Vancouver, London, Sochi Olympics Set to Be Considerably Less Jazzy Than Beijing

After Beijing’s Olympics, which were both funded from and designed to promote the nation’s economic surge, London’s Olympics look set to reflect a country deep in recession, as well as those in Vancouver, Sochi (Russia), and anywhere else for the next decade.

Tessa Jowell, Olympic Minister aka Minister For Disappointment, said on Tuesday that Britain wouldn’t have bid for the Games had we known a recession would hit. After that vote of confidence she went on to say the Games were a “counter-cyclical investment” that would fight against the recession by providing jobs all over the country. Just funded from the public purse rather than the private, presumably; as investors can’t see when and from where they’ll get their money back, the government is having to step in and hope that all these buildings get bought by someone for after the games.

Chairman of the Olympic Delivery Authority, John Arnitt, continued the breezy soundbite mood last week, saying the project is lifting Britain out of its slump and regenerating East London. But a lack of business confidence means that financing for key developments like the Village and the media centre is proving hard to find.

While London will probably have to buy its opening ceremony fireworks from a Stratford petrol station out of petty cash, organisers of Olympics a bit further off are also getting a little antsy. The city of Vancouver has had to find $100m to bail out the company building its Olympic village after it found itself getting stung by the crisis, while the chair of the committee has had to admit it will be a “no-frills” Olympics. Chicago is finding it harder to get sponsors or state cash to help complete funding for its 2016 bid, while the rest are hoping that their corporate backers don’t pull out.

The organisers of Sochi 2014 were being bullish yesterday, despite having to build their infrastructure from scratch - Dmitry Chernyshenko, head of the organising committee, said that public funds were already set aside for major projects, and the presumably recession-proof likes of Gazprom are providing the private financing. Read between the lines though and it seems awfully like a funding drive and an attempt to sooth investor panic.

They’re aiming to be done in 2012 so they can practice for a couple of winters before the real thing starts. Knowing Britain’s track record for being on time and under budget, we can expect to be finished around four weeks after the opening ceremony.

Posted by Ben Beaumont-Thomas in Hot Money | November 13, 2008 10:34AM |