The 2012 London Olympics were held at the Olympic Park in East London from Friday, July 27, 2012 to Sunday, August 12, 2012. The Olympics have been held in London two times before the 2012 Olympics, once in 1908 and once in 1948 (Scott). Over 10,500 athletes participated from over 204 countries, over 120,000 people were going to the Olympic Park every day to watch the Olympics. Over 302 medal events were being held, with three swimmers being the top medalists in the 2012 London Olympics (“Olympics”). There were a lot of people at the London Olympics, but the questions is, was the security prepared for the amount of people showing up to the 2012 London Olympics. The Olympics were not prepared with what was expected from the security; 10,000 security guards were expected from a private security agency, numerous people had been arrested weeks before the Olympics due to terrorism threats, and people were worried that the Olympic players were not going to be in a safe environment. The one to blame is the private security contractor G4S, they were the ones who caused the shortage of security guards.
A private security agency was expected to have delivered 10,000 guards to the 2012 London Olympics. The security agency had over 100,000 people apply to be a guard, they only interviewed 50,000, and only 4,000 were trained and ready one week before the Olympics. The Security Agency G4S seemed as if they were not determined to have the guards ready for the Olympics, only interviewing half of the people that applied. The British had to take 3,500 troops out from Afghanistan so they could help with the lack of security guards for the Olympics, there will be about 17,000 British troops helping with security checks (Riccobono). Private sponsors’,...
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...out Security at London 2012 Olympics." Editorial. The Guardian [London] 13 Nov. 2011: n. pag. The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 13 Nov. 2011. Web. 20 Jan. 2014.
"Olympics." Olympics.org. IOC, 2013. Web. 02 Feb. 2014
Riccobono, Anthony. "London Olympics 2012: Security Issues At This Year's Games. “International Business Times. IBT Media Inc., 20 July 2012. Web. 20 Jan. 2014.
Sawer, Patrick. "London 2012 Olympics: 'Bomb' Taken past Olympic Security." The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 8 Jan. 2012. Web. 20 Jan. 2014.
Scott, Chris. The Simple Guide To London Olympics 2012. N.p.: Smashwords, 2011. Print.
Smith-Spark, Laura, and Richard Allen Greene. "London's Olympic Security Headache.”CNN. Cable News Network, 26 July 2012. Web. 20 Jan. 2014.
Watson, Traci. "London Olympics, Where Security Isn't a Game." USATODAY.COM. Gannet Co., 12 July 2012. Web. 02 Feb. 2014.
The controversy in Berlin Olympic Games was that the some of the Jews excluded from the Olympic team were actually world class athletes. The athletes left Germany, along with other Jewish athletes, to resume their sports careers abroad.The Nazis also disqualified Gypsies.The Olympics were intended to be an exercise in goodwill among all nations emphasizing racial equality in the area of sports competition. But the Nazis thought that only the Aryans should participate in the Olympics games to represent Germany.Then after that controversy then the committee of the Games wanted to move the Olympic Games to another country.This was because usually the U.S. got the most medals because they sent the most athletes.
Since 776 BCE, the Olympics have been a way for people of different cultures to come together and compete in friendly competition. In 1892 the first modern Olympics were held in Athens, although it had been over a thousand years since the last game it still had brought together an assortment of different religions and ethnic groups together. Many factors shaping the Olympic Games reflect the changes that have taken place in our world since the last game in 393 CE in Greece such changes include woman’s suffrage, global economy, world wars, and proving competency.
The Web. The Web. 10 May 2014. Gee, Denise J. & Co. " After Sandy Hook, a New Wave of School Security - The Buffalo News."
The year is 1972 and people are ready for the summer Olympics. Unfortunately for the eager sports spectators the 1972 Munich Olympics have a much more tragic story line. People don’t talk about any records broken or international competitiveness, instead people remember the Munich Games because of the hostage situation. A Palestinian formed group called the Black September terrorist captured nine Israeli Olympic athletes. Jim McKay one of the Olympic sportscasters at the games says, “The Munich tragedy was the biggest event in my career and the most terrible.” Truly Munich’s is tarnishing the Olympic Games. Even today the impact and repercussions of the game can be felt not only with the heightened security protocol but a lasting social impact as well.
When an international coalition suggested that the nations that were boycotting send athletes to go to the Olympics under a neutral Olympic banner, President Carter threatened to revoke the passport of any U.S. athlete who attempted to leave to go compete. Rea...
Naturally the Olympics draws an exorbitant number of spectators and athletes to the host city, which equates to more crime. Because of this the hosting nation must take security precautions in advance for possible security threats. One of the precautions includes a new anti-terror law, that was approved August 2005. Then the Olympic Decree was passed in February 2006 and brought “urgent measures to guarantee security during the Winter Olympic Games”(Bennett and Haggerty 142). Along with the Anti-terror law and the decree, the hard ring was also used. The purpose of the hard ring was to keep the enclosed area clean.This was done by security screening all goods, personnel and vehicles coming into the perimeter. There were venue security sweeps
Brady, Anne-Marie. “The Beijing Olympics as a Campaign of Mass Destruction”. The China Quarterly. 197. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. 2009. Web. 26 Jan., 2011.
Close, Paul, David Askew, and Xin Xu. The Beijing Olympics the Political Economy of a Sporting Mega-event.. Hoboken: Taylor & Francis, 2006.. 34-35
I have elaborated elsewhere* my view that hosting the Olympics is a mug’s game, and the fact that cities all over the world vie with each other to volunteer for the self-sacrificial role of host is just another example of the tragic human tendency to be guided by hope over experience. In London’s case the only tangible gains for the billions spent are a pleasant enough public park in Stratford E and a stadium so surplus to any meaningful requirement that the government has been reduced to letting West Ham play around in it. The intangible effect, which is far from being a gain, is the perception that the British public is utterly enthralled by
Donnelly, Michele, and Peter Donnelly. "Play the Game: The London 2012 Olympics - a Gender Equality Audit." Play the Game: The London 2012 Olympics - a Gender Equality Audit. Play The Game, 3 Apr. 2013. Web. 03 June 2014.
It was estimated that the Olympic Games 2012 would involve more than 11,000 athletes and officials, 1 million visitors from around the world, and 4 billion television audiences, or more. Therefore, it was important to ensure that the Games preparations were ready on time, delivered high standard sports facilities to the sports professionals while controlled spending within budget.
Since the first Olympic Games in 1896 winning the Olympics meant more than just a medal, it showed the power that the winning country possesses. Although the Olympics are meant to show peaceful amiability between all counties, geopolitics is still a factor in the Olympics. The International Olympic Committee President states “sport can only contribute to development and peace if it’s not used as a stage for political contest, have the courage to address your disagreements in a peaceful direct political dialogue and not on the backs of athletes.” Many historians ask if geopolitics was a factor in the Olympics during the Cold War era. The answer isn’t an opinion; geopolitics has never been absent in the Olympics and that is especially true for the Cold War. The Cold War was a battle for political power that will dominates the rest of the world. The idea that this was a battle for power explains the arms race, Korean War, Vietnam War and the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan. Logically, this need to upstage the opposing super power leaked into international sports competition. With all this competition whirling around during the Cold War, the Olympics became a literal race against communism or democracy. As geopolitics played such a major role in the Olympics during the Cold War era, athletes’ fates were ultimately altered.
Kelly, Heather. "After Boston: The Pros and Cons of Surveillance Cameras." CNN. Cable News Network, 26 Apr. 2013. Web. 14 May 2014.
The greatest athletes of all time have their names set in stone. Every year a new star comes out of the shadows and becomes the focus of global interest. Nations back their athletes financially to ensure they receive a medal. Winning gold in the Olympics Games is seen as the highest honor an athlete can achieve because of its prestigious image. The Olympics have not always been about the athletes. Nations competing have been victims of political scandals. When one country goes against another country, some people do not only view it as a fight for gold, but as a war amongst nations. Soccer fields have become battlegrounds and players, soldiers. Swimming pools turn into bloodbaths, and tennis court nets as do territorial partitions. Since the early 1900s, governments have used the Olympics to prove that their nation is superior by spending more on athletic ability, more on Olympic stadiums, and more on defeating their rivals. At times, athletes can be pushed so far that they collapse under the pressure of chasing for gold. All of the above will be discoursed from a financial, political, and historical point of view.