To think Rio has been shocking

[pleasemothermay1]

There is hardly any one in the seats even the foot ball and brizallians love foot ball

The pools are green no one can say why I hear a rugby athlete got injured they got lost on route to the hospital in abulance 😳

There are issues with transport

The ioc have said this has been one of the most diffcult games in a long time

Even the opening was very poor I no they didn't have much money so why not just do a carnival instead they tried to copy ours though the ages sort of thing but not very well play to your strengths I think some samba and carival theam would have been awesome.

Also some govermnet staff have not been paid I fear that it's unlikely the para games will be much better
Contrast to London were there wasn't a ticket going begging even for the para games

I think it's all well and good allowing emerging countries to have this but they must be able to afford it and also show that the tickets will be pitched at a price of the avarge wage

amd also that the cost of the games is not at the expense of paying your govermnet staff there will be no legacy at least we have had the good sense to sell some of our ventunes I don't think there is any vunue sitting empty

what a shame to read your criticism of a great sporting event. if it bothers you that much, Go to Rio, buy tickets for every event.

i will continue watching and supporting from the comfort of my house

pleasemothermay1, you seem to be very limited in your responses as this has been your reply to more than one post. Your reluctance to debate seems to imply you have little interest (or perhaps understanding?) of the main issues discussed.

The London games weren't perfect but for all the reasons identified by previous posters above (accessibility, multicultural local population supporting many countries, wealthy nation, sports-mad general public and the wonderful volunteers) it was probably as good as it will ever get, which makes it a tough, maybe impossible act to follow. Add in zika, failed drugs tests, stalled Brazilian economy, cost of getting to Rio etc and you can see why these Games are falling very flat in terms of ticket sales. But some of this was predictable 2 years ago. Surely they could have come up with imaginative ways to bring school children, college students, sports clubs - anyone really - into the venues and at least create a decent atmosphere and get some positive legacy from it that way. We are really enjoying the athlete's performances (on TV) but as a spectacle it all feels a bit, well, sad, and definitely not a good advert for Brazil, which is a tragedy after all the money invested in it.

Even the opening was very poor I no they didn't have much money so why not just do a carnival instead they tried to copy ours though the ages sort of thing but not very well play to your strengths I think some samba and carival theam would have been awesome.

Yes they did try and copy us, and yes - where the hell was the FAMOUS carnival, amazed they didnt do it - maybe the closing????

I was dismally disappointed by opening...

Bloody loved the opening ceremony! It cost a 10th of London's and showed what could done on a relatively small budget. The techy ground, especially the rooftops, was brilliant. The Eco theme should be a prototype for future Olympics.

Did I imagine the carnival at the end?

E.g.

The best Olympics in my living memory have been London (obviously), Sydney, and Barcelona. Didn't enjoy Beijing or Athens all that much, and Atlanta was a massive, corrupt farce. I think the idea to give the games to an up and coming developing nation is a good one in principal, but it's always going to be a massive risk.

Apparently the IOC want the games to go Africa at some point, but where?! SA when Mandela was still in charge would have been a good choice, but I'm not so sure now.

There has been a lot of had sportsmanship in Rio. I'm not liking these Arabic competitors either refusing to compete against Isrealis, or refusing to shake their hands. The Olympics is above politics.

I also like the "sustainability" theme - athletes being given seeds to plant which will then grow into an 11,000 tree forest and no flowers being given out at medal ceremonies.

Whining about the opening ceremony is just crazy - everyone does their own thing, every ceremony is different from the next. London was held up as "good" in the UK as we all got all of the cultural references. Had you been watching it from a Chinese or Brazilian perspective you may well have thought it was "shocking". Rio also wanted to show people there is more to the city than just a carnival.

And, conversely, the legacy of pools and stadia can also be a huge boost when it comes to developing sports in host nations; our own cycling team has benefited from this!

Do you really think London was the first to do a 'through the ages' thing?

I enjoyed the opening ceremony. I liked the way they were prepared to embrace all aspects of Brazilian culture e.g. the Favelas etc etc

poster NoahVale

Can't do that and I would imagine if we did live in Brazil if oh had the same job there we still wouldn't t of afforded to go by the sounds of things

We went to London because the price structure was affordable to that of a uk family those saying well we live in the uk of course we could all afford tickets to London well if they jd priced all the tickets let's say at £50 we would have been looking at £200 for the whole family plus travel plus food so we wouldn't have gone

I and I don't understand why they are not cutting ticket prices if they have not sold them

In terms of legacy that's all well and good but we no in Greece there currently being used for refugees I don't suppose that was the legacy they had in mind when they spent millions on a Satuidm I have been to Greece and most of the venues are defunked

Our games is still pretty much one of the few games to use all its venues and not have any just sitting delapdated

www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/9468216/London-2012-Olympics-What-the-future-holds-for-the-venues.html

globalnews.ca/news/2879473/rio-2016-photos-of-deserted-abandoned-olympic-venues-around-the-world/

When countries put in a bid they should have a future use for all the venues and this should be taken into account. The Athens games were unaffordable in the first place and to think those venues are abandoned now is a criminal waste. The Olympic body should be ashamed of itself for allowing this sort of billion pound frippery to continue.

Amen each venue should be fully costed and the ioc told exactly how each venue will be used and how they plan to fund it long term

Also the villages in every country should be made in house in with at least 20% affordable housing

I think Canada ended up paying for there games for about 15 years after 😳

I imagine that in the bids the cities should show how they will make use of the venues.

Greece was also particularly unlucky in the financial crisis, although the Olympics can't have helped in that respect.

Anyway, I'm watching the Athletics and, while the stadium is not by all means full, it does have a respectable audience.

I imagine that as the events go into the finals that the number of people in the stadium will increase.

"Apparently the IOC want the games to go Africa at some point, but where?! SA when Mandela was still in charge would have been a good choice, but I'm not so sure now."
Runny - yes, I thnk nowadays the high level of violent crime in SA would put off a lot of overseas spectators from attending.

Actually, I don't like the eco - green - sustainability theme when it's the Brazilians who are cutting down the rainforests.

Well surely that's a good place as any to start!

each venue should be fully costed and the ioc told exactly how each venue will be used and how they plan to fund it long term

How do you know this doesn't happen? Lots of the athletes' village in London was converted into affordable housing. Same with the Commonwealth Games accommodation in Glasgow.

Also Canada hasn't hosted the Olympics since 1976 - 40 years ago.

Does no-one care about the winter Olympics? I remember there were a lot horror stories about Sochi, 2014, not being prepared. I can't recall if the seats were full or not. (I just follow hockey. Skating freaks me out as I am terrified that they will fall. I only watch after I heard the results.)

I wonder how the winter and summer games compare in terms of legacies? Are athletes' villages/housing always used for housing of some sort? How many pools and tracks are built and how are they used post-games compared to ski-jumps and arenas?

www.olympic.org/all-about-the-candidature-process - I am stunned that anyone thinks the Olympic bid process doesn't involve legacy and funding information.

Also Canada hasn't hosted the Olympics since 1976 - 40 years ago.
See my post above. The Winter Olympics were in held in Vancouver/Whistler in 2010 and in Calgary in 1988.

The legacy thing is new. Hopefully the state of the Athens venues won't be allowed to happen again.

The G4 thing at the London Olympics was an absolute fiasco. My student DS was offered the job of working at the Olympics for three weeks, hostel style accomodation, decent wage. On the strength of this he jacked in his part time job. He attended interviews and their training course in security which cost him a fair bit in train fares. Him and his friends were really looking forward to it.

When the time came for him and his mates to be allocated their shift and accommodation, the relevant websites were inaccessible and no one at the company was answering their phones. The jobs disappeared.

The army were drafted in on the pretence that there were no staff available. I suspect that the money ran out and they simply did not want to pay people.