Sochi Olympic Park - The Aftermath

[Isk8NYC]

So sad to see money spent on building for Olympic Games going to waste.  Sochi isn't alone, but at least t isn't bombed-out like Sarajevo.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2941216/Extraordinary-images-Vladimir-Putin-s-Sochi-Olympic-park-lying-desolate-abandoned.html

[mamabear]

I have a love/hate relationship with the Olympics.  I love seeing so many sports that I don't otherwise watch.  I love that skating gets lots of exposure.  But, at the same time there seems to be so much waste.  I can't help but wonder if a more permanent location wouldn't be more cost-effective. 

[Loops]

Wow...I thought the rink stadiums were de-mountable and could therefore be moved to other, more easily accessed locations. I also thought that was totally cool, and am so, so disappointed. What a collassal waste.  Not too different from Rio and the favolas that went forgotten with the olympic buildup.

I'm more and more for a permanent location.  Greece would be a wholly appropriate choice for the summer games (and goodness knows their economy could use the boost, if any money makes it through the corruption that seems to be everywhere these days). Winter, Idk, but I feel like a more fiscally responsible solution can certainly be found.
 

[Query]

I was under the impression that Olympic sports venues rarely if ever earn back the investment - just like big city sports arenas tend not to, if you consider all the costs and tax breaks local governments have to give the investors and sports teams. It's all about prestige, providing sports fans what they want, providing construction firms with the money and contracts they want, and diverting attention away from problems in governance. Despite the poor return on investment, countries and cities continue to vie to become major sports venues.

Russia greatly strengthened it's already strong prestige at Sochi in figure skating. They also brought a lot of high level coaches back to Russia. So the effort and economic support paid off, in that area and sense. Very expensive, but still.

I don't know all that much about Russian politics, but perhaps the Sochi Olympics have partly been a good excuse to bring Russian military forces around Crimea, prior to it's invasion, and to the Caucuses, where Russia has frequent opposition. If so, perhaps it was worth it, from Putin's perspective. In other words, perhaps the real game, to him, was geopolitical and military dominance.

[sampaguita]

I was under the impression that Olympic sports venues rarely if ever earn back the investment - just like big city sports arenas tend not to, if you consider all the costs and tax breaks local governments have to give the investors and sports teams. It's all about prestige, providing sports fans what they want, providing construction firms with the money and contracts they want, and diverting attention away from problems in governance. Despite the poor return on investment, countries and cities continue to vie to become major sports venues.

Russia greatly strengthened it's already strong prestige at Sochi in figure skating. They also brought a lot of high level coaches back to Russia. So the effort and economic support paid off, in that area and sense. Very expensive, but still.

I don't know all that much about Russian politics, but perhaps the Sochi Olympics have partly been a good excuse to bring Russian military forces around Crimea, prior to it's invasion, and to the Caucuses, where Russia has frequent opposition. If so, perhaps it was worth it, from Putin's perspective. In other words, perhaps the real game, to him, was geopolitical and military dominance.

Same here. I'm under the impression that no one wants to host the Olympics for the ROI. It's mainly prestige and politics.

[AgnesNitt]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/columnist/nancy-armour/2017/05/23/ioc-international-olympic-committee-rio-skyrocketing-costs/102076808/

" Unless the rampant spending is reined in, the IOC will find within a decade that the only cities interested — or able — to host the Games will be a select few that have done it before, like Los Angeles, or are in countries run by despots for whom money is no object."

[tstop4me]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/columnist/nancy-armour/2017/05/23/ioc-international-olympic-committee-rio-skyrocketing-costs/102076808/

" Unless the rampant spending is reined in, the IOC will find within a decade that the only cities interested — or able — to host the Games will be a select few that have done it before, like Los Angeles, or are in countries run by despots for whom money is no object."

Yep, at some point we'll have the Winter Olympics in North Korea and the Summer Olympics in Somalia.