Accepting the Olympic Games is a great honor and at the same time huge expenses for any state. It has long been estimated that nobody has managed to recoup the invested funds due to the influx of tourists during the Olympics.
And few people succeed in keeping within the framework of the Olympic budget. On average, the overspending from the originally planned funds for the preparation for the Games is 180%. In Sochi, this figure is already approaching 500%. The scale of the Sochi Olympics will become even more noticeable if you study our current Top 7, which included the most expensive Olympic Games.
7. Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City 2002 (budget - $ 1.5 billion)
This White Olympics was the seventh for the USA. However, her budget exceeded total costs by 6 previous Olympics. After Salt Lake City, the States did not dare to undertake such large-scale projects.
6. Summer Olympics in Sydney 2000 (budget - $ 4.1 billion)
Of the huge budget, only $ 530 million (13%) was spent on the construction of Olympic facilities directly. The remaining funds went to transport infrastructure, security, and the organization of magnificent shows in terms of color.
5. Winter Olympics in Vancouver 2010 (budget - $ 6 billion)
Initially, Canadians planned to meet $ 600 million. However, the budget grew 10 times, and the country had to sequestrate social spending, including for the health care system, for the Games.
4. Athens Summer Olympics 2004 (budget - $ 11.6 billion)
The Grand Games in Athens left Greece already poor in debt. If you divide all the investments that have not paid off in the Athens Olympics, then the debt will be 50 thousand euros for each Greek family.
3. Summer Olympics in London 2012 (budget - $ 15 billion)
London hosted the Olympic Games three times, but the British never borne such costs as in 2012. About a billion dollars was spent only on security - the Games were guarded by 40 thousand police and military personnel.
2. Beijing Summer Olympics 2008 (budget - $ 43 billion)
The construction of the Olympic facilities took almost half of the huge budget. It is all the more offensive to be aware of the fact that most of these grandiose objects are left out of work and gradually come to desolation and collapse.
1. Winter Olympics in Sochi 2014 (budget - $ 51 billion)
It is still difficult to say how much was spent on the Sochi Olympics, but most experts agree on a budget of $ 51 billion. Nobody can say whether it will be possible to rationally use the objects left after the Games. But I really want to hope that the most expensive olympics in history there will not be an impetus to the economic crisis, as happened in Greece, and the Olympic infrastructure will be better used than in Beijing.