Ten years ago, London hosted the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Hosting the Games had been sold to the British public on the slogan that it would “inspire a generation”.
The idea of inspiring a generation chimed with the basic aim of the Olympic Movement, which is to “build a better world”. It seeks to do this by nurturing the values of Olympism, which are defined as “excellence, respect and friendship”.
In practical terms, this goal reflected the UK’s desire to reinvigorate its international image. It also appealed directly to British political ambitions to solve the nation’s growing obesity epidemic through the commonly held, but often misunderstood, assumption that elite sporting success leads to an increase in people taking part in sport. This is more formally referred to by sports economists as the “demonstration effect”.
