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Tokyo 2020: the opportunities for legacy and volunteering

By: Zohair Ammar

Program Manager, The FIFA/CIES Sport Management Programme at Cairo University, (www.cies-cu-egypt.org)

President, Score Sports Consultancy (www.scorea2z.com)

The Olympic Games is a unique and complex project, and its size, scope and complexity are like no other. For this reason, for a city to host successful Olympic Games, many years of careful and precise planning are required, with all of the relevant organisations, authorities and stakeholders working together.

One of the most important decisions taken by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is the election of the host city for the Olympic Games. The Games are awarded to one city, although some venues may be located outside the host city itself. The host city election takes place seven years before the Games, but the actual bid process is launched nine years before and lasts for a period of two years. The National Olympic Committee (NOC) of the country concerned puts forward the name of a city to the IOC, with each NOC entitled to put forward only one city located within its territory. The actual work on putting together an Olympic bid often begins many years before this, with city, regional and national authorities working hard with the NOC to prepare its Olympic project. In some cases the NOC even carries out its own selection process from a number of interested cities within its own country.

The two-year bid process is split into two phases, each lasting approximately one year, and is governed by the Olympic Charter, the IOC organises a comprehensive information seminar at the beginning of each bid process, to further assist cities and NOCs considering a potential bid for the Olympic Games, the IOC organised the first “Bidding for the Games” conference in November 2011. This two-day conference included information on how to develop a vision and fix objectives to ensure a successful, long lasting legacy, as well as information on the

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importance of building partnerships in bidding for and delivering the Games, and the potential benefits that can be gained from bidding itself, irrespective of the outcome. Previous organisers shared their experience on the impact that hosting the Games had had on their city/country, on both the tangible and intangible aspects. The conference ensured that the relevant authorities had the necessary information to make an informed decision.

The Olympic Games symbolise a unique venture as they have the power to deliver a significant experience which can considerably change a community, its image and its infrastructure. Through its scope and profile, the Olympic Games provide major opportunities for positive improvement and significant legacy.

Legacy provides the host city a unique opportunity to not only improve its city’s infrastructure, but also improve the attitude of the people living in it by incorporating the Olympic values into its policies and educating people on the importance of excellence, respect and friendship. As the core event of the Olympic Movement, and a significantly influential and high profile event in its own right, it is appropriate and vital that all stakeholders in the planning and operations of the Olympic Games take fully into consideration the impacts of their actions and policies, and the potential legacy opportunities that emanate from hosting the Olympic Games.

Creating sustainable legacies is a fundamental commitment of the Olympic Movement, every city that hosts the Olympic Games becomes a temporary steward of the Olympic Movement, host cities must ensure the continuity of a unique and universal event, each has a once-in-a-lifetime chance to showcase the celebration of the human spirit, and each creates a unique set of environmental, social and economic legacies that can change a community, a region, and a nation forever, the Olympic legacy of the host cities is made up of, on one hand, the tangible elements such as the Olympic venues and infrastructures and, on the other, intangible factors such as national and civic pride, cultural awareness and recognition, environmental consciousness, new and enhanced skills for the local workforce, and community involvement. In recent times, the scope has been expanded from a primary focus on a host city, to throughout the host region and country.

Tangible legacy can greatly enhance a city’s appeal such as business, pleasure and beauty, provide long-awaited infrastructure and generally improve living standards. Examples of tangible legacies are: new or upgraded sporting and non-sporting facilities, new or improved transport infrastructure, urban upgrading and beautification, urban rehabilitation and regeneration and telecommunications infrastructure, while intangible legacy is also a very important legacy for the host city and the Olympic Movement intangible elements are perhaps not as easy to identify or quantify but can sometimes have even more important direct and indirect effects than tangible factors. Examples of intangible legacies are: national pride, improved policies and practices, new and enhanced workforce skills and knowledge, attitudinal changes, new

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methods and best practices in construction, event management and business, host City worldwide recognition, Olympic education, rediscovery of national culture and environmental awareness and consciousness.

Tokyo presented its bid as a “safe pair of hands,” an appeal that clearly resonated with Olympic officials and was selected to host the 2020 Summer Olympics in what was considered a safe rather than transformative choice in a time of political and economic uncertainty around the globe. After Japan’s prime minister gave an emphatic assurance of safety regarding the country’s 2011 nuclear disaster and continuing concerns about radioactivity, Tokyo easily defeated Istanbul and Madrid to be named host of the Summer Games for a second time.

The decision was met with elation in Japan, where it was seen as a vote of international support for the nation’s efforts to pull itself out of a long economic and political decline and to overcome the devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident two years ago.

For the International Olympic Committee, environmental concerns in Japan appeared less urgent than the Syrian war on Turkey’s border, a harsh crackdown against anti-government protesters recently in Istanbul and Spain’s economic recession and high unemployment.

Tokyo hosted the 1964 Summer Olympics, and Japan has twice hosted the Winter Games, in Sapporo in 1972 and in Nagano in 1998. Japan also hosted the 2002 World Cup with South Korea and has repeatedly shown it can organize the world’s largest sporting events. It has a reserve fund worth $4.5 billion to build stadiums for the 2020 Games.

Legacy has many ways you can become involved as a volunteer and the host cities of the Olympic Games are always on the lookout for volunteers to assist, volunteering and the Olympic story are strongly intertwined, the early modern Games used volunteers from sporting clubs and federations, more recently, the Olympics have actively recruited and managed tens of thousands of individuals, Olympic volunteering can be a badge of honour, and for most the personal investment of time is a small price to pay for the unique experience.

Volunteers have been integral to the success of the Olympic Games since it was first established during the 1948 Games in London and, as the Japanese capital prepares to host the Olympic Games, the role of Olympic volunteers has never been more important.

Tokyo 2020 volunteers are helping to make the Games happen, more than 90,000 people will be chosen to become Games Makers and they will take on a wide variety of roles across the Olympic venues during the Games: from welcoming visitors to transporting athletes, helping out behind the scenes in the Technology team and making sure the results get displayed as quickly and accurately as possible, volunteer jobs will always help you when searching and finding your dream job, nowadays companies want to see your solidarity attitude and your eagerness to

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gain experience, even if it is unpaid, this will be a great opportunity for those seeking to visit the Japanese capital as well for those searching for volunteer opportunities, the process of registering as a volunteer is not open yet, the Games Makers' recruitment process begins in September 2018, with the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee expecting to receive more than 240,000 applications.

Get Involved, and try to join a special recruitment programme, which will be advertised through many media channels, stay tuned and mark your calendars: the Games of the XXXII Olympiad, Friday, 24 July – Sunday 9 August 2020 and Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, Tuesday, 25 August – Sunday 6 September 2020.