A BIT OF GREECE WILL MAKE THINGS GO SMOOTHER

I love watching the Olympics and look forward to it every 4 years.

For a long time though I have wondered at the sense of holding the games in different cities around the world.
They have become too big and expensive to hold and politics and commerce have overshadowed the ideals.

Usually the host city/country has to build or upgrade all facilities to be used for a month and to then fall into disrepair and underuse for decades.

Often the host country is unprepared to handle the logistics (traffic, sanitation, hospitality and safety) and this causes problems.

More than often the host country is unsuitable geographically or climatically to many of the events and competitors are under undue stress.

In London for example it can be sunny one hour and then rain or hail the next. Traffic is a nightmare and the ill-feeling generated by the disruption threatens to kibosh future Games.

For many years I have advocated choosing a country/city that will host the Olympic Games every four years until such time as they prove themselves incapable or incompetent.

The climate has to be moderate at the time of the Games - not too hot, not too cold, not too wet, not too dry and with sea access and easily accessible from most countries.

Athens climate chart

Why not Greece? It ticks most if not all boxes and has the necessary history and cachet. In todays economic situation  it also desperately needs something like the Olympics for on-going revenue which ultimately would be good for Europe and the world.