London 2012 — Where are we three years on?

This week saw the three year anniversary of the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics. David Callan, Communications Officer, has taken a look at the oft-talked about legacy of the Games and how successful it's been at delivering.

After the uncertainty and wavering over whether London and the nation could deliver a fitting, worldly spectacle, that opening night in Stratford and the six weeks that followed completely blew those fears away.
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With the Olympic stadium playing host to the Anniversary Games for the last time before next year’s Games in Rio, it offers a chance to reflect on the effect the Games had on the nation and the long-term legacy. For those interested, the previous government set its own long term vision for the legacy of the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games.

Also as an interesting reflection, previous blogs talking about the Games after one and two years can be read.

Use of Olympic Facilities and Regeneration

When reflecting on the success of the Games and the “legacy” it’s had, there are things to consider that are not related to sport and physical activity - the use of the facilities and development of the Olympic Park and athlete’s village being one.

Unlike the Games of Athens and Beijing, the Olympic stadium and other facilities, like the velodrome and aquatic centre, have been used for subsequent events. They are also open for public use and the Olympic stadium will see West Ham bring Premier League Football to its field from the 2016/17 season.

The Athletes Village meanwhile is being converted into housing, with 50% of that being classed as affordable housing. So the effect of the Olympics has had a positive impact for the people on London.

Elite-level success

The impact of the Games, as soon as they were awarded to London, provided a huge boost to the investment in and success of elite sport. Team GB at the 2012 Olympics delivered a record medal haul of 65, with Team GB paralympians adding a further 120.

Success breeds success, so much so that UK Sport has invested £347 million of funding in the run up to Rio 2016. This is an overall increase of 13% on the funding available for London 2012. Another strong GB showing will be expected next year in Rio.

Increasing participation and physical activity

This is really the litmus test as far as most people are concerned with assessing how successful the legacy has been.

Recent Active People Survey figures show that, after the initial spike in participation post-2012, maintaining that momentum has been a struggle. The reasons offered are various and it is worth remembering that these Games took place with the country still operating under tight financial pressures and constraints.

What is encouraging, looking forward, is the recognition that keeping people engaged in sport and maintaining physical activity is not the responsibility of one organisation, but of many.

The Living Legacy: 2010-2015 Sport Policy and Investment report says, “Inactivity costs the UK economy £7.4 billion a year and is responsible for one in six deaths. The situation will only get worse if sedentary behaviour is left unchecked. Such is the scale of the problem that it requires a broad spread of organisations working together to tackle it”.

Building on this, Tracey Crouch the newly appointed Sports Minister, promised a new cross-departmental sports strategy saying she would, “look to take a more joined-up approach to sport and physical activity, across Whitehall”. This is something the Alliance will be consulting on and contributing towards.

Looking at the pathway for activity in a person’s life, the key touch points run from school sport, accessible local sport and recreation facilities and well run and affordable clubs and programmes. It’s working with providers across each of these areas that a joined-up activity offering can be achieved and people can consistently access and enjoy physical activity.

In Conclusion

Nobody can doubt the positive impact of the 2012 Games. It energised a nation and inevitably inspired many to get active during that summer. It also had a positive impact on the economy, both in the build-up to and during the Games.

It’s led to an increased investment in elite sport and has seen top class facilities and sporting events find a home in the UK.
It saw and has led to a flood of volunteers and volunteering initiatives.

What is also perhaps highlighted, was the lack of connection between institutions and how sport and recreation is delivered. What’s important is that this has been recognised and is high on the Government’s agenda to address.

On that basis, the real legacy of the 2012 Olympics may be that it led to the closer union of the sport and recreation sector and facilitators of sport to help people get active and enjoy it.

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