The end of the affair? Why inspiration from London 2012 might be short-lived

(Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images for adidas)

As the London 2012 Olympic Games drew to a spectacular end last week, attention quickly turned to the future and potential legacy and “inspiration“ it will deliver. This word has populated the media landscape and a search for #inspiration on Twitter will give some indication of its prevalence. Unsurprisingly, the capacity for sport to inspire has fronted the discourse before and during the 2012 Games. Over the coming months and years, the success of the Games will be judged against its claim to “inspire a generation”. And concerns were raised on Wednesday following a BBC survey suggesting that any inspiration-boost will be short-lived.

Whether or not the Olympics will have any lasting legacy in terms of increased rates in physical activity and sport remains to be seen. There is scant research to suggest that the hosting of the Games in other countries has led to any lasting increase in physical activity and sport; yet the 2012 slogan encapsulates the belief that in can.  The Department of Culture Media and Sport suggested that “the Games offer a fantastic opportunity to improve the lives of young people”.

In part, this might be achieved through initiatives such as International Inspiration, London 2012’s international sports legacy programme. But, the connotations of ‘a generation inspired’ which seemed to have captured the public’s imagination suggest some utopian vision of sport in which young people are suddenly motivated to participate following the iconic images of the medal success of British athletes.  Why then, following the BBC survey, might the public feel more proud to be British, but also feel that this effect might be short-lived?

Firstly, our relationship as spectators of the Games is at the heart of this discussion. Ultimately over the last couple of weeks we have spent our time watching images of elite and physically magnificent athletes. And watching sport does not easily translate into motivation for sustained participation in sport and physical activity at all levels.

Undoubtedly, over the coming weeks many of us will feel inspired to try new activities, head to the gym or even return to sport as we ride on the London 2012 wave. Some will even dream of following in the footsteps of those who have carved their space in the sporting history books. Once a nation wins the bid to host the games, the build up becomes a feature of its political and social terrain. However, for many the real Olympic and Paralympic experience is a short but intense month of spectacle glued with a sense of civic pride and togetherness.

Then, it ended. Images of an empty Olympic park and online features about how to fill the Olympic void have caught the media eye over the last couple of days.  In this sense, our engagement with the games might be compared with that of an intoxicating and intense affair.

Many experienced some kind of euphoria as they celebrated ‘national success’ or were lucky enough to be a spectator at one of the Olympic venues.  Some were convinced of the Games’ value through a sense of intimacy brought about by its intense presence on our screens, tweets from athletes and the Team GB paraphernalia.  But as coverage comes to an abrupt end, so too might that experience of not simply ‘watching’ the games, but being in it, being in and part of the world of elite sport.  Elite athletes will continue to exist in that sporting elite. But the rest of us will go back to ordinary lives.

There will be thousands who watched these athletes excel and, besides admiration, experienced emotions of regret, envy, or nostalgia – of not quite achieving their dreams, or feeling let down by their injured bodies. Personally, I watched the games through a tolerable compromise, not only as a social scientist who researches sport, but as a former junior athlete who never quite achieved all that sport had initially promised.

But beyond variations in personal response, for the government’s dreams of an “inspired generation” to be realized requires a complex blend of opportunity, resources, motivation and support.  This week it was revealed through a Freedom of Information request that Education Secretary Michael Gove had approved the sale of over 20 school playing fields.

At the same time, even if provision and opportunity were to increase as a legacy of the Games, we ought to be mindful of the dangers of a vision of Physical Education and school sport driven by the London 2012 gold-haul success. Elite sport in Great Britain has huge momentum behind it. But visions of elite competitive sport often translate to forms of school sport which may be counter-productive in terms of increasing participation. Research tells us time and again that an emphasis on competition and fitness testing puts young people off being active.

Large numbers of young people avoid sport and physical activity because they don’t feel confident about their bodies. Whilst many might feel inspired by the exceptional performances of the Olympians, they may at the same time have a feeling that their bodies will never match up to the wonderfully-toned and Adonis-like physiques on show. Such disaffection is hardly surprising given that even the bodies of female Olympians have over the past couple of weeks, been cruelly scrutinized by the media for being too ‘fat’.

Finally we might focus on another potential derailing of the Olympic inspiration narrative. After Team GB’s success a social media campaign quickly ensued asking for a nation of more role models like these athletes instead of reality TV stars. Yet are Olympians in fact becoming more like the fame-fattened celebrities of old? With their faces on postage stamps, post boxes painted gold in honour of their success, Olympic gold medalists are exalted to new heights in the public’s affections. Iconic and adored, commodified in cutting edge commercials, the question of what it is exactly that inspires young people becomes less clear. Is it a new love for sport or a repetition of the familiar drive to be famous and successful?

There can be no question that living in a host nation and having the opportunity to attend events and feel part of the games as a volunteer or spectator has given the British public a unique opportunity to experience inspiration in a new way.  But is this love affair over, or will it lead to some lasting change? If it can, then London 2012 might just achieve something few other Games has succeeded in doing.

Recent Posts on Notebook

• Justin Webb on the medical advances in tackling heart disease
• The Photography Blog: 'Control Order House' by Edmund Clark - Photographing our response to terrorism
• Dementia Awareness Week: Should we keep an open mind to spiritual solutions?
• Hearing loss: An invisible impairment and a preventable disability
• Barking Blondes: When to vaccinate

• http://www.g-tigerclaw.com George Glasser

  Basically all the Olympics is about is profiteering and selling the lottery-odds, next to impossible dream of stardom to young people.

  Everything to do with ultimate success, and in the case of the Olympic class athletes, is Darwinian in nature.

  People as spectators tend to live the dream vicariously; when the Doppler-like adrenaline rush and roar of the crowd quickly fades away, there’s the crash back to reality. Very few people have the self-obsessed drive to achieve those heights.
  Presently, I imagine there’s a spike in bicycle and running gear sales, but when the novelty and transient enthusiasm wears off, how many people will still be into the sports?

  Aside from personal drive and a complete obsession to achieve mythical status and bask in “Olympic Glory,” the bleak reality is that it also takes backers with deep pockets to make an Olympic myth.

  If you want to realistically get people into athletics, the impetus should be all about the enjoyment of doing it and not about celebrity and glory because that only leaves a life road paved with broken dreams, spirits, and disappointment.

  The success isn’t in glory, but simply accomplishing something whether or not you receive recognition for it.

• treason911

  Never was an “affair” only in the eyes of the salivating, hysterical twats at the BBC who filled up the evening news with it all nightly…
  And politicians looking for political mileage out of it,
  It was billions of pounds spent on a sporting event….which we will be paying for for years, while country falls apart.
  Nothing more,nothing less.
  Can everyone calm down now?

• dfjkbvdjkf

  Leaving aside the sport aspect (yes, I know) of the olympics, the biggest contributor of the “feel good” factor was the news programmes. Instead of being filled with doom and gloom – usually about bad things happening in faraway countries, reports were full of optimistic, uplifting and generally happy stories.

  Now that the OGs are over, all the bulletins have gone back to reporting wars, (pussy) riots, disasters, political and celebrity stupidity and generally bringing down the mood of the country.

  We know that news programmes don’t actually report what’s important – they report what’s likely to hook viewers. So changing their approach from focussing on the sad, bad and nasty to the good, bright and happy won’t make any material difference to their importance (nobody outside the broadcasters and their awards ceremonies shares the view that THE NEWS is serious stories, anyway) and it might just change peoples’ demeanour and make they more optimistic and willing to get off their arses and go to work in a positive mood.

• Thrasos

  If only 10% of the youth of this country are inspired to use Olympic athletes as role models rather than the disgusting, drug-taking pop singers and soap actors, who seem to dominate the the Sun, Mirror, and Start front pages, the 2012 Olympics could be judged a success.

• pdso

  Success in sport (or anything ) relies not only on commitment and all that, but on TALENT. And that commodity is very rare.

• stonedwolf

  Actually the Olympian accused of being “fat” isn’t fat – she’s a morbidly obese powerlifter. Just look at “her”… pure lardbeast.

  Also, for the amazing Ennis being “fat” did not come from “the media” but, and I QUOTE HER COACH, “a high ranking person within UK athletics”.

  This is 2/10 material Ms Rich. Must. Try. Harder.

• http://www.facebook.com/loo.leong.7 Loo Kok Leong

  Well I guess it’s up to the British to manage the legacy. I kind of think that if anybody can do it, it’s the British. I may be wrong but you have always led. Also, shouldn’t whether the game ‘inspire a generation’ be looked at more from the points of view of the young people than of the jaded adults?

• http://www.g-tigerclaw.com George Glasser

  In my almost 68 years on this planet, I’ve done a lot of things including having the opportunity to teach and mentor.kids. Having both talent and commitment, is a key, however, that doesn’t insure success and “Glory.” While in sports, almost of it is about commitment and talent + genetics, other factors come into play: the first is luck, and the second is politics, which is the same in every field.

  I taught in the film graphics arts field for a few years. I knew that about 98 percent of the kids would never make it to actually get a ‘job’ as as graphic artists or filmmakers. I was also well aware that only about 5% would actually get any kind of work in the respective fields. Of the 5%, I was aware that 99% of them would become disheartened and just find other work because either they couldn’t earn a decent living or they walked away bitter with broken dreams.

  Interestingly, I found the kids with the most talent and commitment almost always never made it while the less talented but more politically inclined copped the good jobs with a future and became successful.

  Another thing I learned is that even with commitment and talent, nobody makes it alone and it’s not necessarily the most talented and committed that makes it to the top.

  I still take on talented and committed kids to mentor; however, I prefer to instil in them that it’s so much about the Glory, but about doing what you want to do and making a living at it. However,In sports, people don’t have that longevity, their day comes and goes fast, and if they’re lucky, they walk away with a full bank account and do TV advertisement if the made it to the “Glory” level.

  I’ve been fortunate in my life to have worked with famous people, on several occasions achieved minor celebrity, and pulled down a few awards. But as far as it goes, I can package all that up with bus fare and get a ride across town. However, I’m still in the game because I’m a good player, and most of all, I enjoy playing.

• http://www.facebook.com/AllGoodPopester Richard Pope

  left wing = M.I.S.E.R.Y………….