Olympic Games and Their Impacts

The modern Olympic Games is considered by many to be the world’s greatest sport festival. In the 2016 Summer Games—held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil—athletes representing more than 200 countries competed in 28 sports. Thanks to their international relevance, the Olympics represent an immense opportunity for the economic development of a city and of an entire region. Beyond their capacity of attracting tourists, the games are more and more seen as an opportunity to focus the attention of national and international media on the hosting city.

Staging the Olympics is a multidimensional phenomenon, involving many facets—for example, planning, tourism, advertising, security, transport, environment, and the media. Indeed, the debate about the impacts of Olympic Games suggests that they can produce both positive and negative impacts for ...