Philippe Blanchard (former Information Director at the International Olympic Committee): in conversation

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Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Public Lecture: Garcia, Beatriz “Can we live without mega-events?”, University of Liverpool, November 2020: https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/communication-and-media/news/stories/title,1237256,en.html.

2 After having had three editions of the Olympic Games in Asia (Pyeongchang 2018, Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022); and the World Expo taking place in Shanghai (2010) and Dubai (2020).

3 Leni Riefenstahl “Olympia”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3LOPhRq3Es.

4 Philippe Decouflé, Albertville Olympic Winter Games, opening ceremony segment, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1zdyrHtST0.

5 This is a reference to the postponed pandemic-times Games edition, taking place in August 2021 instead of 2020 under heavy COVID-19 restrictions for all involved. As noted, this interview took place at that time.

6 https://www.futurous.org/.

7 What we understand as Olympic sport, which involves competition and medal winners, follows internationally accepted rules and set definitions of sporting practices. Blanchard refers here to the common belief that such rules and definitions were mostly informed by sport codification practices taking place in the United Kingdom in the 19th century (i.e. the Rugby School).

8 The formal IOC request for athletes to vacate the Olympic Village as soon as their competition was over was due to time-specific COVID-19 rules in Tokyo 2020. Blanchard is also referring to a growing trend to shorten the period of stay at the Olympic Village, particularly amongst the most successful athletes. See: https://www.latimes.com/sports/olympics/la-sp-oly-athletes-village-20160818-snap-story.html.

9 This refers both to the previously mentioned “trend” to make health and safety measures the lead priority in mega-event hosting, and to the time-specific added pressures resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

10 In common with all mega-events, the calculations for the London 2012 forecasted budget differs, depending on how figures are presented – and to which stakeholder. The House of Commons.

11 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radical_monopoly; Illich, Ivan (2020-06-29). “Tools of Conviviality” (PDF). Cornell University.