More and more people are turning their backs on the Olympics

The Olympics are days away, and I for one, feel queasy. Despite Government suggesting that Olympic security shambles are totally normal, I find the egregious security mess GS4 hath wrought (“Whoops! Sorry.”), plus the 32-mile traffic jam that greeted the first arriving athletes to be a little disappointing. And surely the government can’t be that excited to greet the world wearing egg all over their faces.

And more unpleasant surprises are sure to be discovered. Though schadenfreude has yet to become an Olympic sport, there’s still plenty to revel in in the run-up to these games.

But even if everything runs relatively smoothly (and it probably will by the time things kick-off – the stakes are just too high) the Olympic Beast is enough to make even the most fervent supporter queasier than the runner-up in a Big Mac-eating contest.

For one, if you’re of a delicate disposition, you might not be best pleased about the proposed missile sites all over London. Not that strapping missiles to apartment buildings in residential areas doesn’t seem like a well-thought out and foolproof idea, it’s just, well…OK, it seems stupid and dangerous.

Plus, the corporate domination of the modern Olympics (and accompanying tax dodges and athlete exploitation) – not to mention plain-old Olympic censorship in terms of who can even link to the official site should disquiet even the most psyched-up Olympophile. 

In fact, the lengths the Olympics will go to protect its brand include very specific instructions on athlete’s use of social media and threats to ban sale of The Spectator because of a story on Olympic censorship. 


And of course, all of the litigiousness and ‘sacred brand protection’ becomes that much harder to accept when you find out that Olympic officials have been selling tickets on the black market for a profit.


As for claims that these will be the greenest games ever? That sounds like corporate spin to me. 

Olympic livin’ in the fast lane

So I’ve been watching the build-up to the games with some bemusement; like any tabloid reader, I love the salacious details and horrible pratfalls of the greedy and the bungling. On the other hand, I also want the games to be successful, and sincerely hope the legacy works out for the East End.

I guess it really comes down to this: all the negative press, spectacular incompetence and unseemly backroom dealings really makes me wish that Olympics were more about… I dunno: sports?