It's London!

[notyoueither]

Yeah. There's hardly any rock stars or actors involved. Why should people give a ****?

[Peter Triggs]

COckney:
can't wait for the tabloid headlines tomorrow, i'm sure they'll be the model of magnamimous in victory...

For those who don't normally read The Sun:

And Nelson looked down

By VIRGINIA WHEELER
and JOSH BLAIR

MORE than 10,000 ecstatic Brits celebrated yesterday’s triumph over the French — in Trafalgar Square.

The Paris Olympic bid had been blasted out of the water to bring the 2012 Games back to London.

The occasion could not have been better scripted — in this the 200th anniversary of our greatest naval success. Admiral Lord Nelson looked down from his column at the historic events unfolding below him.

You could almost have touched the tension as the crowd watched on a giant screen before the IOC President, Belgian Jacques Rogge, opened the envelope 6,700 miles away in Singapore.

Silence fell as Mr Rogge finally spoke. “The Games of the 30th Olympiad in 2012 are awarded to the city of London.”

The roar in Trafalgar Square — and at the Games’ focal point in Stratford, East London — was deafening. And the party began.

Two tons of confetti — in the rainbow colours of the Olympic rings — showered down. Union Jacks were waved in jubilation as supporters hugged each other, some in tears.

Double Olympic gold medallist Dame Kelly Holmes beamed: “This is a dream come true for London.”

Fans waltzed around in face masks of Lord Seb Coe, who had led London’s successful campaign.

Pop princess Rachel Stevens, who had belted out her hit song Some Girls, shouted: “Thank you, London.”

The crowds were swelled by hundreds of schoolchildren in Olympic T-shirts and handing out stickers and flags. And how they danced.

M People’s Heather Small performed the official London bid song with the famous line What Have You Done Today (To Make You Feel Proud). She said: “I’m flattered and humbled the song helped us to win.”

There were gasps as RAF dispaly team The Red Arrows buzzed the centre of the capital.

Darryl Godrich, who had produced London’s promotional bid film, was thrilled. New York had relied on Hollywood great Steven Spielberg and Paris acclaimed Luc Besson for their videos.

But Godrich beat them hands down with his powerful images of children from South Africa, Mexico, Russia and China being inspired by watching the 2012 Olympics.

He said: “It was a huge honour and incredible to see us win.”

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver said: “I’m toasting the Olympic bidding team with a glass of a very nice English wine. Patriotic to the end.”

Horatio Nelson himself, could not have been a prouder.

The French had been sunk again.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2005310272,00.html

Follow the link for more.

[Imran Siddiqui]

France is:

[FrustratedPoet]

Originally posted by notyoueither
Yeah. There's hardly any rock stars or actors involved. Why should people give a ****?

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by Spiffor
There's something I find deliciously ironic. The vote was 54 to 50 in favour of London. The two Finnish voters voted for London.

Wonderful

Beautiful....

[Saras]

Interesting opinion:

Matthew Lynn is a columnist for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.

London Gets Turn at Olympic Financial Disaster: Matthew Lynn

July 7 (Bloomberg) -- Londoners enjoy nothing more than beating the French. That's why, about a week after also celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar, London's victory over Paris in the bid to stage the 2012 Olympics will have been particularly satisfying for the English.

Yet once the celebrations subside, the reckoning will begin.

In reality, the modern Olympics have turned into a financial monstrosity. They are a bloated political and economic circus and have lost touch with the original, noble ideals of the movement.

The only way to restore some sanity and sporting pride to the event would be to choose a permanent site.

For evidence of the willful extravagance of the Olympics, you just have to look at the recent financial history of the event.

Like a host surveying the wreckage of his house on the morning after a party, the Greek economy is still struggling to recover from the 2004 games in Athens. Costs ran out of control. The bill for the games ended up reaching 7.2 billion euros ($8.6 billion), 56 percent more than the initial budget. As a result, the Greek budget deficit expanded to 6.1 percent of gross domestic product in 2004, more than twice the permitted level for members of the euro region.

Now the government has to raise taxes. Greek citizens will be paying for the games for years.

And for what?

There have been no discernable benefits to the Greek economy. Indeed, tourism declined in Greece in 2004. Athens hotel-occupancy rates in the fourth quarter dropped to 57 percent, the lowest figure among 11 of Europe's biggest cities, according to the Athens-based consulting firm JBR Hellas Ltd.

Tourism Decline

And the number of visitors to Greece fell 3 percent last year, according to the Association of Greek Tourist Enterprises.

Maybe people who might otherwise have felt like visiting the Parthenon were put off by the thought of running into some shot- put fans.

The Montreal Olympics in 1976 proved to be the biggest financial disaster of the past few decades. The event left a $1.2 billion deficit, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP study last year.

The situation improved for the 1984 Los Angeles games, which turned a profit of $355 million, the report said. Seoul had an operating profit in 1988, though the next three Olympic cities -- Barcelona, Atlanta and Sydney -- only just managed to break even, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers, citing figures based on prices in 1995 to allow comparison.

Chirac's Outburst

London might have a lot of fun in 2012, yet there is no evidence it will make the city richer. ``Our analysis finds that the economic benefits would be very small,'' Paul Dales, an analyst at Capital Economics Ltd. in London, said in a report published before the decision was made.

Even less dignified has been the jousting between the cities competing for the games. For the last year, Paris and London have been busily running each other down. That was perfectly illustrated in French President Jacques Chirac's outburst against the British this week. He told Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder that the U.K. was the country with the worst food, except for Finland, and had contributed nothing to agriculture apart from mad cow disease, the French daily Liberation reported this week.

Not much sign of the spirit of Olympic friendship there.

In reality, there is no need for a traveling political and economic circus. The extravagance and in-fighting could be laid to rest. All that is needed is a permanent home for the Olympics. Everyone gathers there every four years to concentrate on sport.

26 Million Euros

Not convinced? Well, according to the Greek newspaper Ta Nea, Greece's government tomorrow will auction some of the venues built for the 2004 games. Among the choice assets up for grabs will be a 26 million-euro kayak slalom course.

They aren't likely to get their money back. For a new kayak slalom course to be built every four years at a cost of 26 million euros is madness. Build one and re-use it. With no disrespect to its fans, kayak slaloming isn't a mass-spectator sport. The world doesn't need to be dotted with Olympic-standard kayaking courses.

The values that we learn through sport, and which the Olympics are meant to celebrate, are stoicism, endurance, self- reliance, self-discipline, simplicity and rigor.

According to the International Olympic Committee's own Web site, Pierre de Coubertin, the French founder of the modern Olympics, had noble ideals for the games. He wanted them to provide a truce between men, and to ``adhere to an ideal of a higher life.''

The farce of the traveling Olympic circus has lost sight of those ideals. The event is now just an excuse for extravagance, indulgence and wastefulness, while bidding cities are forced to insult each other. A permanent home is the only way to bring it back to reality.

That way we could forget about the money and the politics and start concentrating on the sport.

After all, that's what the Olympics were meant to be about.

[child of Thor]

Well one good aspect will be that maybe atleast we will get to finish the new wembley stadium, hopefully in time

And i wonder if we will get more mafia extortion attempts at the various building sites?(with reference to what happend at the new wembley stadium at one point - the contractors got a call saying snipers would shoot at them unless a ransom was paid!)

But i'm happy its coming here - it will put some much needed money into Londons transport systems(something that the torries helped stuff up, and new labour has done nothing to fix). Sad really.

[MikeH]

Originally posted by OzzyKP
Even so, amazing its been so long since its been to either place.

Also facinating that London was able to host the games so soon after WW2. I thought London was pretty messed up from the bombing and such.

It was much, much, much smaller back then.

[DAVOUT]

Saras,

Yes, this is a sensible opinion. One reason which could explain the CIO decision is that it was not willing to be reminded during two weeks of Pierre de Coubertin ideal.

[Ecthy]

London is now burning. Maybe you should delete this thread and top the other one, which is more interesting.

[MikeH]

Athens isn't the best example of a recent games though, it was horrendously organised. Sydney is a much better model and the London team have learnt lessons from both.

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by Ecthelion
London is now burning. Maybe you should delete this thread and top the other one, which is more interesting.

It's such a ****ing waste.

[notyoueither]

Nevermind him. It's a German fixation.

[Bkeela]

I don't know what is the worst thing about these sort of events. The death and carnage, or the mindless CNN coverage that overtakes the television.

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by Spiffor
Do you really think you'll sort out your transportation hell in the coming 7 years?

As likely as the French learning to drive properly, or finding out the correct use of soap.