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Mega rich athletes and others on the road
There are more than a few in the late Aristotle Onassis’ mould, in Greece as shipping magnates and others abound. But the number of millionaires present in the Mediterranean country that taught democracy to the world, has been greatly increased during these last days with the invasion of mega rich athletes who, because of their brilliance have accumulated impressive bank balances. If they join up forces they can easily solve Africa’s famine. .Top class professional sport is an impressive industry.
The Olympic Village is hosting a relatively big number of these sport aristocrats though not surprisingly there are those who have preferred accommodation in secret palaces, lavish yachts and dream villas. These wealthy athletes can hardly be sharing typical modest quarters, when they have in attendance their entourage including a number of private bodyguards, personal trainers, coaches, physiotherapists, business agents, financial experts, secretaries, the flashy PAs and PRs, amongst others.
Professional sport has been good to a good number of these during these last years when world beaters are continually contracted by big firms for impressive fees to advertise their products which are not always connected with sport.
What was considered as a healthy past-time became a much sought after career which brought about scientific training methods and performance enhancing dangers.
Record holders and gold medallists use the Olympic Games for more glory and more lavish sponsorships, while those who eventually join the club are equally assured of similar rewards.
Glancing at the list of players forming the American basketball team, the wealth of top swimmers, tennis players, runners and others, is enough to reach a few conclusions about the benefits of top professional sport, and why these athletes enjoy such a worldwide popularity. Lucrative benefits are not reserved to those who practise the popular disciplines. One recalls how two Malaysian badminton players, the Sidek brothers, Razif and Jalami, bronze winners in the team event during Barcelona 1992 Olympics were presented with so many incentives that they became millionaires overnight, and their fortunes tripled within two months as they clinched the Thomas Cup.
Stories of rags to riches sportsmen and women are ever so common these days.
Incentives
The National Olympic Committees have all informed their athletes of the cash rewards should they step on the podium. Greeks will get the highest prize money for a gold, as they have been promised €190,000, while the Americans will get $25,000, Spanish winners €75,000, Russians €40,000, Germans and Chinese €15,000 and Austrians €11,000. The medals show designs of ‘Nike’ of Paenios and the Panathinaikon stadium. According to Greek mythology Nike was sent by Zeus to crown the winners. These attractive medals will be cherished by the winners, but will eventually be cashed for open cheques as a result of the ‘blood, sweat and tears’ that have been experienced during years of preparation.
But there are others apart from the athletes and their agents who are bound to benefit from the Games.
Gianna’s mission statement
The lovely lady who heads the Organizing Committee, Gianna Angelopoulos Daskalaki, wants to show the world ‘the modern Greece,’ as the country will be under world spotlight, promoting local attractions, culture and talents. About two hundred countries are tuned in to Athens and Daskalaki’s noble mission statement has already been realised after just two days of competition as billions all over the world have come to appreciate what the organisers have achieved, at a rather heavy cost.
It is estimated that the Games will cost something in the region of $12billion a figure which is roughly 600 percent higher than what was spent in Sydney to stage the 2000 edition. Prices do escalate so much so that the next edition in Beijing is estimated to cost about $33.8 billion. Greece is the first Olympic host since the communist run 1980 Moscow Olympics to finance the Games entirely out of State funds. Six billion euros were spent on roads, stadia and security. Some fancy venues become money-draining after the Games. These facilities will lose their lustre, will be underused and generally neglected. Post Olympic maintenance could costs up to €10 a year and many doubt the financial sustainability of the Olympic monuments.
Analysts predict that the costs could haunt Greek taxpayers for at least a decade, while developers, political ladder climbers and other civic chieftains stand to benefit. It is a fact that big companies and those with big interests can get rich off the Olympics. The Olympics bring in money and spur some projects; it pumps profits to selected developers and other insiders. Individual entrepreneurs will capitalise on the event, through urban development, hotel beds increase, and other projects, such as improvement in infrastructure, roads, airports, bridges, stadia, new or modernised undergrounds.
During the last four years, property valued at more than £150m was sold to private developers for housing, offices, shopping centres and tourism development. The Games will benefit the Greek private sector in the long term, and their investment of €1.56 billion in services is assured by an increase in tourism and other projects.
Apart from these national money spinning sources, there are a number of international commercial companies which make a real bomb from such events. Think of the sport clothing and footwear industries, and their multimillion returns!
It all started in LA
The 1984 Los Angeles edition turned Olympics from a sport celebration to a perceived economic engine. The reason was a record $225m profit. Suddenly the Games were seen as a potential bonanza.
This opened up a new age of competition among cities. Bids grew ever more extravagant and spectacular So did the costs! It will be interesting to learn the outcome of the International Olympic Committee’s inquiry into the claims made by Professor Ivan Slavkov, former President of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee and a member of UEFA’s Executive who was secretly filmed by BBC’s Panorama discussing how the votes of other IOC members could be ‘bought.’
IOC President Jacques Rogge promised to eliminate corruption following the 1998 Salt Lake City scandal in which 13 Olympic officials were accused of accepting bribes.
The economic factor is one of the main reasons why cities want to organise such big manifestations. The returns from TV contracts and sponsors are impressive and taken into serious consideration, though other sources are studied and approved. Home crowds tend to come together in such a spirit of joy and unity, the scale of which is unknown outside wartime.
It is not only those who pride themselves on the platform while national flags are hoisted, who are the eventual winners of the Olympic Games.
After all the immortals of the different Games like Paavo Johannes Nurmi, Kristin Otto (six gold in swimming), Nikolai Andrianov who won a total of 15 medals during the period 1972-80, J C(Jesse) Owens, Mark Spitz,(7 gold medals in Munich) Carl Lewis, Greg Louganis, Larysa Latynina who won 16 medals in gymnastics during 1956-64 editions, Klaus Dibiasi who won five medals in diving, Olga Korbut, Nadia Comaneci, Emil Zatopek, Edwin Moses, Michael Jordan, Fanny Blankers-Koen and Betty Cuthbert may all grace any ‘Hall of Fame’ but they did not live in the same street moneywise. To each his own but certainly no one paid his own way to the Games, as John Connolly, an American student did in 1896. He became famous for being the first gold medal winner of the modern games with his brilliant performance in the triple jump.
Times do change.
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