The hope is that they will bring the cities that present them to life, attracting tourists, advertisers and the eyes of the world. While that promise

Olympic cities can become multi-billion-dollar graveyards for white elephants after the Games

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2021-08-07 08:00:07

The hope is that they will bring the cities that present them to life, attracting tourists, advertisers and the eyes of the world.

While that promise may ring true for some, the Games can also be something of a poisoned chalice for some hosts. Expensive purpose-built facilities can quickly run up a city's debt and, if future uses aren't considered properly, leave them littered with white elephants.

"For a city and nation to decide to host the Olympic Games is to take on one of the most financially risky type of megaproject that exists," researchers Bent Flyvbjerg and Allison Stewart wrote in an Oxford study of the Games in 2012.

One of the biggest issues has been that the contract between hosts and the IOC leaves the city on the hook for all the expenses.

In Canada, for example, Quebec's government is vexed by a stadium called the Big O. To its detractors, it's known as the Big Owe.

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