Ten years after London was awarded the Olympics, the grand claims that it would inspire greater participation look hollow as figures show we’re not all in this together by Richard Williams, The Guardian.
Ten years ago next month, Tony Blair’s face appeared on a large screen in a Singapore convention centre. “Our vision,” the prime minister told the members of the International Olympic Committee, gathered to choose the hosts of the 2012 Games, “is to see millions more young people in Britain and across the world participating in sport, and improving their lives as a result of that participation. And London has the power to make that happen.” Blair’s pledge was followed up by other members of the team pushing London’s Olympic bid. Tessa Jowell spoke of “the chance to turn the rhetoric of legacy into fact” and of “faster progress towards a healthier nation”.
“We hope to see people becoming increasingly active,” she continued, “with a goal of seeing two million people more active by 2012 through focused investment in our sporting infrastructure and better support and information for people wanting to be active. We will transform the lives of young people through sport.” The Labour government, she said, had broadly met its target that all school pupils should be offered a minimum of two hours a week of sport. Now the ambition was for all pupils between five and 16 to be offered five hours of sport a week by 2012. “All of this will be made possible,” she explained, “by inspirational teachers and coaches, alongside modern facilities.”
