Rio's Olympic golf course in turmoil

[boogielicious]

Quote:

Originally Posted by boogielicious

You underestimate the greed involved with the Olympics and World Cup.  FIFA made Brazil build 8 soccer stadiums in a country with hundreds of soccer stadiums.  This is just a means to drag more money into the mix.

What does that have to do with anything? How does "greed" play a role here? If the country wants to host an event, re-routing three holes now is NOT the way to go about doing it.

They've been keeping London on the back burner in case Rio can't pull it off.

It is a ploy to get more money to get the current design approved that's all.

[dbuck]

The animals around here don't even know that a golf hole is not their corridor.

Haha, I love it. I often have to wait for whitetails to clear before hitting a shot.

[ay33660]

The animals around here don't even know that a golf hole is not their corridor.

Forget about a golf hole what about the driving range.

[FarawayFairways]

They've been keeping London on the back burner in case Rio can't pull it off.

Not a chance.

Most of the infrastructure has been dismantled or put to alternative use with tenants in place. London would be hard pressed to be ready if it were given 3-4 years notice, yet alone 18 months. London have already said they couldn't take it, and quite apart from anything, the whole delivery team with the experience and know how have been scattered all over the planet doing different jobs. Ironically though, a golf course is one of the few things they could pull of shelf. Wentworth, Sunnigndale, Walton Heath or even the London Club would be easy to use (probably the latter) provided we could stick a ban on motorbikes whipping round Brands Hatch

The only country that could come in at short notice I suspect is China. They have the manpower and the command economy. And before you say the US could (anyone) you'd get bogged down the first moment someone raised a legal challenge

[iacas]

Not a chance.

I'll file that in the "no" column, but it's up against a bunch of articles (many written by respectable journalists) in the "yes" column.

[billchao]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FarawayFairways

Most of the infrastructure has been dismantled or put to alternative use with tenants in place. London would be hard pressed to be ready if it were given 3-4 years notice, yet alone 18 months. London have already said they couldn't take it, and quite apart from anything, the whole delivery team with the experience and know how have been scattered all over the planet doing different jobs.

This is what I've read about it after doing some digging. Apparently, a lot of the venues were converted to public use and would require a significant amount of work and money to restore it to Olympics-hosting capability.

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/may/09/ioc-olympic-games-2016-host-rio-london

Quote:

There are various practical things preventing London stepping in to host the Games, as it did previously in 1908 when Mount Vesuvius erupted, forcing the Games to be relocated from Italy at short notice. Not only is the stadium in the midst of a £200m reconstruction to prepare it for its new tenants, West Ham, but residents have begun to move into the complex of 2,800 flats that the athletes' village has been converted into.

Meanwhile, the "wings" that housed 15,000 spectators during the Games have been removed from Zaha Hadid's Aquatics Centre and the temporary venues around the Olympic Park have been demolished to make way for housing and play areas.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FarawayFairways

The only country that could come in at short notice I suspect is China. They have the manpower and the command economy.

That was my first thought, too. There are lots of half-finished "ghost" cities in China that they could probably top off and throw some stadiums in.

Bottom line is, Rio had five years already to prepare and they executed poorly thus far.

[FarawayFairways]

ill-informed American journalists?

Find me a single one written by a British journalist with an appreciation of what's involved that says the same. It just sounds like idle journalist chatter to be honest. Articles to write etc

Look the Prime Minister has categorically ruled it out, so too has Sebastian Coe explaining that we've long passed the time where by we could have done it, and so too has the Mayor (albeit with supreme irony the person who has aspirations to be the next Mayor of London also happens to be the proposed tenant of the Olympic stadium - Karen Brady, albeit she doesn't own West Ham United). The Olympic stadium is currently being converted into a football ground

We could probably take the events (albeit the swimmers might have to make do with the Thames) but quite where we're going to get an olympic village and media centre from I don't know? They'd have to give it us tomorrow, (and a lumpy blank cheque too) in order for us to stand a chance. I suppose we could close down the university of east London (or whatever its called) and turn that into an Olympic village?

No one - and I mean not a single person in a place of authority nor body invovled, is remotely discussing this. It's just not an issue. The last time it cropped up was about 6 months ago when we ruled it out. If London is being kept in a state of readiness, then no one seems to be taking the dust sheets off (quiet opposite). I'm not even convicned we'd take it now. The capacity for a national humiliation is greater than being seen to come to the rescue...... mind you, there could be one possibilty. We're just entering the electoral cycle.... Londonm will be a key battleground in what could be a close contest

I can certainly accept that a politcians no is different to the rest of ours if they think there's an electoral dividend in it

[iacas]

ill-informed American journalists?

Go ahead and search for yourself. Plenty of the sources are based in the UK/Europe. And yes, that's all I read of your post. When you lead off with a huge (and incorrect) assumption, I lose interest. It's already low in this thread.

[ilikefishes]

Wow!

[Phil McGleno]

Seems to me if the choice is between hosting in a city capable of a D and a city capable of a C you pick the city capable of a C.-Maybe the C is London or Maybe it is Rio.-I do not know. WIth all I have heard about Rio the OIC would be smart to have backup plan.-Would be weird if the Golf was in London though while the rest was in Rio.-Could happen tho?

[billchao]

Seems to me if the choice is between hosting in a city capable of a D and a city capable of a C you pick the city capable of a C.-Maybe the C is London or Maybe it is Rio.-I do not know.

I think even if Rio is the "D" city, they have to stick with it, because that's the chosen city. I don't think they would relocate unless Rio completely drops the ball. [quote name="Phil McGleno" url="/t/76985/rios-olympic-golf-course-in-turmoil#post_1070334"]WIth all I have heard about Rio the OIC would be smart to have backup plan.-Would be weird if the Golf was in London though while the rest was in Rio.-Could happen tho?[/quote]I would think Plan B would be to use an existing golf course in the area. Another member cited an article saying that there is at least one championship level course there. [Rule] I wanted to point out that, while London did host the 1908 Olympics on short notice, there were 2,000 athletes who competed back then. Over 10,000 athletes competed in the 2012 Olympics and that doesn't include coaches, trainers, families, and fans, etc. The games are much bigger today, which makes moving them on short notice far more difficult.

[boogielicious]

If this keeps up, no city is going to want the Olympics.  Boston is considering it and everyone I know is totally against it.

[ScouseJohnny]

Quote:

Go ahead and search for yourself. Plenty of the sources are based in the UK/Europe.

There was a silly story about this in the [London] Evening Standard a while back: http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/olympic-chiefs-bosses-make-secret-plea-to-use-london-venues-for-the-2016-games-9344084.html

Like a lot of stuff that turns up in that newspaper, it turned out to be bunkum and was quickly refuted: http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/may/09/ioc-olympic-games-2016-host-rio-london

Quote:

IOC says 'totally unfeasible' for London to step in for Rio as 2016 Olympics host

Rio's preparations damned as 'worst ever' but IOC knocks down suggestion London could be last-ditch replacement

A report in the London Evening Standard has claimed that the capital had been secretly sounded out as a last-ditch replacement for Rio, whose preparations were damned as the "worst ever" by an IOC vice-president last month.

But the suggestion was immediately knocked down by the IOC in the strongest terms.

"This is simply a non-starter – totally without foundation and totally unfeasible. Not a shred of truth," said a spokeswoman. Another IOC source said the story was "total rubbish".

Besides, West Ham United will be moving into the Olympic Stadium soon, and, at present, it's basically a construction site by all accounts: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/10127550/One-year-on-the-transformation-of-Londons-Olympic-park.html

[billchao]

New update:

Quote:

SAO PAULO -- A Rio de Janeiro judge on Wednesday denied a request from prosecutors to halt construction of the Olympic golf course because of environmental concerns, curtailing fears that the venue won't be ready in time for test events.

Judge Eduardo Antonio Klausner said in his decision that there is "no new fact justifying ... a halt in the implementation of the golf course for the Olympics."

He said changes made by the city and the course developer partially attended to the prosecutors' demands to protect the local environment.

Sounds like the prosecutors are still going to keep trying, though.

http://www.golf.com/tour-and-news/rio-wins-legal-battle-over-olympic-golf-course?sct=hp2

[newtogolf]

New update:

Sounds like the prosecutors are still going to keep trying, though.

http://www.golf.com/tour-and-news/rio-wins-legal-battle-over-olympic-golf-course?sct=hp2

Someone wants to be paid, until they get paid they will make it difficult for the course to get built.  Same things happen here in the US, just doesn't usually get dragged out in court.

[Spitfisher]

What does that have to do with anything? How does "greed" play a role here? If the country wants to host an event, re-routing three holes now is NOT the way to go about doing it. They've been keeping London on the back burner in case Rio can't pull it off.

[quote name="boogielicious" url="/t/76985/rios-olympic-golf-course-in-turmoil#post_1070070"]You underestimate the greed involved with the Olympics and World Cup.  FIFA made Brazil build 8 soccer stadiums in a country with hundreds of soccer stadiums.  This is just a means to drag more money into the mix. [/quote] I do hope you are joking, or unless you have been living under a rock somewhere, greed, scratching palms, paying off, embezzling, over bidding, favoritism, turning a blind eye, bribes, secret donations, & " charitable contributions" etc are very common place in large multimillion & billion dollar construction projects. RFPs are written to favor some contractors and departments over others etc. now add to the fact that this in a foreign country, one that has some of poorest people in the world living in the outskirts as well as the most affluent. Everyone is looking for a hand out for the Olympic games, we are talking billions afterall in a relatively short and defined window. This is one of the foundations that breeds corruption. As boogielicious pointed out that these large organizations, and all other governmental department all want a piece of the action. Some times these payouts and favoritism are to off set litigation that would slow the project. Many times $$$ is budgeted for these sort of situation. This project started 90 days late of pushing dirt due to " improper permitting" . permits that were issued for heavy equipement to begin, were improper forcing a 90-100 day late start. Guess what corrected the permitting? I am willing to bet the design team did not know the extent of what this course entails to be completed, nor what they really getting into.some of these design firms have more lawyers than actual course designers. The Olympics are nothing new, one only has to remember in this country the Salt Lake City olympics to realise the extent of fraud, embezzling and corruption. The Russian and Chinese venues were also hit with missing target dates and budgets when they hosted.......coincidence???

[iacas]

I do hope you are joking, or unless you have been living under a rock somewhere, greed, scratching palms, paying off, embezzling, over bidding, favoritism, turning a blind eye, bribes,

I think you missed my point. It seems like they're near or at the point where they'll lose the golf altogether, which would result in the opposite result that one typically desires from greed.

[billchao]

Someone wants to be paid, until they get paid they will make it difficult for the course to get built.  Same things happen here in the US, just doesn't usually get dragged out in court.

I thought this originally, but now I'm thinking they're just avid environmentalists down there. It doesn't sound like someone is looking to get paid off, but rather the people fighting the course are seriously upset it was built on part of a nature reserve or something.