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Was It All Worthwhile?


Norman Verona

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What's your opinion on the London 2012 Olympics?

Was it worthwhile, should we have spent that much money*, will it inspire a generation?

Did you watch and if so did you enjoy it.

And lastly, what was your best moment.

For the record mine was Mo's 5000 meter win.

* The commitment to spend the money was taken in better times, or at least we were told they were.

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Watched a lot of it and enjoyed it.

Will it inspire a generation ? I doubt it.

Should we have spent that much money ? No !!

Best bits, the velodrome and the girl who looked to the sky to say she loved her mum.

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Overall: surprisingly competent, great atmosphere; tranquil.

Should we have spent the money? If you're going to do something, do it properly!

Best moments (can't have just one): Ennis, Rudisha, men's 4x100, Mo, Hoy's sixth, the contrast in effort and commitment between one of our Victorias and the other, Chad's dad.

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Thank God its finished. Whilst there were some good bits and some excellent personal achievements I'm not an Olympics follower, the 3D parts were quite good to watch though.

Pity no one has mentioned the better achievement, managing to get a machine weighing the best part of 1 tonne onto a different planet by a system which, although planned, must have been a worrying time, that is an achievement and not a single mention of that on here at all. :( :(

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Or in a related other worldy way the sad passing last week of Sir Bernard Lovell; creator of the Jodrell Bank radio telescope that had us at the leading edge of astronomy etc for all those years and stands as a stunning memorial for him here in, (presently sunny) Cheshire.

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Pity no one has mentioned the better achievement, managing to get a machine weighing the best part of 1 tonne onto a different planet by a system which, although planned, must have been a worrying time, that is an achievement and not a single mention of that on here at all. :( :(

Yep, that's two robots we Americans landed on a different planet in a week. One was the fantastic device sent to Mars, while the other, much less well-designed and deeply flawed robot sent to the planet Yur-Op was Mitt Romney. So 1 out of 2 isn't too bad on the success front.

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£13bn cost for the olympics and an additional £12bn transport infrastructure costs. It was a great event, but even committing that money in good times was a big error in judgement.

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Paid for by PAYE tax payers,

Attended mostly by "We try not to pay any taxes" people!

I thought Prince William flew a rescue helecopter for a job?

Wonder how many of the "Artists" performing last night have there "Income tax" sorted in the Channel isles?

Now if the tickets were sent to PAYE tax payers by some random way, I think that would be farer.

Just my pennies worth.

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Of course it was worth it. It was the best Oplympics to date and made Britain look magnificent. Who wouldnt want to deal with us now after we have just organised this masterpeice?

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Whilst all the alternative subjects are probably valid they're not alternatives to the Olympics.

John has got it right. It's made us whinging bast*ards stand up be proud of our country. You cannot measure that in monetary terms.

It was reported that sports club are being inundated with new members.

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Also thought it was great and international reaction is all positive. There will always be grumpy old men moaning about something, but what is best? Spend money on projects leaving an infrastructure legacy and several years employment for thousands in the construction industry and the supply chain (paying taxes), or paying unemployment benefit to those same construction workers due to lack of private sector projects?? Simple choice for me. ???

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Whilst I like the universe and planetary exploration I could NEVER justify the amount of money we spent to get to the Moon and beyond but we still do it!

I went to the Athletics and it was amazing. Never seen so many happy people with GB flags and shirts etc cheering for everyone including our own team. It wasn't my decision to have the games here but if you are going to do it ( as others have said) then at least we did it right!!!!!!!!!!

AND YORKSHIRE and the rest of GB team got lots of medals :d

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Fantastic event.... watched as much as possible so did my 6yr old.......... not sure the country had the funds to do this BUT put London and the UK in good lights.....

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I never really got all the Olympic hype leading up to the games.

Indeed by chance I flew out of the country on the Thursday one day before the opening.

However passing through Heathrow that day did impress me. The excitement of athletics arriving, the level of organisation that was so visible and the many volunteers there helping tourists and athletes alike.

On my return I became addicted following the Wiggins win.

What did it for me was:

Seeing the public getting behind non mainstream sports for a change and showing the public that there is so much more than football

The emotion and excitement of it all and the look of wonder on athletes faces as they succeed.

Team GBs amazing success

Quality BBC coverage

Good organisation that we should all be proud of.

My only regret is that I didn't witness anything live.

Was it worth it all?

Yes many times over if the legacy means:

1) we say good by to the chavy, get rich quick, x factor celebrity culture and get back to working for success

2) the country (and media) moves from being cynical and negative to opportunist, confident, ambitious and wanting to succeed and compete in the world.

3) with this generation the trend in rising levels of obesity and non healthy lifestyles is reversed

4) that we learn the model of Team GBs success in coaching, motivating and mentoring and apply it to the business, engineering and scientific young of the country

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It has re-generated a large area of east London. And as I understand it, much of the accomodation for the athletes will now be turned into lowcost housing ( I dont mean the cost was low, I mean housing for people who can't afford the high prices/rents a lot of property in London commands.

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