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Re:Post-Olympic Abandonment by bryanlarsen on Wednesday February 22, 2017 @07:00AM (#13704845)
The venues from the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary are forming the basis of their 2026 bid, so they must still be in good shape.
Re:Post-Olympic Abandonment by misterhtmlcss on Wednesday February 22, 2017 @08:18AM (#13705201)
We hosted the only Olympics in history that I've heard of that turned a profit. I live in Calgary and we still talk about how unique it was compared to other Olympics around the world.

There are definitely some winners post-Olympics, but honestly I don't think they make sense anymore. Seems that Olympics has gone down the wrong path in so many ways with the demands from the IOC requiring bigger and bigger budgets, private organizations taking stricter and stricter control over content even social media that it's just not the same any more when compared to 20+ years ago.

I remember feeling an emotion for the older Olympics that's just not there as much anymore.

Re:Post-Olympic Abandonment by WildUtah on Wednesday February 22, 2017 @08:28AM (#13705268)
The 1984 LA games apparently turned a profit as well.
Re:Post-Olympic Abandonment by theluketaylor on Wednesday February 22, 2017 @09:02AM (#13705519)
I remember using lots of the olympic facilities when my family lived in Calgary in the late 90s. The ski jump and bobsled are used for national team training and the public can ride them in a slower and safer manner for a fee.

I think winter olympics are much easier to run sustainably than summer games since there are far fewer sports, and the ones that do exist don't require nearly the same level of specialized venues. Bobsled and ski jump are pretty unique, but other than that everything needed for winter games is highly reusable. Most of the venues are not even that seasonal with the right planning.

Calgary is in an excellent position to host winter games. The venues that have been maintained and used for nearly 30 years and the city has excellent light rail transit to move between venues. Calgary is used to opening its doors to millions of visitors in a short time every year thanks to the Stampede, so the is a huge volunteer core and tons of hotel space. There have been calls for permanent olympic venues to help hold down costs; I think you'd be hard pressed to find a better option than Calgary for the winter games.

Re:Post-Olympic Abandonment by giarc on Wednesday February 22, 2017 @10:08AM (#13706014)
Calgarian here. The bobsled is still in use but the large ski jump is now just a zip line course. Ski jumpers improved to the point where they could "out jump" the hill. That would be likely the only large facility that would need to be completely rebuilt if we were to host again.

- The Oval still hosts world cup speed skating. - Canome still has a world class x-country ski facility - Lake Louise still hosts world cup downhill (although it was not used during the 88 games). - We have an NHL sized arena, although there is work to build a new one. - MacMahon stadium could still host an opening ceremonies - Bobsleigh still hosts world cup bobsleigh, skeleton and luge - Calgary Olympic Park holds world cup aerials, moguls, snowboarding half pipe etc

The biggest change from 88 is the size of the crowds. The city would likely need a few more hotel rooms to house athletes and visitors, but that's easy. Our new international terminal just opened so we could handle the increased capacity.