As part of the London 2012 Olympic Games the Great British Government presented a legacy that they hoped would aid them to win the bid to host the games. This included what they hoped would become beneficial long-term effects socially and economically for Great Britain. One of the claims made the government was:
‘Harnessing the United Kingdom’s passion for sport to increase grass roots participation, particularly by young people – and to encourage the whole population to be more physically active’. (Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 2010)
Meaning that hosting the games would change the nation’s attitude towards physical activity, contributing to a hopeful increase in participation in sport. This investigation explores the link between hosting the Olympic Games and sports participation in the host country, in particular around the host city of London. The study focuses on measuring the legacy effects a year after the games began.
This research is being created to gain a greater understanding about how the 2012 Olympic games has affected the nation – London in particular. With this information we also would like to make the results more specific and find out: how the Olympic legacy has inspired people and how distance of residency from the Olympic stadium will affect their perceived perception of the games and finally what economic and social barriers may stand in the way of individuals becoming involved post- Olympic Games.
METHODS
DESIGN
Data generation was carried out from the Opening Ceremony (27th July 2012) to exactly one year after the Opening Ceremony (27th July 2013). The approach taken was twofold, firstly a questionnaire was conducted. The first method of this study uses a self-completion questionnaire to determine a link between the London 2012 Olympic Games and the perceived impact on sports participation across England. This allows participants to self-evaluate the impact of this event, and thus provides a