
6. Lake Placid (1932 and 1980)
7. Tokyo (1964 and 2020*)
Bam. That's it. Seven cities, worldwide, have pulled this off. No, I'm not counting Olympics that have yet to happen, so Beijing does not get its' second appearance until 2022, and Paris and LA are both stuck at two (for now). Asterisk next to Tokyo's 2020 games, because that got postponed due to pandemic last year, and will be held this Summer, to make up for that. It counts, but only just barely.
Think of all the major cities that have only hosted ONCE! Moscow, Berlin, Rome, Stockholm, Sydney, Montreal... That is staggering! (though in the case of Moscow and Berlin, I can only imagine that history had a lot to do with those cities only doing it once).
Now imagine all the major cities that have yet to host a games. Toronto, Chicago, St Petersburg, New Delhi, Hong Kong, Jerusalem, Istanbul, and a bunch of other really nice historic cities that could more than pull it off!
When countries try to show off and build up a place from scratch, a lot will go to waste since there wasn't any demand for those places to begin with. Places that already rely on tourism and sports for income and infrastructure can usually fare better.
The facilities for the 2002 Winter Games ( Salt Lake City ) are all still in operation and continual use. The stadiums and arenas used all existed before ( though were of course upgraded ) and the new ice sheets built back then are now open to the public for skating, curling, and other stuff ( you might be surprised how popular curling became in Utah after the Olympics ). The ski and snowboard slopes of course are still there, and the athlete's village is now student housing at the U of U. And of course Utah has the advantage of funding for Team USA winter training facilities to keep them up to snuff.
I bet Denver could also host the Games and keep everything open. Many other countries probably have at least one or two cities that could do similar.
I think it would be harder to keep every Summer Game venue open in the aftermath when you need places for cycling, kayaking, and less popular sports the public might not frequent enough to keep open and in use.
But a problem is how if they already have place that was already been built from a previous event why not make an effort for upkeep for the next time they’re hosting rather than spend money on a completely new one with money that could go towards helping out those in need in their countries
The Olympic venues became ruins...quite fitting for Greece
And it's quite ironic some venues became abandoned on the site of the old Athens airport, Hellinikon, which was also abandoned. Yup, they reused the old airport site (and left the runway and terminal as is) and built Olympic venues on top of it. At least they're turning the site into a big park
Hellinikon is set to become the biggest coastal park in Europe after it's completion...
it will have a 200m tower, a new casino, hotels, residential areas, possibly a new convention center and a huge space for picnic, jogging etc... a new marina will be built as well... it will be a work of art...
but i don't have high hopes on our politicians...
they're the biggest liars and some of the most corrupt ones in Europe... they promise things they never complete! who knows when this thing will be completed... it will take more than 7-8 years for sure... you have know idea what Greek bureaucracy means!!!
I live in Australia, a country addicted to applying for the Olympics and International sports events. The country and its larger cities regularly wastes large amounts of public money applying for these events. The money could be much better spent, but the ego of it's leaders precludes that.
As an ex aussie I feel you on this lol. It sucks!
A couple of remarks from a former Athenian.
Greece and China have hosted one of the most spectacular games. But Greece has a fraction of the size and population of China. The problem is not just the expenses. If the cost went to the Greek economy I could understand it. There was an incredible amount of money that went to foreign companies. The whole terror thing mentioned, was resolved by Siemens's experimental security offering which didn't work and at the end we got police for so many years holding 2 walkie talkies. Then, equipement like cameras, was not sold or used. Left to rot. The high tech equipment was arguably more expensive than the stadiums. And lets not forget the incredible corruption at the organization level. Athenias were kind of forced out of their city for the games. I was there the last 3 days and I couldn't recognize the place only to change back to shit just a couple of days after the dust had settled. You see, most mediteranian countries are driven by one question/motive/incentive. What will the other person say? And in this case, what will the foreigners say? We have to show a good face. It's Greece's honour at stake and other bullshit. Let's not forget that among us, we don't care much about this. It's all about face.
Overall, we hosted one of the best games in all aspects and made plenty of foreign companiues filthy rich. It's not that the IOC doesn't know about this. Same as blaming for those who blame Greece. Siemens is a German company, lets not forget about this. The money "wasted" did go down the drain for all perspectieves. Some foreigners were very happy about this. Part of the plan I guess.