Impact of Hosting Sporting Events: Health, Social, and Environmental Perspectives

This report analyzes the impact of hosting sporting events from health, social, and environmental perspectives. It discusses the advantages and disadvantages of hosting events like the Olympics, including the risks to public health and the environmental consequences. Recommendations are provided to minimize challenges and maximize the benefits of hosting such events.

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Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
ANALYSIS......................................................................................................................................1
Analysis of the impact from a health, social, environmental and economic perspectives.....1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................4
RECOMMENDATIONS.................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
At its most significant level, the Olympic Games is a sporting event. It is not only
proximally associated with physical health, nevertheless is also contributory to nurturing mental
health by inspiration. The hosting of Olympics or other sporting event, that requires a
considerable amount of funding, must not be an accomplishment in and of itself. There are some
advantages for the host country of hosting a sporting event. However, along with their
advantages, there are some disadvantages also from the perspective of health, social and
environmental aspect.
INTRODUCTION
The global events are defined at the events like World cups, cultural festivals, expos and
Olympics which have long been seen as advantages or opportunities to increase the growth and
development. The hosts increasingly seek to make sure that such kind of events act as catalyst
for the development of local area and are utilized to leverage long term investments associated
with infrastructure, increase the trade and tourism, develop job opportunities as well as promote
the development of community (Chalip, 2017). This report is based on the hosting of Olympics
event. It covers an analysis of the impact from different perspectives like social, health and
environmental perspective. There are several impacts associated with the perspective of
environment including pollution and carbon footprint, sustainability etc. In the prospective
associated with society includes intangible benefits like entertainment, morale and social
cohesion along with regeneration opportunities.
ANALYSIS
Analysis of the impact from a health, social, environmental and economic perspectives
World Cups, Olympic Games as well as other sporting events held globally depicts the best
young athletes. One might suppose some payoff to host the country in physical activity
associated to health and to the sports medicine community locally, but some potential health
risks are also there with mass get-togethers of individuals from all around the world. In hosting
the games, there are several risks associated with health for people who attend the Olympics
event. Currently, the issue of spread of corona virus pandemic is very much prevalent all over the
world and in this situation, hosting such an event like Olympics creates several risks for people
associated with health (Chan, 2015). The public health legacy is a vital component of Olympic
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bid in the hope that the sports would upsurge mass participation of people in sports. There is
inadequate evidence that main multisport event can impacts the health as well as the
socioeconomic determinants associated with health in the host city.
Lack of evidence regarding direct benefit associated with public health does not mean
absence of influence, as well as there may be some other downstream effects. The health of the
public may be influence by infrastructural legacies which includes not just in facilities or
stadiums however, also in housing as well as transport. Enhanced safety on highway may
decrease the road crashes, and enhance housing which has been the well-known benefits
associated with health. Similar to this, there might be some immeasurable advances in self-
confidence of public as well as well-being of the nation. Resources utilize in Olympic event are
actively in use. The Local clinical facilities developed in London, United Kingdom are now part
of an advanced health and well-being centre which likewise hosts a practice of general medical
and the extraordinary unit of mobile medical utilised at the Vancouver Games (de Nooij, and van
den Berg, 2018).
A sporting event brings together large number of individuals in situations which optimize
the transmission of disease also brings potential risks for the health of public. For example: The
London 2012 Olympics recorded some outbreaks of respiratory and gastrointestinal infections.
The main aim of the games must somewhat to contribute to development of society
through leaving behind the environmental, economic and cultural legacies to not only hosting
nation and region, but also the nearby nations as well as the entire world. Whereas, tangible
instances like roads and venues are often known as representative legacies of the events which
held at large scale like the Olympics. On the other hand, the intangible aspects like the policy,
human resources, environment and culture have been acquiring an importance (Gursoy, Milito,
and Nunkoo, 2017).
The general change in the perception of population on physical activities as well as sports
is one of the significant sports legacies; because of such change, individuals are able to enjoy
sporting as a part of active and healthy everyday life and it also benefit the people physically.
However, in comparison to tangible legacies like the venues, transportation and facilities and
social legacies like the general health of population and their planning, implementation and
accomplishments are not easy to monitor. In addition to this, there is presently no evidence on
whether such an extensive sporting events inevitably confer the assistances to the local people of
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the hosting region (Gursoy, and et. al., 2017). Thus, for wide-ranging sporting events like
Olympics event to leave behind legacies related to socio cultural aspects which contribute to the
progress of hosting region.
In hosting an Olympics event, there are many fears associated with the safety of athletes
and the other people who participate in the event. It is evident that an environmental cost of
becoming a host nation is an area of concern. Initially, about environmental consequences of
hosting a large event like Olympics, but the host nations begin to incorporate numerous
environmental goals in preparation and running the games. However, hosting such an event have
some adverse effects also. The environmental factors are becoming a crucial factor in developing
Olympic arenas. It is very necessary to emphasize on preventing the environment while hosting
an event (Kassens-Noor, and et. al., 2015). The benefit from sporting and cultural legacy would
contribute to maximise participation of people in sports and maintain their interest along with
resultant pilots in terms of health, productivity and community engagement. Many social benefits
associated with Olympic games difficult to quantify or intangible or both. Among those most
cited involves skill and knowledge development, the development of civic community and social
capital. Whereas social legacies have been involved in Olympic bids. There is no standardized
framework for execution or development of social influence areas across hosts (Kim, and Jun,
2016).
Critics of social influences of sporting wide ranging events question the extent to which
such promises are constantly realized, noting that such claims of legacy are often established as
an answer to dissent and criticism. The major events have come to depend on social legacy parts
like infrastructural enhancements and housing affordability in order to rationalize the
expenditure of public, even though previous host experiences show the opposite is often true.
Hosting a major event provides Vilas advantages in terms of increasing the profiles of nation or
city, jobs and investments, enthusiasm and short term economic benefits. The Olympics
encourages the investment in infrastructure and transportation as such events require upgrade to
communication links and transport. It leaves a lasting legacy for the entire economy (Kim, Jun,
Walker, and Drane, 2015).
Better links to transportation minimise congestion and assist in improving the efficiency for
local business. It can also assist in maximizing the productive capacity of economy. Apart from
this, a major event like Olympics can you attract many individuals for duration of games. The
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foreign tourist bring growth in local economy specifically in context of local tourist trade, hotels
and shops get benefit from surge in number of visitors. In addition to this, the sporting events
needs investment in developing hotels and stadium (Viehoff, and Poynter, 2016). This develops
job opportunities for local economy and these extra job assistant creating positive influence on
local economy. Apart from all this, a major sporting event like Olympics can develop excitement
and enthusiasm for the event which can assist in promoting uptake of sport that has long term
benefits for the health of nation. The sporting event can also lead to increase in volunteerism that
promotes Civic virtues (Preuss, 2019).
However, apart from the advantages, there are some disadvantages also of hosting a major
sporting event. The cost of developing stadiums is very high in Olympics and have tendency to
increase over time as well as be much greater than expected. Moreover, many facilities develop
for the sporting event can never be completely used again. It incurs huge cost for developing the
facilities and if it not be utilised fully then it left with unused giant stadiums. In addition to this,
the sporting events have executed high level of security which is costly as well as can restrict
freedom to movement of local citizens at the time of games. And because of major advertisers,
local businesses of the place suffer as exclusive rights have been given to major corporate donors
which exclude the local suppliers from the event (Thomson, and et. al., 2019).
CONCLUSION
As per the above mentioned report, it has been concluded that the Olympic event brings
together many people and so, increases the potential health risks for the public. The public health
legacy a crucial component of Olympic bid in the hope that it will increase the participation of
public in sports. From the perspective of environment, a sporting event increase the movement of
people in the host country which increases the pollution and impact on the environment.
However, the awareness of people regarding the environment provides benefits and impact
positively. From the social perspective, there are some intangible benefits of hosting a sporting
event like Olympics. These benefits include entertainment, morale and social cohesion of
people.
RECOMMENDATIONS
As per the above analysis and discussion, it has been found that although sporting events
like Olympics provide various advantages, there are some disadvantages also. In order to
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minimize the challenges relating to hosting the event, some recommendations are providing
which needs to be consider at the time of planning to hosting an event.
 It is recommended that a careful planning of sporting event should be done so that the
facilities developed for the Olympics can we use fully again. Successful planning for the
legacy of Olympics will help in making full use of the facilities developed for it.
 It is also very necessary to ensure that the publicity of the sporting event must be done
appropriately so that it leaves positive impact on the people. This will help in improving
the awareness regarding the sporting event among the people and they will be willing to
participate more in the event.
 Apart from this, the government and the organising committee of host city as well as its
people should recognise significance of tangible legacies acquire from Olympics. The
sporting events can be an incredible catalyst for transformation and the lasting benefit
involves intangible and tangible effects. So, it is very necessary for the people to
recognise significance of intangible legacies. In addition to this, the purpose or aim of
health legacy should be specific to host region as well as the action plan should be
developed according to the host region.
 In developing a sustainable health legacy, there are some limitations with funding for
Olympics. Thus, it is important to work with resources which will be invested to the
region where hosting of event is done. Moreover, increasing awareness as well as
inducing the participation of public residents about health legacy is important.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Chalip, L., 2017. Event bidding, legacy, and leverage. The SAGE handbook of sport
management, pp.401-421.
Chan, G.S.H., 2015. Perceived impact of hosting a sport event in a destination: A case study of
the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens. J. Mgmt. & Sustainability, 5, p.49.
de Nooij, M. and van den Berg, M., 2018. The bidding Paradox: Why politicians favor hosting
mega sports events despite the bleak economic prospects. Journal of Sport and Social
Issues, 42(1), pp.68-92.
Gursoy, D., Milito, M.C. and Nunkoo, R., 2017. Residents' support for a mega-event: The case
of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Natal, Brazil. Journal of Destination Marketing &
Management, 6(4), pp.344-352.
Gursoy, D., and et. al., 2017. Impact of trust on local residents’ mega-event perceptions and their
support. Journal of Travel Research, 56(3), pp.393-406.
Kassens-Noor, E., and et. al., 2015. Towards a mega-event legacy framework. Leisure
Studies, 34(6), pp.665-671.
Kim, S. and Jun, J., 2016. The impact of event advertising on attitudes and visit
intentions. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 29, pp.1-8.
Kim, W., Jun, H.M., Walker, M. and Drane, D., 2015. Evaluating the perceived social impacts of
hosting large-scale sport tourism events: Scale development and validation. Tourism
management, 48, pp.21-32.
Preuss, H., 2019. Event legacy framework and measurement. International Journal of Sport
Policy and Politics, 11(1), pp.103-118.
Thomson, A., and et. al., 2019. Sport event legacy: A systematic quantitative review of
literature. Sport management review, 22(3), pp.295-321.
Viehoff, V. and Poynter, G., 2016. Mega-event cities: urban legacies of global sports events.
Routledge.
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