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'How about selling a permanent site in Greece for the Summer Olympics ? An uninhabited island would be ideal, not too far from the coast accessible by ferries a
by Gys 11y ago
'How about selling a permanent site in Greece for the Summer Olympics ? An uninhabited island would be ideal, not too far from the coast accessible by ferries as well as planes.'
'The original Olympics was held in Olympia, Greece for 800 years. The changing site is a modern phenomenon used to spread support in the early stages of the modern Olympic movement. Why not return the Games to their real roots?'
Good arguments (if ever that would even matter to the people in charge ;-) and great idea.
- sp332 11y agoIt's hard to imagine that prime real estate like that would be "uninhabited".
- Gys 11y ago'Greece has an extremely large number of islands, with estimates ranging from somewhere around 1,200 to 6,000, depending on the minimum size to take into account. The number of inhabited islands is variously cited as between 166 and 227.' Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_islands_of_Greece https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_islands_of_Greece And it would not even have to be uninhabited I guess. Greece is very poor and really needs any investments it can get (as is in the article). Given the size of Greece (incl the islands) everything is nearby. With a budget of billions it would not be a problem to spend (only once) some money for a new airport (I guess now its spend every four years in some city to modernize their nearest airport).
- harigov 11y agoWell, an island only makes it really expensive for people to visit that place because there can only be so many people in that island. Making it an inland city will at least remove one constraint.
- Someone 11y agoMost of the uninhabited ones do not have a Wikipedia page, and many of those that have a page have little content. Often, the page doesn't even mention the size of the islands. I do expect, however, that most of the uninhabitated Greek islands are too small to be useful for this. You would need 10-20 different stadiums, 2 km straight water to hold rowing events, and wouldn't want to have marathon runners, competitors in the 50 km walk, or those taking part in the cycling road race to do 1 km rounds. Let's say 100 square kilometers to host all the courses (except for sailing; there's plenty of sea for that), bare minimum. Also, it would be a challenge to feed the competitors and the spectators on an island that size. Greece isn't known for its green islands, and looking at that list, I notice that, for example, Tinos and Paros, at around 200 square kilometers, have a population of less than 10,000. I would think you would need something like Kos to host the Olympics, and even that would be an enormous challenge. The 'normal' population of around 33,000 would increase by 20,000+ competitors, officials and a zillion journalists, and you likely would have to ferry or fly in half a million spectators every day, and all of them would need food and drink, and working 3G.
- yxhuvud 11y agoMost islands that are uninhabited is that for a reason. Frankly, it is probably better to create a new island than trying to find an unused one.
- JacobEdelman 11y agoAlso, a small sum of a billion dollars may be enough to convince a thousand residents of an island to leave.
- mschuster91 11y ago> With a budget of billions it would not be a problem to spend (only once) some money for a new airport (I guess now its spend every four years in some city to modernize their nearest airport). Look at the BER disaster, it was supposed to open 2007 and most likely won't open until way after 2017. I believe building a permanent Olympic site in Greece would bring similar delays...
- javert 11y agoPut the Germans in charge of that. I think we can all agree on that.
- mmarx 11y agoBER is a german project[0], and so is the Elbe Philharmonic Hall[1]. Both are long overdue and over budget. “Putting the Germans in charge” may very well not help to avoid delays. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Brandenburg_Airport https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Brandenburg_Airport [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elbe_Philharmonic_Hall https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elbe_Philharmonic_Hall
- javert 11y agoThanks for the correction, I assumed from context that BER was something different when the exact opposite is the case.
- sebkomianos 11y agoDownvoted previous comment, upvoted this one, perfect way to admit a mistake, well done sir (or ma'am)! :)
- return0 11y agoTrying to think a way to attract sponsors when the athletes will compete wearing nothing but olive oil all over them.
- Gys 11y agoNot sure if it will attract the kind of sponsors the IOC wants to go public with... But given the public broadcast censorship of most non-European countries it will probably attract more visitors ;-) Which is better for the local economy anyway !
- kevin_thibedeau 11y agoThat's the new women's beach volleyball uniform they've been trying to adopt.
- tellthetruth1 11y agoYeah like they are still not corrupt enough. Let's concentrate all the money in there! Just dumb!
- dghughes 11y agoThe original Olympic games were held in honour of Zeus (God) so really the games should be held in the Mount Athos region of Greece an autonomous monastic stare in Greece. What better place to hold games originally religious in nature from Greece than this region? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Athos https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Athos
- taejo 11y agoWell, there are women athletes, so that wouldn't work. (Entry to Mount Athos is only allowed to men)
- thaumasiotes 11y ago> The original Olympic games were held in honour of Zeus (God) so really the games should be held in the Mount Athos region of Greece an autonomous monastic stare in Greece. I don't follow the "logic" here at all. What makes Mount Athos more appropriate than, say, Olympia, the traditional site of the Olympic games?
- dghughes 11y agoUser Gys (above) suggested an uninhabited island but the Mount Athos region is pretty sparse 126 sq miles and 1800 people living there, still technically Greece but not Mount Olympus although sort of near it (100 miles away). I don't mean literally on Mount Athos but in the autonomous region. Plus being an autonomous region I thought it may more sense financially for taxes.
- orestisfl 11y agoWhat does Christianity have to do with Dodekatheism at all? Also, have you seen mount Athos? It's mainly only trees and it's very mountainous http://www.star.gr/publishingimages/2014/08/020814141543_3271.jpg http://www.star.gr/publishingimages/2014/08/020814141543_327... Besides, access to the region is prohibited for women and such a big event would completely fuck up their culture and lifestyle.
- omouse 11y agoA permanent way to ensure the Greek economy never goes under ;)
- zamalek 11y agoThe main problem would be the initial expenditure. Ignoring corruption overheads this wouldn't be something that Greece could afford. Long-term it might be their saving grace, but how would they get there?