This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jul/05/the-guardian-view-on-the-olympic-legacy-running-out-of-steam

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
The Guardian view on the Olympic legacy: running out of steam The Guardian view on the Olympic legacy: running out of steam
(6 days later)
Every Saturday morning, at 9am, more than 50,000 runners set off to run 5km around their local park. The Parkrun phenomenon began with a dozen friends and has inspired 400 events in the UK and more abroad. Events are free, staffed by thousands of volunteers. Runners range from four years old to grandparents; their times range from Andrew Baddeley’s world record 13 minutes 48 seconds up to an hour.Every Saturday morning, at 9am, more than 50,000 runners set off to run 5km around their local park. The Parkrun phenomenon began with a dozen friends and has inspired 400 events in the UK and more abroad. Events are free, staffed by thousands of volunteers. Runners range from four years old to grandparents; their times range from Andrew Baddeley’s world record 13 minutes 48 seconds up to an hour.
Parkrun is succeeding where London’s Olympic “legacy” is failing. Ten years ago on Monday, it was announced that the Games of the XXX Olympiad would be in London. Tony Blair told the International Olympic Committee that London had the power to motivate “millions more young people in Britain and across the world”. Planning documents pledged that the great legacy of the Games would be to lever a nation of sport lovers away from their couches. The population would be fitter, healthier and produce more winners. It has not happened. The number of adults doing weekly sport did rise, by nearly 2 million in the runup to 2012 – but the general population was growing faster. Worse, the numbers are now falling at an accelerating rate. The opposition claims primary school pupils doing at least two hours of sport a week have nearly halved. Obesity has risen among adults and children. Official postmortems continue as to why London 2012 failed to “inspire a generation”. The success of Parkrun offers answers.Parkrun is succeeding where London’s Olympic “legacy” is failing. Ten years ago on Monday, it was announced that the Games of the XXX Olympiad would be in London. Tony Blair told the International Olympic Committee that London had the power to motivate “millions more young people in Britain and across the world”. Planning documents pledged that the great legacy of the Games would be to lever a nation of sport lovers away from their couches. The population would be fitter, healthier and produce more winners. It has not happened. The number of adults doing weekly sport did rise, by nearly 2 million in the runup to 2012 – but the general population was growing faster. Worse, the numbers are now falling at an accelerating rate. The opposition claims primary school pupils doing at least two hours of sport a week have nearly halved. Obesity has risen among adults and children. Official postmortems continue as to why London 2012 failed to “inspire a generation”. The success of Parkrun offers answers.
Related: Lost generation of children deprived of school sports | Letters
Parkrun is not a race but a time trial: your only competitor is the clock. The ethos welcomes anybody. There is as much joy over a puffed-out first-timer being clapped over the line as there is about top talent shining. The Olympic bidders, by contrast, wanted to get more people doing sport and to produce more elite athletes. The dual aim was muddled: the stress on success over taking part was intimidating for newbies. Parkrun started with a 5km loop of a park and a watch. The Olympic plans were replete with platitudes, a few tens of millions in funding, at least 88 regional and national coordinators, reps and partnerships, and jargon promising “more accountability for delivery of key targets”, improvement “mechanisms” and support “based on best practice”. All this was well-intentioned, and some money and initiatives meant that some sports clubs did get useful ideas and resources. But bound tomes and management tiers devised by civil servants have sucked the life out of the aim: galvanising individuals to challenge themselves, get fitter and healthier, and feel better about themselves.Parkrun is not a race but a time trial: your only competitor is the clock. The ethos welcomes anybody. There is as much joy over a puffed-out first-timer being clapped over the line as there is about top talent shining. The Olympic bidders, by contrast, wanted to get more people doing sport and to produce more elite athletes. The dual aim was muddled: the stress on success over taking part was intimidating for newbies. Parkrun started with a 5km loop of a park and a watch. The Olympic plans were replete with platitudes, a few tens of millions in funding, at least 88 regional and national coordinators, reps and partnerships, and jargon promising “more accountability for delivery of key targets”, improvement “mechanisms” and support “based on best practice”. All this was well-intentioned, and some money and initiatives meant that some sports clubs did get useful ideas and resources. But bound tomes and management tiers devised by civil servants have sucked the life out of the aim: galvanising individuals to challenge themselves, get fitter and healthier, and feel better about themselves.
Indeed, there is something a little absurd in the state getting involved in the planning of such a fundamentally “grassroots” concept as community sports associations. If there is a role for government, it should really be getting involved in providing common goods – making sure there is space for playing fields and the money to pave tennis and netball courts, and encouraging the provision of all these activities in schools. But successive governments have presided over selling green spaces, squeezing money from local authorities and declining attention on sport in education. Instead of wordy, worthy strategies, future governments need to do more to provide the conditions for sport to thrive. Or at least not make them worse. Then Parkrunners and anybody inspired to cycle to work, try tennis or form a neighbourhood football club can simply get on with doing it.Indeed, there is something a little absurd in the state getting involved in the planning of such a fundamentally “grassroots” concept as community sports associations. If there is a role for government, it should really be getting involved in providing common goods – making sure there is space for playing fields and the money to pave tennis and netball courts, and encouraging the provision of all these activities in schools. But successive governments have presided over selling green spaces, squeezing money from local authorities and declining attention on sport in education. Instead of wordy, worthy strategies, future governments need to do more to provide the conditions for sport to thrive. Or at least not make them worse. Then Parkrunners and anybody inspired to cycle to work, try tennis or form a neighbourhood football club can simply get on with doing it.