Five cities were in pursuit of the 2012 Olympics. At the heart of each application was the bid document, which has crucial chapters on health and the Game`s legacy. The Evaluation Committee of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) visited each city and interrogated their medical advisors, one of the current authors included, on every detail of the proposed health provisions. With regard to the legacy, it is clear that the IOC`s increasing concern is to develop the benefits left by the staging of this elite, mass spectator, sporting event. A legacy of health gain is at the centre of many of the bids, although to generate one is not as straight forward as it might at first appear. The health equation of an Olympic games is by no means simple. Although the benefits of exercise are irrefutable, the research published on the health legacy of major sporting events is scant. Referencing tends to bc circular, and the markers of improved health are almost invariably indirect. It has been acknowledged that, although hard data to support the economic benefits and urban renewal are quite commonly generated, research into the health related impact is lacking.' Very few hard data have been derived to support the widely professed assumptions that the effects öl any given indicator are indeed beneficial to health. The fact that the Finns exercise so much more than the rest of us and yet have witnessed the samc Olympics suggests that other influences on healthy living have been more at play, although this in itself does not mean that major sporting events cannot be used effectively. It is to be hoped that the Olympic Garnes of 2012 will provide us with the opportunity to change an enthusiasm for these mass events built on beliefs and assumptions to one fashioned from hard fact. This would indeed bc a legacy worthy of an Olympics.
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