ABSTRACT
London’s plan was for a compact but also non-wasteful/non-white elephant Games (white elephants being a critique of many past Games), where temporary venues would be used and then moved post-Games to regions elsewhere in the UK that had need of these venues. The total estimated cost for the London Games was also lower than for Paris. In addition, for London to win, it had to find a chink in the nearly flawless Paris armour. One such chink could be the French habit of having workers’ strikes during the summer; if London had the unions on side to say that they would not strike, then that would be a point in their favour. Nevertheless, it is important to know that we cannot know for sure what was in each IOC member’s mind when they voted in the secret ballot. But London was the winner and host of the 2012 Olympic Games.
