Olympic Fever: When Five Rings Turn a City Into a Sporting Playground

The Olympics have a specific effect on the minds and hearts of people. Each of us have a special moment from the history of the Games that they hold dear: for example, the peak of sportsmanship between Mutaz Essa Barshim and Gianmarco Tamberi in High Jump, when they reached the same result and decided to share a gold medal or the so-called «Miracle on Ice».

The city landscape changes to an unforgettable celebration of colours too, inviting tourists from all over the world. The guests come prepared with their national merchandise supporting their country and occasionally using a 1xbetbd app download at the link for predicting results. But what actually changes in the host country?

The city’s new designer clothes: Olympic couture

Imagine your city wearing a new suit of shiny stadiums and polished roads. That’s exactly what happens when the Olympics come to town. Suddenly, the mayor realises that the old dirt track could actually use an upgrade. And voila! There’s a state-of-the-art athletics stadium, complete with VIP lounges and a conveyor belt for quick delivery of beverages.

But it doesn’t stop there. The city’s public transport is also getting an extreme makeover. The metro, which once travelled at the speed of a turtle, is now being upgraded to a kind of urban bullet train. It’s almost as if someone has poured Red Bull into the fuel tank.

From Olympic village to the new capital of the hipster neighbourhood

Once the athletes have gone home with their medals (and possibly a few souvenirs from the local souvenir stall), the city is left with a brand new neighbourhood. The Olympic Village is transforming faster than a superhero in a phone booth.

Suddenly, coffee roasting collectives and yoga studios are popping up where once there were canteens and training facilities. It’s like watching a butterfly unfold – if the butterfly was obsessed with avocado toast and craft beer.

When curling becomes the new black

The Olympics have a magical ability to make obscure sports hip. Suddenly people are talking about synchronised swimming like it’s the new Champions League. Kids are ditching their football in favour of modern pentathlon and grandma is seriously considering taking up skeleton.

It’s as if the whole town has had a collective sporting epiphany. Even the local hot dog vendor is considering adding protein shakes to the menu – you know, to cater for the new wave of amateur triathletes.

When the bill lands: The Olympic hangover

But alas, as every good party is followed by a formidable hangover, the day comes when the city wakes up and looks at the bank statement. It’s a bit like checking your bank account after a night out, but in the billions.

Suddenly, the mayor is standing there with a bobsleigh track thinking: «What the hell are we going to do with this in the summer? The world’s most expensive water slide?» It’s at moments like these that creativity really flourishes in the city council.

The green revolution: When the Olympics becomes a treehugger

In recent times, the Olympics have acquired a green conscience. It’s as if someone has poured organic fertiliser into the Olympic fire. Now everything has to be sustainable, recyclable and preferably convertible into a wind turbine after the Games.

Tokyo 2020 (or was it 2021?) set new standards. They went so far as to make medals out of recycled mobile phones. It’s almost as if they were trying to win gold in the ‘Most Eco-friendly Olympics’ event.

Olympic legacy: More than just a t-shirt

At the end of the day, the Olympics are about leaving a lasting impression – and no, we’re not talking about the Olympic rings tattooed on an athlete’s ankle.

For some cities, the Olympics are like a middle-aged man’s impulse buy of a sports car – expensive, flashy and perhaps not well thought out. For others, it’s the start of a new era of urban cool and sporting excitement.

Sydney used the Olympics as an excuse to transform a drab industrial area into a kind of Disneyland for sports enthusiasts and picnic lovers. It’s like magic, but with more building permits and concrete pours involved.

Olympic cities of the future: More Lego, less pharaonic construction

With falling interest from sponsors and viewers the government needs to find a more reasonable approach to the budgeting of Olympic facilities. Moreover, the strategy for the use of these buildings must be sustainable – there’s no chance for billions of dollars to be spent on the 50-metre swimming pool standing in the center of the capital that nobody would use after the Games.

Olympics should not only bring joy, gratitude and pride to the residents, but also benefit all infrastructure of the city. The government’s job is to make a profit from this huge event, not suffer a loss. But who thinks about it, when celebrating such a huge sporting event, right?

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