Britons happy with cost of Olympics but few have seen impact on sport facilities and activity levels: THE London Olympics and Paralympics cost more than three times the original budget of £2.4bn - but the majority of Britons have said it was worth the money. According to a BBC survey of 3,218 adults, two-thirds were happy with the £8.77bn price-tag and nearly three-quarters would welcome the Olympics back to Britain. However, the survey suggests not everyone has seen immediate benefits from the Games... Impact on exercise: One aim of the Games was to inspire people to become more active, but 88 per cent of those polled said their activity levels had not changed following London 2012. Only one in ten said they were exercising more than a year ago, although this rose to 24 per cent for people aged 18 to 24. Double Olympic champion Rebecca Adlington told the BBC that the impact might be hard to see straight away. She said: "For me, what will be a nice moment is, in 10 or 15 years, seeing someone come out of a pool or the velodrome, doing their interviews and saying, 'I was inspired by London. It got me into sport'. That is what legacy is about." Local facilities: Nearly a third of people said the Olympics had a positive impact on sports facilities but the majority said there had been no impact at all. Only one in five people reported an additional benefit to public services. Tim Lamb, chief executive of the Sport and Recreation Alliance, which represents sports bodies in the UK, said it was important to "keep the momentum going". He added: "We're going to have to find a way of investing in facilities in our sports clubs, making sure that when facilities are hired for sporting activity they are affordable." Economy: Only 22 per cent of people said the Games had improved their local economy. Nevertheless, 69 per cent of people believed the money spent on the Games was worth it, with a higher percentage among those in the south-east, where most of the Olympic events took place. Recent government research claims the UK economy received a £9.9bn boost in trade and investment from staging the Games. Future legacy: The BBC survey showed that young adults were the most enthusiastic about the Games returning to Britain, with 82 per cent of those aged 18 to 24 keen on the idea. Sports Minister Hugh Robertson has said the "single most important legacy" from London 2012 is that people across the world describe it as the "best Olympics and Paralympics of all time" and still reminisce about the Games. He said: "That is a calling card that is worth a lot in the international market. Source: Article
