One year on, but is there a legacy?

Today marks the one year anniversary since the start of the London 2012 Olympic Games. Although Olympic legacy is hardly an original topic of conversation at the minute, given that I have spent the last 9 months or so working on exactly that, I feel it only right that I have my say-so. Many will argue that the Olympics may have been fantastic at the time, but that the aftermath has not really been value for money. I would argue that this is not the case and I believe that there is a relevant, meaningful and sustainable legacy being created, using the inspiration of London 2012.

There are several problems with legacy. The first and, perhaps, most important is that the word in itself is incredibly vague. This leads to many people questioning what legacy is, but in reality a legacy is how you use the inspiration of an event to change a mindset for the future. Another problem is that many people expect legacy to just be given to them on a plate. As John Steele, CEO of Youth Sport Trust, said at the Doha goals conference at the back end of last year, there had been a pause since the Olympics and it seemed as though people were waiting for a new and exciting government policy that would be the legacy of the Olympic & Paralympic games. This, however, was never going to be possible as a Government policy would not be able to provide a legacy that is effective and popular with everyone.

This is why I feel that the Youth Sport Trust’s ‘Lead your Generation’ project, launched by John Steele at the same conference is an effective legacy scheme. It plays on the Olympic tagline ‘Inspire a Generation’ and provides the perfect follow up to that. It gives young people the opportunity to, as the name suggests, lead their generation and create a legacy statement and plan that will benefit their own school or community. This allows them to tackle the problem areas that they know exist and that can range from getting girls involved in sport to providing greater sporting opportunities to primary school children by using the inspiration of London 2012. As Paralympic athlete Sam Ruddock said at the recent Lead your Generation Legacy Summit in Loughborough, ‘we have inspired a generation, now you have to do your bit and lead your generation’. This rings true and the Youth Sport Trust has given the impetus to young people, the generation that has the opportunity to really implement a legacy.

The only qualm that I have with this, is that it is only available to young people. Whilst I do feel that this is the correct target ‘generation’, it is not the sort of project that will silence Olympic critics in the media, for example. The older generations will not necessarily be able to see the various legacies that are being created in schools across the country and so when they write about whether or not there has been a ‘legacy’ they will undoubtedly say no. I hope that people do become aware of Lead your Generation and that young people and schools do take the initiative themselves and get involved with the project, as it can provide great benefits.

As I write this I am on my way to London for a UK Young Ambassador Steering Group meeting to discuss how to take the project forward over the coming academic year and I am sure there will be many more exciting ideas on how to continue using the inspiration of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games for years to come.