Mascots or Memories

According to the Telegraph the 2012 Olympics mascots were designed to inspire a generation of children and persuade their parents to contribute to the £15 million the mascots are slated to raise in merchandising revenue...

Gimme a break.

Are the Olympics about generating merchandising revenue or a lasting legacy?

I can’t tell you anything about the mascot of the 1988 Calgary Olympics – but I can tell you that seeing Debi Thomas glide across the ice inspired me to go beyond societal constraints and make me believe that the world was my oyster.

The 1988 Tokyo Olympics taught me the importance of cultural association when I saw Ben Johnson morph from a Canadian to a Jamaican in the time it took for his drug test results to come back positive. I also remember Flo Jo for her incredible speed and fabulous nails.

The inclusion of professional athletes on basketball teams brought us the Dream Team in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics which included Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. I admit – I bought Olympic merchandise that year.

I had the pleasure of actually meeting the Angolan basketball team during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics so my Olympics memory is slightly biaised. Beach volleyball debuted at that Olympics and Michael Johnson smashed it in the 200m and 400m.

I’ll never ever forget the qualifier of the swimming in the 2000 Sydney Olympics – when I switched on the telly and saw Eric Moussambani swimming with no other competitor around him - I was transifxed. Then the camera panned out and I realised that he was in the pool in his own! Call it comical, call it embarrassing, call it whatever you want – but you still remember it.

The 2000 Summer Olympics was one of my favourite memories. Three flags which all relate to me on the 100m winner’s podium: Maurice Green (USA), Ato Boldon (Trinidad and Tobago) and Obadele Thompson (Barbados) .

Ironically I remember the Athens Olympics for Greek sprinters Konstantinos Kenteris and Ekaterini Thanou who were errrr, involved in a motorcycle accident around the same time as a drug test. I also remember Dame Kelly Holmes making many a Brit proud with her double gold and Michael Phelps for his medal haul.

Do I even need to get into the 2008 Summer Olympics???

This is literally the tip of the iceberg with regards to what aspects of the various Olympic games remain firmly imprinted in my mind – what do YOU remember?

I appreciate that revenue is important – but it shouldn’t be masked as legacy. The effort put into creating mascots should be focused on producing exceptional home grown athletic talent that will inspire our young people and not toys that they can pressure their parents to purchase.