ABSTRACT
If all goes to plan1 the London Olympic Games will close successfully on 11 September 2012.2 Londoners, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), local, national and global TV audiences will express (variously) gratitude, pleasure and pride in a ‘good Games’ – or even ‘the best Games ever’. The spectacular and moving events witnessed or reported on and off the sports field will be the culmination of considerable effort and investment – public, private, personal and institutional. Such an outcome will depend upon the successful management of tensions and contradictions within and between Olympic organisational bodies.3 At some level and to some extent Olympism – as philosophy and practice – will have been tested and affirmed. Many Olympics-related questions and plans have already been hotly debated. No doubt further controversies will arise. Reflection on London 2012 will continue long after the Games are over. The Games’ consequences and memories will be collated and contextualised globally and locally.
