The other Olympic Games

The Winter Olympics is a significant mega-event in its own right, which generates significant sums for the International Olympic Committee (IOC)in television revenue and sponsorship. The sports of the Winter Olympic Games would probably not exist were it not for the alliance of travel and tourism organizations and would not have subsequently flourished to the same degree without television. The Polytechnic became famous for its sporting and social clubs, including the Polytechnic Harriers who organized the 1908 London Olympics opening and closing ceremonies. ‘Olympic athletes from all over the world used the swimming pool and gymnasium at 309 Regent Street as practice facilities for the Games’. Bidding for the Olympic Games provided a means by which private interests could leverage public investment in infrastructure. In the late 1920s the owners of the Lake Placid Club, who had developed winter sports in the area, lobbied for it to be chosen as a Winter Olympics site, which it was in 1932.