Mega Sports Event to a Assessment

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The Wimbledon Tennis tournament as a hallmark-sporting event creates these social and cultural impact of the community. This is because according to theory transient and recurring events act as important methods of collecting identification of host communities. They present opportunities of asserting, reproducing, reinforcing, and contesting prevailing cultural values and beliefs and social norms (Quinn 2009). Hallmark events are identified as functions that support and reinforce the image of established social and cultural norms.

PR Newswire (2012) indicates the unpredictability of the effects of Olympics as its impact may be difficult to evaluate. However, in the case of London's 2012 Olympics, the games left a lasting impression on the socio-cultural context of Britain. According to Dhar (2012), the games led to the unification and social spirit of unity among the British during 2012, as compared to the divided and lawlessness associated with urban riots in 2011. The games increased the patriotism of the British, as a sense of pride in the nation increased. This was especially associated with the prestige and legacy the games leave, as the Britain is known for the best facilities. This positive feel of the nation among citizens was very different from the British cynicism to everything from the climate to the economic health (Dhar 2012). According to literature, this is a major effect of both hallmark and mega sporting events as they create a sense of pride in the host.

Mega and hallmark sporting events leave environmental imprints on hosting locations. According to Dolles and Soderman (2010), mega-sporting events are increasingly acknowledging the importance of environmental sustainability and green values integration in the lifecycle of the games. Environmental friendly sporting events is a major planning and operation issue for sporting events since mega events like the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics are associated with environmental issues. The main environmental areas mega events affect are transportation, energy, waste, and water.

One of the environmental impacts of the Olympic Games was the increased efforts towards the improvement of the quality of air in China to meet the World Health Organization's standards. This lead the nation to adopt several measures, like the relocation of its multiple heavy polluting industries, like the Shougang group from the capital (Kui 2010 p.104). The second step entails the removal of more than half of its city's polluting vehicles from the city roads, which were approximately 3.3 million. Thirdly, the municipal government halted construction projects that were within the city limits. Fourthly, the municipal government increased the number of waste treatment facilities (Kui 2010 p.104). Lastly, the city turned to geothermal energy sources to reduce the impact to the environment of hydro, coal, and nuclear power. This is because thought the Olympics is a onetime event occurring in any location it leaves a large environmental imprint.

The 2012 Olympics raised environmental awareness since previous Olympic Games had serious environmental damage, through waste, transportation, and construction. The London's 2012 games used at least one quarter recycled material like disused gas pipes in the stadium. For the host of the games, environmental priority lay in the reduction of carbon emission in transportation, food and water waste, and the creation of low carbon games (McCarthy 2012). To reduce the carbon emission of the games, the UK built an Olympic Stadium with source recycled materials in the construction and the use of temporary structures where needed. In the construction phase, the Olympic stadium was to use two-megawatt wind turbines, but was cancelled due to the health and safety concern to spectators (McCarthy 2012). The Olympic Games' 11% energy supply was from renewable energy sources like biomass boilers at the dedicated energy center and solar power. The organizers tried to reduce the environmental impact of transportation by giving a one-day travel card to holders of the Olympic tickets allowing them to use buses and trains. The organizers also encouraged the use of bicycles and provided 7,000 secure bicycle bays in the Olympic park (McCarthy 2012). The event organizers also created a food strategy to reduce the amount of solid and liquid waste to the landfill during the events. This is by creating, food waste strategy, and an ethical food source especially for snacks, fruit, and coffee, fish and meat markets. The food strategy was aimed at locating food and drink suppliers and matching them with waste strategy to deliver zero waste to the landfill.

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The organizers also encouraged food suppliers and visitors of proper waste disposal and recycling by color-coding waste disposal bins.

Hallmark events in a location developmental program leave a larger environmental imprint since they are recurring events. For example, the Wimbledon Tennis event led to the Wimbledon Club to adopt environmental protection measures from a need to lower the annual energy consumption of the event (Holley 2010). The goal was to same financial resources used to host the event and to improve the environmental credentials of the event and location. Using legislation like the Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme, the location tries to change behavior and infrastructure to accommodate environmental friendly sports (Holley 2010). The second motivation for Wimbledon was the need to engage spectators, members and the community in climate change issues especially after the energy and carbon footprint audit taken by the CSE. Some of the measures taken by the stadium and sports club to reduce the environmental impact of the tennis tournament are the reduction of noise levels from the jeers of the crowds to 65 decibels by using high-tech electronic attenuators (GreenWire 2009). The club also changed the gas used to fill the tournament's 52,000 tennis balls to a bio friendly gas. Thirdly, the rubbish created by the two-week event is sent to material recovery or recycling facility at ColnBrook Waste Management Park, to sort the recyclable material and dispose waste. The event has also taken up the duty of wastewater recycling and uses 95% of recycled water to water the grass courts (GreenWire 2009). These measures were undertaken after the CSE energy audit and carbon footprint audit, which recommended the installation of automated data collection and monitoring systems to evaluate the annual championship consumption of energy and resources. The CSE report recommended evaluation of the championship's effect on ventilation, heating, and air-conditioning, the use of onsite solar lighting and heating systems, reduce spectator car use on site. Other recommendations include the reduction of solid waste by food caterers and visitors, and proper waste management measures by the club.

Analysis of literature reveals that environmental protection is a major issue or mega and hallmark sporting events in the last decade. According to Dolles and Soderman (2010), environmental protection is a major issue facing mega and hallmark sport event organizers as communities and nationals call for sustainable games. Robert and Victor (2010) indicate that Beijing's 2008 Green Olympics strategy was the result of China's centuries of environmental issues (275). These issues had grown worse in the last decade following the nation's rapid economic growth and high rates of industrialization, which had left a significant imprint on the public health of China. Moreover, the rapid growth of industrialization without concern for the environment is the cause for the high costs of environmental degradation in the country. Therefore, this situation led to an increase in environmental concern among the Chinese citizens, public surveys, and public opinions polls and eventually caught the eye of the international community (Robert and Victor 2008 p.275). The call for a cleaner environment led to political rhetoric for the need for greener policies, which ended up in Beijing's bid for the Olympic.

According to Maenning and Zimbalist (2012), the major issue facing mega sporting and hallmark events like the Olympics is effective management. This involves issues in decision making on important issues like safety and security, environmental protection, legal and economic implications of the events, and natural and disaster management. Issues of safety and security in sporting events today are a common issue for mega and hallmark event organizers. This is especially heightened by the need to prioritize the interests of stakeholders involved in delivering the special events. For example, hallmark events like the Wimbledon presents organizers with a challenge of presenting a successful sporting event, where stakeholders like the local community, local and national government, and players meet their expectations. mega sporting events like the Olympics present greater challenges to organizers due to the higher number and international diversity of stakeholders. This challenge is compounded by the increasing profile of sporting events, which has led to the increased risk and exposure-affecting stakeholders like participants, spectators, and entities (Maenning and Zimbalist 2012). Increased risks associated with sporting events include hooliganism, terrorism, crowd disorder, vandalism, assault, theft, fraud, logistical failures, and inclement weather (Cooper, Hall, Marciani, and Mcgee 2012). Terrorism is currently the.....

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