ABSTRACT
In 2012, London became the first city to host the Summer Olympic Games for a third time. The city, which held the 1908 and 1948 Olympics, beat other two-time hosts Athens (1896 and 2004), Paris (1900 and 1924), and Los Angeles (1932 and 1984) to this hat-trick. However, while Britain’s long Olympic history played a part in the bid and marketing for 2012, there was more to these Games than precedent. When the International Olympic Committee (IOC) awarded the 2012 Olympics to London in 2005, they were drawn by the planners’ commitment to the future through legacy: both the hard legacy of infrastructure and facilities and the soft legacy of increased participation in physical activity. At the time of writing, it remains to be seen how successful this long-term plan will be, although the sporting and social landscape of East London has changed as a result of the Games. Whatever the future for the stadium, and however many people take up sport as a result of being inspired by the Olympics, the fact remains that without that commitment to legacy, London would never have got the Games.
