ABSTRACT
There is considerable agreement that the Olympics is not just about sport but is also about politics (Espy, 1979;Andranovichet al., 2001) and capitalist economics (Lenskyj, 2000). It was not until recently that it has become increasingly clear that the Olympics are also about cities (Essex ampentity Chalkley, 1998;Hiller, 1999). The primary signal of this fact comes from city leaders themselves that do not think of the Olympics just as sport but as an opportunity to accomplish items on their own urban agenda. The question of why cities are willing to mobilize resources and energy to even become a candidate city, let alone be willing to serve as a host city, defies simple explanations but implies the existence of important urban objectives.
