ABSTRACT
The main argument of Chapter 4 is that the Games represent a type of resource that can only be utilised if properly developed. The chapter conceptualises Olympic leveraging both as a strategic approach, designed to integrate the event in the strategic activities of various organisations, and an ideological mechanism that positions people and groups in relation to the Games. It argues that actors’ ability to leverage the Olympics is largely determined by their position and existing group organisation. Leveraging is not one single activity but involves a set of processes used to exploit capabilities to take advantage of specific opportunities presented by the Games. Leveraging also reverses the relationship between the Games and society by shifting the responsibility for the delivery of any Olympic-related benefits from event owners and organisers to those who would like to benefit from it.
