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FEATURES
2
Sportscover named official
partner of UK Sport on
road to Rio
8
Insurers do not shy away from
dangerous sports
10 Football: It’s big business
18 The hidden dangers of
concussion
28 Qatar 2022: The controversy
heats up
31 Food supplements and you
33 How social media is changing
sport
LEGAL FOCUS
22 Nightclub left howling following
bar room brawl
MANAGING YOUR RISK
16 The dangers of martial arts
MARTIAL ARTS
6
Sport profile: Shastar Vidya -
India’s resurgent martial art
13 Breaking cinder blocks or noses:
Which martial art is right for
you?
26 Exit the dragon: Bruce Lee
40 Years on
REGULARS
4
Sports shorts
20 At Risk
34 World sport news round up
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SOCHI
DESPITE THE FEARS
- A SUCCESS!
In the months before and even right up to the start of the Winter Olympics, the
generally accepted view was that they were going to be a disaster for a whole
host of reasons. Almost daily we were fed media reports that confirmed our worst
fears - crack-downs on protests over gay rights, major security concerns over
potential terrorist attacks or delays in commissioning the facilities all seemed
destined to doom the Sochi games to nothing short of a debacle.
However, who would have thought it, but Sochi actually turned out pretty well.
Yes, there were blips, such as the horrendous sight of female members of the
punk-activist group Pussy Riot being whipped by Cossacks, the extermination of
hundreds of stray dogs and even the decidedly clement weather which had some
spectators walking around in tee shirts – highly irregular for a Winter Olympics
– which made the conditions for some events less than ideal. The IOC denied the
mild conditions, which on some days turned the snow into slush, were responsible
for some horrific injuries - the worst suffered by Russian freestyle skier Maria
Komissarova, who fractured her spine.
But, in the end, nothing could rain on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Olympic
parade, particularly when the host nation finished top of the medals table with a
very commendable 13 gold medals and an overall total of 33, catapulting them
from the mediocre eleventh place they held at the Vancouver Olympics. Winter
Games IOC President Thomas Bach declared the Games an “extraordinary success.”
However, the success has come at a huge cost – literally. Russia’s $51 billion
investment — exceeding even Beijing’s estimated $40 billion layout for the
2008 Summer Games — transformed a decaying resort town on the Black Sea
into a major Olympic site with state of the art facilities. They had been built out
of nothing, were futuristic and huge in size. Despite the promises of how the
venues will be utilised to the full in the future, what can really become of it?
Legacy is always an issue and very few of the major games sites have successfully
transformed into bustling and commercially viable sports hubs and business
centres with long term prospects.
This is not just Sochi’s problem, of course. The spending on Olympics has
continued to spiral upwards to the point at which it surely cannot be commercially
sustainable. Sure, there are a number of advantages for the host nation in
terms of world attention and possible future tourism prospects, as well as the
improvements made in infrastructure. But can such immense expenditure for a few
weeks of showcasing really be justified when there are so many more worthwhile
projects that the money could be spent on.
The IOC need to look closely at the criteria it requires for both the Summer
and the Winter Games to ensure a steady stream of willing future bidders from
countries that do not have the level of resources available to spend over $50
billion on delivering a sporting event.
FROM THE EDITOR:
STEVE BOUCHER