When a country hosts the Olympics, it has always been viewed as a symbol of international prestige and an opportunity for economic growth. Alongside these tangible benefits also exists an increase of national pride and patriotism. Yet, in almost every case, hosting the Olympics results in a wide variety of hidden costs and effective abuse of a country’s own citizens.
The Paris Olympics perfectly showcased the pitfalls of this dynamic. From forcefully evicting 12,000 residents to barely breaking even in cost, France’s experience did little to offer hope to the U.S. as it hosts the next Games in Los Angeles in four years.
The Summer Olympics this year was considered relatively inexpensive, only costing roughly $10 billion Euros compared to the normal 15 billion and above. A significant portion — $1.4 billion Euros — was spent on cleaning the Seine River, a decision largely criticized for its ineffectiveness. Additionally, various infrastructure improvements contributed to the large spending: road repairs and the construction of new buildings and new stadiums.
However, this is just the surface as Paris has a darker side. It was revealed that 44% of Parisian residents viewed the Olympics in a negative light, a stark increase from 21% in 2021. This discontent was mainly due to drastic actions taken by the Parisian government.
One of the most controversial issues was the “social cleansing” conducted in order to present Paris in a positive light, a polished facade at the cost of human rights — an issue seemingly less important than hosting the Olympics. To accomplish this cleansing, Paris forcefully relocated over 12,000 people from various squats and other housing complexes to other regions. The main issue, however, is that of the 7,000 housing units required to relocate everyone, only 1,000 had been prepared, leaving thousands unaccounted for and unhoused.
Compounding these actions, French Transport Minister Clément Beaune urged residents to work remotely or take time off during the Games to alleviate strain on Paris’ public transport system. This sparked controversy, as those who could not work remotely or take time off were left to deal with the overcrowding in the city.
With this year’s breach of morality and mistreatment of citizens and athletes, the Olympics were relatively cheap. In fact, other host cities have encountered worse situations, facing a far greater economic loss from such an opportune event compared to the Paris Olympics. For instance, the 2012 London Summer Olympics generated $5.2 billion in revenue while spending $18 billion. Vancouver’s 2010 Winter Games brought in $2.8 billion after expenditures of $7.6 billion. Beijing incurred a whopping $40 billion in costs in 2008, bringing back only $3.6 billion.
Not only do these host countries face economic loss, the increased job opportunities and infrastructure plans also tend to fall through the moment the Olympics end, leaving workers searching for new jobs and expensive infrastructure put to waste.
Following the Athens Olympics in 2004, the swimming and other Olympic fields were left unused and completely abandoned. This left wasted land and money on infrastructure, adding to the already increasingly dire housing crisis.
The Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016 was the worst case of this. They forcefully evicted people with false promises and human rights violations. By shutting off access to water, electricity and food, they managed to get a hold of land originally promised to be converted to affordable housing and public facilities for citizens and used it to construct the Olympic city. This did not end up happening as only 7% of housing was sold due to the inconvenient location and the price and the facilities ended up abandoned and broken down. Now, all that is left are unused and already built facilities, wasting money that was crucial to their economy and land that was needed for housing reforms.
For Rio de Janeiro, the government declared a state of “financial calamity” weeks before the Olympics. To resolve these issues, they took out more money, leaving public sector employees unpaid and impoverished communities and families disproportionately affected.
While the Olympics are constantly portrayed as a symbol of international prestige and excellence, the hidden effects of hosting them are simply too great for most countries. There are too many examples of these socioeconomic issues with hosting the Olympics, so next time, when bidding comes up, countries should run away — fast.