Community sport development & the Olympic games - outcomes from Vancouver 2010

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) requires that all Olympic host cities plan for post-Games legacies. In the case of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games, a key legacy promise concerned benefits for the local sport community. This promise played a vital role in securing political and citizen support to host the Games. This research explores the relationship between hosting the Games and the actual operational impacts and legacies experienced by community sport organizations in Vancouver’s Lower Mainland during and immediately following the Games. Qualitative interviews conducted with representatives of the local sport community provide insight into the diversity of experiences and perspectives on the topic of legacies at the community sport level following the Games in Vancouver. In many cases outcomes reported by local sport organizations differed from organizational expectations in the lead up to the Games. What is also noteworthy is the variance between local sport clubs and provincial sport organizations (hereafter “PSOs”) in both their operational approaches to the Games and reported outcomes.