Investigating top-down and bottom-up strategic alignment of event leveraging outcomes: the case of the 2021 UCI Road World Championships

Figures & data

Table 1. Profile of the semi-structured interview participants.

Participant code	Organization Sector
Participant 01	City services – Culture
Participant 02	City services – Neighbourhood sport
Participant 03	City services – Neighbourhood work
Participant 04	City services – Chair of sports administration
Participant 05	City services – Education
Participant 06	Community sport organization
Participant 07	Sociocultural organization
Participant 08	Community sport organization

Table 2. Leuven resident behaviour and perceptions 6-months pre-event, 3-months pre-event, during-event, and 3-months post-event related to the 2021 UCI Road World Championships (ANOVA and descriptive statistics).

	Groceries	Physical Activity	Cycling Activity	Leuven to World	Excitement
Pre-Event 1	2.05 (.73)	3.11 (1.52)	3.95 (1.55)	5.27 (1.71)	4.37 (2.25)
Pre-Event 2	-.065	.086	.069	-.176	-.197
During Event	.018	.019	-.214*	105	.309*
Post-Event	-.113**	.273	-.030	-.447***	-.888***
Pre-Event 2	2.07 (.73)	3.02 (1.46)	3.88 (1.51)	5.45 (1.53)	4.57 (2.15)
Pre-Event 1	.065	-.086	.069	.176	.197
During Event	.082	-.066	-.282**	.281**	.506***
Post-Event	-.048	.187	-.099	-.271**	-.692***
During Event	1.99 (.75)	3.09 (3.73)	4.17 (1.55)	5.17 (1.80)	4.06 (2.20)
Pre-Event 1	-.018	-.019	.214*	-.105	-.309*
Pre-Event 2	-.082	.066	.282**	-.281**	-.506***
Post-Event	-.131***	.253	.184*	-.552***	−1.198***
Post-Event	2.12 (.69)	2.83 (3.54)	3.98 (1.47)	5.41 (1.65)	5.26 (1.90)
Pre-Event 1	.113*	-.273	.030	.447***	.888***
Pre-Event 2	.048	-.187	.099	.271**	.692***
During Event	.131***	-.253	-.184*	.552***	1.198***

Notes: Each column first presents the time point’s mean and standard deviation for the leveraging initiative followed by the mean difference for the additional time points.

Pre-Event 1 was measured 6-months pre-event; Pre-Event 2 was measured 3-months pre-event; Post-Event was measured 3-months post-event.

Groceries was measured on a 3-point Likert scale (1, never; 3, always); Physical and Cycling Activity were measured on 6-point Likert scales (1, never; 6, 5 times per week or more); Leuven to World was measured on a 7-point Likert scale (1, strongly disagree; 7 strongly agree); and Excitement was measured on a 7-point Likert scale (1, boring; 7, exciting).

*p-value < .05; **p-value < .01; ***p-value < .001

Table 3. Summary of findings and results.

Context		Mechanisms		Outcomes
Top-down objectives		Bottom-up objectives		Objective achievement
Cycling for transportation		Cycling for transportation		Cycling for Groceries
	Leveraged by, for example: Promotion of the city’s bicycle sharing programme (pre-event) Exhibition about how to design cycling infrastructure (pre-event) Family day/ car-free Sunday the Sunday before the World Championships			Residents started to cycle more for groceries after the event
Sport promotion		Getting more residents physically active		Cycling Activity
	Leveraged by, for example: Memoride programme: stationary bikes purchased for community centres with screen to virtually cycle the event course (pre-event) School children visited the podium site and watched the riders’ course exploration (during-event)			Increased from pre-event to during the event, decreased pot-event
Sport promotion		Getting more residents physically active		Physical Activity
	Leveraged by, for example: Dance-related performances (pre-event) Hoping residents who participate in the Memoride try other activities in the community centres			No Significant effects
Business development		Community engagement		Leuven to World
	No leveraging initiatives			Increase leading up to the event, return to pre-event levels post-event
Business development		Community engagement		Excitement
	Leveraged by, for example: Countdown clock to the event (pre-event) Information performance to help residents understand the event (pre-event) Schools engaged in a variety of art-based activities tied to the event (pre-event)			From indifference pre-event to excited post-event