Paris also needed the Olympics - question, capable

The organization of the Olympics was painted in a relatively favorable light – but little was said about its risks – by Etienne Thobois, the CEO who played an important role in organizing the Paris Games two years earlier, and Sophie Lorant, the international director. The two sports leaders arrived in Budapest at the invitation of the Hungarian Olympic Committee (MOB) to share their experiences. "The Olympics not only promote the values of excellence, respect, friendship, and university, but they also bring emotions and passions with them. We have never seen so many happy people on the streets of Paris, such wide smiles, in those two weeks. The French people were extremely proud to welcome the world in their homeland," Thobois stated at the address given at Corvinus University, and then proceeded to explain the budget of the Paris Games. He said that the organizing committee's budget was approximately 4.5 billion euros, of which 96 percent came from private funds. About one-third of this amount, 1.7 billion euros, came from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the remaining amount was paid by the domestic sponsors and revenue from trademark licensing in roughly equal proportions. They closed the Games with a profit of 76 million euros, but this is not the final amount, as French law provides five years for lodging complaints and claims. There is an additional surplus of 100 million euros. Approximately 4 billion euros were spent on infrastructural developments, from which the Olympic ring was built – in whose buildings residences, offices, educational institutions are now operating –, roads, bridges, and numerous subway station improvements were carried out. Since they largely used existing facilities and replaced the missing ones with temporary ones, only a water sports center was built permanently. They signed contracts worth 5 billion euros for the preparation and execution of the Games, which created directly 181 thousand jobs. They worked with more than 5600 suppliers, 89 percent of whom were French, and 85 percent of whom were small and medium-sized enterprises. According to the French Ministry of Finance's calculation, the Olympics contributed 0.3 percent to the GDP and had a positive economic impact of 9 billion euros on the Paris region. "We can say that Paris did not need the Games to be on the map, but holding the Olympics there had a serious impact on tourism. The number of tourists has slowly decreased in recent years, but it has now increased again. Last summer, the growth was 36 percent, and the figures are also very good. In short, the image the city presented of itself has a very significant impact on people," Thobois explained. The sports leaders also emphasized that their goal from the beginning was to involve as many people as possible in the preparation for the Games, for which they developed various programs and also developed an application to which nearly ten percent of the population, eight million people, joined. Their work had four pillars: - sustainability, which Paris's then mayor, Anne Hidalgo, set as a condition, - financial responsibility, excluding that the Games should be unprofitable for taxpayers, - gender equality, which was realized for the first time in Olympic history, and - accessibility, the goal of which was to understand and improve the situation of people with disabilities. They also highlighted two important cornerstones of the Olympic project: the purification of the Seine and the development of the region of Saint-Denis, the second poorest region of France, in North Paris. They agreed on the necessity of realizing these, regardless of political affiliation. "It has been decided that most of the investments will be concentrated there, and that is why the Olympic and media tower and the center for water sports were built there. It is not about us having to adapt to the Olympics, the Games adapt to the long-term development plans of the host cities. In our case, this meant that we had the opportunity to purify and rebuild a polluted, industrial area of the city thanks to the Olympics." Sophie Lorant also emphasized that previously the organizer had to adapt to the IOC's demands, but now it is the other way around. Moreover, if the organization had not changed its attitude, the Games would have ended, as no one would organize them under the previous conditions. Among the long-term developments, they also mentioned the significant expansion of the cycling infrastructure – 415 kilometers – the improvement of public transport accessibility, the introduction of extra movement time in schools, and numerous green investments. The third speaker of the event was Mayor Karácsony Gergely, who spoke passionately about why Budapest should participate in the organization of the Olympics. He believed that the host cities found in the preparation for the Games the values and natural environment that they had previously lost. "What was built or settled before. The Seine or, in the case of Barcelona, the sea. For me, the most important mission in this transformative force in Budapest is that this city is about the Danube." He considers the Danube a "natural cord" that connects Budapest and Hungary to the region, and the Olympic concept they work on reflects this. It is not just about the city or the region, but also about Central European identity. Karácsony also emphasized that there can be nothing about the organization of the Olympics in relation to Budapest unless the Olympic movement has learned that either the Olympics will only happen in dictatorships and oil monarchies, or that certain organizing principles can be argued rationally in a democratic debate. "In my opinion, the most important thing is to tailor the Games to the cities. Budapest needs an Olympics that suits it. And a very important part of this is that we should not do anything that is not necessary just because it is the Olympics." Karácsony believes that the organization will also mean the redefinition of Budapest – not only of the world but of ourselves. "This is very important because the two have a great impact on each other. What we think about our city greatly influences what others think of it. And this is also true in reverse: what others think of us reflects who we are." Size is the essence: something doesn't fit with the Budapest Olympics numbers. The mayor believes that the identity issue is important because "it's either on or off, whether we can fit in. Whether it is worth it or not." He sees that Trianon caused a significant fracture in Hungarian society, and if we want to reinterpret Hungary, we need a liberating, common great success, which the organization of the Olympics could be. "The fact that Hungary is currently unable to do this according to these organizing principles should not be lived as a disadvantage, but as an advantage: Budapest and Hungary are doing the world's first international Olympics. We should derive value from this, redefine Budapest as one of the stars of Central Europe, which connects this region in space and soul." Our newspaper first showed the document in the last week, which was created during the so-called Continuous Dialogue between the IOC, the MOB, and the capital regarding the selection of the host city for the 2036 Olympics and contains the possible host locations. This included the fact that some events would be held in Vienna, Prague, and Dunaszerdahely, but Karácsony also spoke in his latest statements about the possibility of involving Slovenian Ljubljana and Czech Prague or Brno. He reiterated this. Sport on the Parliament, swimming on the Danube – we have secured the 2036 Budapest Olympic master plan in March. During the transformation, he considered the expected results very important – the improvement of the water quality of the Danube, the renovations, the infrastructural and transport developments –, but overall, he thinks the most important thing is that we finally do this unaccepted knowledge. We are proud of the natural and historical values of the city, but not against others, but with others. The least – he added – is that sports are of interest to him in the Olympics. He reiterated that they will initiate a social dialogue on the issue, in which he wants to achieve that "we take the Olympics out of the box that is in people's heads." He does not want people to look to Viktor Orbán as a dream, so that the question does not arise: should there be the Olympics, or good education, good healthcare. "There is no such dilemma, because then I will obviously say that education and healthcare are necessary." But he thinks it is possible to argue that the event can be commercially successful, and that it can crown the developments that are compatible with the city's long-term concept. The Olympic lottery and profit, 4.7 billion euros – this is how they planned the financial background of the Budapest Olympics in April. He spoke about how the Olympics could provide an opportunity to get rid of several segments of the Budapest brown belt – not only for the City of Students but also for the surrounding regions and the municipalities – there are practical examples of this. The historic inner city could also be made greener and more accessible through the transformations taking place during the preparation and the Danube could be better integrated into the city's life. He said his dream is for the so-called Danube corridor (this term is also in the March version of the master plan) to exist, which would connect the Roman shore to the Csepel island via the lower bank of Pest by 27 kilometers, which would be shaped by pedestrians, runners, and cyclists. He called it a good starting point that – according to the newspaper and Medián's survey – there are spontaneously supporters of the Olympics in the majority. Medián: Forty percent support for the Budapest Olympics He called the assurance of transparency the most important condition for further growth. He was also happy about the election results of April 12th because he was sure that maybe Viktor Orbán's dream is the Olympics, but as long as he is prime minister, there will be no Olympics in Budapest. Because people will not accept that they will not be able to seize the money during the organization. And therefore, they will not support it, and it will all go to waste. The mayor believes that regarding transparency "we can retrace our thoughts on what kind of Olympics we want, and then understand it not in a purely political context, but by examining the concept itself." He thinks the people will dismiss the dialogue if they feel that the arguments are not based on facts, data, and rationality. "This is the first condition for building public trust. This is currently not the case, as trust is not given for free. We must take this very seriously. We must say what we want, how much it should cost. We must honestly say what we want, that some sports facilities can, perhaps, be built, and where they will be. If we start talking, do not communicate honestly, then the existing social support will not only increase but will probably collapse." From the beginning it was clear that they had to be financially responsible. They had to be exemplary in all their activities, and transparency was at the center of all their activities. This was important so that they could have the support of public opinion and remain consistent. This is a long-term project around which people are constantly – even at the political level – changing. Therefore, from the beginning, everything must be very clear and they must win the support of all political parties and society. They received unanimous support from Parliament during the application process. They followed public procurement rules, even though 96 percent of their revenue came from private funds. They built control mechanisms into their system and processes, including a state controller among the members of the public procurement committee. The French auditor also examined their activities. They were audited five times in seven years, which is unprecedented. Now, the International Olympic Committee has also added a separate anti-corruption clause to the Olympic contract to prevent abuses. This is also a general principle. The question is how strict the procedure is, which protects everyone in a certain sense: politicians, us, public opinion. We are happy about these very strict control systems, we cooperate with them. Nevertheless, criminal proceedings were initiated regarding incompatibility, misuse of public funds, and embezzlement. He was also involved in the case. Yes, and this is normal, as the project budget was enormous, 4.5 billion euros. There are always various applications, and we involved 4200 people who all came from somewhere… In short, it is normal that there were investigations in which we worked with the authorities, who conducted house searches in the organizing committee and some of them at home. And to this day, no abuse has been uncovered. For now, it seems that there was no problem with how the organizing committee worked, and more than two years have passed since the Games. How do you see the chances for Budapest and Hungary in the reflection of the Paris organization? He usually says that our facilities are mostly ready, but in reality, most of them would only be suitable as Olympic venues after significant transformations and expansions. He does not want to get into speculation. But he can say that the IOC's new organizing rules allow cities like Budapest to have a chance. The right to organize can be won by building on strengths. This is what drove the athlete. As a sportsman (Thobois was a long-distance runner, started in the men's individual competition in Atlanta in 1996 – the racer), this is what drove him. We won because we were the Parisians. When we competed for the organization with Los Angeles, we could have tried to claim that we were more technologically advanced or innovative, but public opinion – even if it were true – would still have judged that we lost because we did not give ourselves. The applicants for the organization provide the so-called "unique value proposition." He can only encourage them to work with their strengths and have a clear vision of where they want to go. Three important questions must be answered well for victory. First, one must be able to explain the viewpoint, then one must insist on why they want the Games, and finally, one must answer why the IOC should grant them to them. The organizers tend to emphasize the advantages of organizing the Olympics while speaking much less about the risks. What do you consider the most important risks in such a project? Risk management is at the center of any project, and the larger the project, the greater the challenge. But there are many opportunities to reduce the risk: commitment, well-developed processes, good implementation. We identified 1300 important risks at the beginning of the process, but these changed constantly, and the number of them also decreased in some way. We should not ignore that there are many dangers in preparing and organizing such an event, but also many opportunities. I think it is very worthwhile to get involved because the economic profit is huge, as it has a fantastic impact on people's lives. This has been the best thing for the Parisians. If you ask them today what their most memorable moment of their lives was, most of them mention two things, and both are related to sports: one is the 1998 World Cup final, which we won against Brazil, and the other is the Olympic Games. People remember these not by GDP figures, the created jobs, or the carbon footprint. But if I must emphasize one thing: if you enter such a project, you must not give up. For us, this was one of our biggest challenges: maintaining ambition. We must not aim lower, choose the easier path, because that does not motivate people. The harder it is to achieve a goal, the more pride and satisfaction we feel when we succeed. In short, it is a great undertaking to organize the Games, but I am sure it is worth it. If they do it well. If they believe in themselves and dare to act. As he says, if they do it well. That is why I asked about the risks, as communicating them is also part of transparency. And officially, there is not much that can be known about how the relevant parties view the Games. There are not many examples in Olympic history where the organization did not have advantages. Of course, there were… let's say, missed opportunities, facilities that were not utilized later. But the IOC learned from these experiences and ensures that future hosts do not follow such mistakes. I think that due to the new selection process, the risks have significantly decreased, as the IOC also has an interest that the applicants and the finally selected organizers profit from the organization. Para-Kovács Imre: Five years of vasárika The horse can go to the dry Velencei pond; the break can go to the Trafó; there will also be a jump if it doesn't fall.