So the summer of 2012 officially ended today. Well, we didn't really have a 'summer' in the traditional sense of the word but it certainly has been a few months that none of us will ever forget for one reason or another. This afternoon in London there was a parade for the British Olympians and Paralympians and it was a fitting end to a summer of drama, excitement and pride. As much as I enjoyed seeing all of the GB team in one place to celebrate everyone's success there was one word that annoyed me throughout the coverage: legacy.
It's a buzzword that has irked me ever since I first heard it used in relation to London 2012 but I managed to keep my lips sealed on it during the event itself - it almost didn't matter that people were talking about it. The (legal) high that the 2012 Games put most people in the country on meant that it was almost impossible to see a Britain that wouldn't be inspired - impossible that a generation couldn't be inspired (to borrow a phrase) by what they were watching. Now that we are out of the other end the use of the world 'legacy' doesn't seem to have changed - it's like people are trying to ride a wave that is no longer there.
I think I should give the word a little bit of credit or at least explain what I understand it to mean in the context of sport and society in the United Kingdom. The impression I get is that everyone involved with the Olympics in London right from the conception of the bid all of those years ago until today's parade is that they want the Olympics and the Paralympics to change the country. It's a sweeping generalisation of the task that the country has set itself but it magnifies the arrogance with which the word is being used.
I didn't think I would ever see the day when I would agree with something that John Inverdale has said. I think he's a good sports presenter but he's no Aristotle - or Boris Johnson for that matter. However in the closing remarks of today's coverage he said that for this much pronounced legacy to come to fruition people need to stop talking about it and actually act on it. I would like to elaborate further on that comment because, in true Inverdale style, he doesn't seem to have quite finished his point.
It seemed that everyone that used the word today (with carefree abandon I might add) had a statistic or a story that provided evidence that the legacy of the 2012 Games was already pumping through the veins of the country. More children are taking up gymnastics, people are investing in bikes, somebody in a wheelchair has realised that sport is now a real option for them and so on. This is all well and good but I still don't buy into the whole thing. Yes there might be a greater will to participate in sport at all levels, but the country hasn't actually changed in the last few months. Where are all of these children going to do gymnastics? Where are all of those new bikes going to be cycled? Is there really enough facilities in the country that can cater for people with disabilities?
Yes I'm being a pessimist but then again which British person deep down isn't? I too was hit by the Olympic bug when it was on - you'll remember that I actually got on a bike after Wiggins won the time trial - but that has petered out now and I'm back to my old static self with the occasional kick of a football thrown in. Somebody, somewhere (cough, Mr Cameron, cough) has to put the wave machine back on and show people that this legacy that we have all been promised will be delivered, otherwise people will lose interest very quickly and the lofty heights of the games will be but a memory - a spine-tingling memory but a memory nevertheless.
Thanks for reading.
Martin
