Boy, was he wrong. The Montreal Olympics went down in history as a notorious money-loser , scaring off many cities from bidding for the games in the future. Building costs included a stadium, a full-fledged Olympic Village with apartment buildings, outdoor and indoor recreational facilities, and a massive velodrome. No wonder that in , when the Olympic stadium began its second life as home to the Montreal Expos Major League Baseball team -- and was dubbed the Big O in homage to its storied start -- Canadians opted to call it the Big Owe instead.
Millions more were spent upgrading the stadium and on a retractable roof that never worked. To add insult to injury, this is the only Olympics where the host country did not win any gold medals. That's when the state of New York stepped in.
In return for several Olympic-sized assets, including the speed skating rink, Olympic fieldhouse and a series of ski jumps, the state agreed to pay off the debt [source: Seymour ]. Still, Lake Placid holds the honor of being one of only three cities in the world to twice-host the Winter Olympics, along with St. When Albertville , France, decided to boost its lagging tourism numbers by bidding successfully for the Winter Olympics, 13 other nearby towns in the French Savoy Alps saw that as a way to get in on the action too.
Only the opening and closing ceremonies and some skating events were actually held in Albertville. While some the towns garnered more tourists because of improved transportation, both during the Olympics and in the years that followed, Albertville didn't see any long-term boom. But the bullet train had the unfortunate effect of encouraging tourists to book hotel rooms in Tokyo as opposed to Nagano.
As the games neared, the Nagano Organising Committee had to cancel a quarter of the 16, Nagano hotel rooms it had reserved due to low demand. Nearby ski villages reported that instead of being at 80 percent occupancy -- the normal level -- they were at a mere 60 percent occupancy as regular tourists steered clear of slopes presumably crowded with Olympic tourists. In the end, the Olympic Games didn't bring in the crowds nor did it boost tourism as the city had planned [source: The Economist ].
The games ran at a loss but the full cost may never be known. During the bidding process, the Nagano Organising Committee plied International Olympic Committee members with first-class airline tickets, stays at luxurious resorts, and pricey entertainment. Later, a member of the bid committee ordered the records -- all 90 volumes of them -- to be burned. Although most Australians knew hosting the Summer Olympic Games was an expensive proposition, most thought the benefits -- namely, a long-term boost in tourism -- would outweigh the financial risk.
A third of that cost was born by taxpayers [source: CNBC ]. However, lagging visitor numbers during the Olympics foreshadowed a different fate. While the games were largely considered successful, the , tourists expected to stay in Sydney during the day event never materialized. Instead, there were a mere 97, visitors. Tourists who weren't interested in the Olympic Games canceled or delayed their visits for fear of crowds [source: Saunders ].
And what about the 8 to 10 million tourists a year who were forecast to visit Sydney following the Olympics? They didn't show up, either.
At least not in the expected droves; instead, a steady 2. Athens hosted the Summer Olympics a second time more than a century later, but with a much more disastrous financial result. After the last spectators left, many of the venues were never used again.
In , a reporter witnessed a smattering of individuals jogging around Athens' Olympic Sports Complex, dodging windswept debris and a series of rusty locked gates along the way. Many of the complex's amenities, including its tennis courts were shuttered. Worse, she learned that a restaurant constructed specifically for competitors and dignitaries was in business for a single hour to host the Greek prime minister.
New kitchen equipment and chairs in their original packaging lay abandoned inside the building eight years later [source: Smith ]. Athens' Olympic build was funded by the socialist country's public investment budget, a move that has taxpayers still footing the bill.
In the months leading up to the Winter Olympic Games , the organizing committee in Turin, Italy, struggled with some tough choices. And then they got creative [source: Kahn ]. Still, the income wasn't enough. Because most cities have ended up falling massively in debt after hosting the games, cities without the necessary infrastructure may be better off not submitting bids. Hosting the games is even more costly than the bidding process.
Once a city wins a bid for hosting the Olympics, cities commonly add roads, build or enhance airports, and construct rail lines to accommodate the large influx of people. Housing for the athletes in the Olympic village, as well as at least 40, available hotel rooms and specific facilities for the events, must be created or updated as well.
Cities hosting the Olympics gain temporary jobs due to infrastructure improvements that continue benefiting the cities into the future.
For example, Rio de Janeiro constructed 15, new hotel rooms to accommodate tourists. Additionally, thousands of sponsors, media, athletes, and spectators typically visit a host city for six months before and six months after the Olympics , which brings in additional revenue. The boost in job creation for cities hosting the Olympics is not always as beneficial as initially perceived. Also, most jobs went to workers who were already employed, which did not help the number of unemployed workers.
Also, income from the games often covers only a portion of expenses. As of , Los Angeles is the only host city that realized a profit from the games, mostly because the required infrastructure already existed. Additionally, it is difficult ascertaining exactly which benefits come from hosting the Olympics.
For example, Vancouver had planned many infrastructure projects before winning the bid for hosting the games. Many of the arenas constructed for the Olympics remain expensive due to their size or specific nature. At the time of the event, Montreal was undergoing a dramatic surge in terms of its global profile. The Montreal Games ended up leaving a year legacy of debt and financial disaster for the city, with the decaying, custom-built venues remaining a forlorn eyesore for decades.
The event stands as the embodiment of excess and irresponsible spending. While this is an understandable expense, the building of unnecessary and ill-conceived permanent sporting venues was extremely difficult to comprehend. A number of these venues remain idle to this day. This lack of foresight and planning left the nation with a shortfall of 50, euros per Greek household, which has been shared among the taxpayers ever since.
Health concerns over the Zika virus that was spreading in Brazil caused many athletes to withdraw from the games and many spectators to not enter the country. The hoped-for economic benefit of hosting the games did not occur in Rio de Janeiro. According to The Associated Press, the city is late in paying teachers, hospital workers, and pensions, and crime has risen to almost record-breaking levels.
But then the COVID pandemic hit in the spring of , and the decision was made to postpone the Olympics to the summer of When brought a surge of COVID in many parts of the world, including in Japan, the decision was made to bar spectators.
Without fans, international tourism will not provide the spending needed to make up for the costs incurred by the Japanese government.
While the economic cost will be substantial, the health cost could be even higher. As of Aug. What health or economic impact these numbers may have on the city of Tokyo remains to be seen. Hosting the Olympics tends to result in severe economic deficiencies for cities.
Unless a city already has the existing infrastructure to support the excess crowds pouring in, not hosting the Olympics may be the best option. Council on Foreign Relations. Britain has been building a strong sprint canoeing programme and GB will want more than the one gold medal won by Tim Brabants in Beijing.
Great Britain dominated track cycling at Beijing , but France has traditionally been a strong cycling nation at the Olympic Games. The French won five cycling gold medals at both Atlanta and Sydney , then placed second behind Britain in Beijing - albeit some distance back, picking up two gold and three silver medals to Team GB's eight gold and four silver.
France has won the last three men's mountain bike Olympic titles courtesy of Julien Absalon, finishing with a one-two in the event at Beijing , while France's women also took first and second as women's BMX made its debut at the same Games.
The United States may be top of the all-time diving medal table, but that does not reflect the near-total dominance of China since it began taking the Olympic Games seriously.
China's first major presence at a summer Olympics came in Four years later, only American Greg Louganis stopped the Chinese from sweeping the board in the Seoul diving competition.
Since then, only eight of the 32 diving gold medals on offer have been won by a nation other than China. Australia's Matt Mitcham was the sole non-Chinese competitor to win a gold in the eight diving events contested at Beijing , and China's divers will be similarly hard to beat at London China has won more gold medals in diving - 27 in total - than in any other sport.
Germany is the undisputed equestrian powerhouse of the Games, producing 37 gold medallists in its various guises over the course of Olympic history. These days, the medals in showjumping and eventing could come from any of several nations.
Alongside Germany, you can expect strong challenges from the likes of Britain and the United States. Dressage, on the other hand, has been a closed shop for decades. Not since Moscow has a nation other than the Netherlands or Germany won either the individual or team dressage Olympic titles.
However, the British team for London looks strong enough to threaten that hegemony. Between them, Italy, France and Hungary account for more than half of the near fencing medals awarded since the dawning of the modern Olympic era.
Fencing has provided each of those three nations with more gold medals than any other sport. Italy has 45, France 41 and Hungary However, while the Hungarians' glory days came largely in men's sabre fencing during the first half of the 20th Century, the Italians and French are still leaders in the sport, occupying the top two places at both Athens and Beijing At the World Championships, held in Sicily, the Italians won four titles in Olympic events while Russia, increasingly a fencing force, won three.
An impressive spell in the s and s saw Hungary win three Olympic men's football gold medals, enough for them to remain the most-decorated men's Olympic football team to this day.
Uruguay, by dint of back-to-back successes in the s, has two titles and lies joint-second on the all-time men's list alongside the Soviet Union and Argentina. Argentina won the men's title at Beijing but the team failed to qualify for the London Olympics. It is hence difficult to say with any certainty who the favourites for the men's title in London are, particularly with the reintroduction of a British team for the first time since Spain and Brazil are among the strongest teams to have qualified.
The United States has dominated the women's event since its introduction at the Americans' home Games of in Atlanta, winning three of the four Olympic titles the other going to Norway, who beat the US in Sydney.
It is hard to see past them for gold at London Gymnastics has traditionally had a strong association with Romania and, up until the Beijing Games, that remained the case: Romania topped the medal table for gymnastics at Athens and had been prominent at most Games since the s, off the back of Nadia Comaneci's famous successes in Montreal and Moscow. However, saw host nation China burst onto the scene, rocketing from one gold medal in Athens to 11 in Beijing, nine more than either the United States or Russia.
Do not expect a repeat of that stunning margin of victory at London While China still topped the medal table with four golds at the artistic gymnastics' World Championships in Tokyo, the US won as many titles and hosts Japan, led by men's superstar Kohei Uchimura, weighed in with two.
The Japanese look to be a nation on the rise in the men's sport. Russia is the unquestioned star of rhythmic gymnastics, and look out for Canada in the trampoline events. Though the Canadians have yet to win an Olympic gold medal, they have won more medals - five - in the sport than any other nation and have a strong team for London As holders of the Olympic, world and European titles, Norway's women are the clear favourites for the handball gold medal at London Handball is popular throughout Scandinavia and continental Europe, with Denmark winning women's Olympic gold three times in a row prior to Norway's victory at Beijing The men's Olympic champions are France who, having won both of the intervening world titles, are - like Norway's women - on track to successfully defend their title.
Field hockey proved India's only source of Olympic gold medals for many years, but modern-day hockey has been the playground of Germany , Australia and the Netherlands. Every hockey gold medal has gone to one of those three nations since Barcelona , when hosts Spain dislodged the Germans after extra time in the women's final. Britain's men and women are both dark horses for gold in but Argentina may be overdue an Olympic title. Women's hockey is hugely popular in Argentina and the World Cup winners, who beat Britain to the Champions Trophy title in January, are favourites to win gold this summer.
As you might expect, Japan is the leading judo nation in the world. You have to go back to Seoul to find the last occasion on which Japan did not top the judo medal table - in Seoul, hosts South Korea won two gold medals to Japan's one. Japan has won more gold medals in judo 35 than in any other sport, a figure comfortably higher than that won by the second most successful nation in the sport's history, France.
China has recently emerged as a growing force in judo while Cuba often bubbles under at the Olympics. Cubans won six medals at both Athens and Sydney , but failed to come home with a single gold medal from either. Combining fencing, swimming, riding, running and shooting into one sport, men's pentathlon has been the province of Russia in recent times. Russians won the men's Olympic title in Sydney, Athens and Beijing, only missing out to Kazakhstan in On the women's side, Britain has proved a world power since a women's event was introduced to the Games at Sydney Four of the subsequent nine women's medals have been won by Britons, including gold for Steph Cook in Sydney.
However, Hungary is without doubt the world's biggest pentathlon nation. Pentathlons staged in Hungary draw huge crowds, local pentathletes gain celebrity status, and Beijing marked the first Olympics since Los Angeles - boycotted by Hungary, among others - in which no Hungarians won a pentathlon medal.
The peerless medal-winning efforts of Sirs Steve Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent, among others, have established Great Britain as a great among rowing nations. But outsiders may be surprised to learn of Romania's proud recent tradition in the sport.
Only gymnastics has proved more lucrative than rowing for Romanians at the Games. The nation topped the medal table at Sydney and Athens , but slipped to ninth in Beijing with one gold and one bronze, while Britain and Australia finished first and second respectively with two gold medals.
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