'THE NORTH IS A PHENOMENAL PROPOSITION FOR THE OLYMPIC GAMES'
Professor Andy Miah, Chair of Science Communication and Future Media, has been researching the biomedical, cultural, political and media structures of the Olympic Movement since the Olympic Games Sydney 2000. On the announcement of a £7m fund for a full feasibility study on the possibility of a bid for the Olympic games across the north of England, he said:
“The bid for an Olympic Games in the north of England comes at a time when the International Olympic Committee has opened routes into distributed Games proposals. It follows on from a positive legacy to the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, which was the first to test this principle, but also other events like the 2026 Men’s FIFA World Cup, which operated across three nations.
“This proof of principle is both an appealing way to ensure that a Games bid widens the range of stakeholders who can find their way into collaborative bid writing but also makes it possible to reduce the risk and burden of any bid city.
“The north of England is a phenomenal proposition for an Olympic Games destination with a remarkable heritage of athletic success, the UK capital of sports broadcasting in MediaCity - which tells the stories of the Games to the nations - and a pioneering collaboration across the regions which will reinforce the power of devolved power, the importance of the regions to tell their story globally.
“The region is at the heart of the heritage of some of the most compelling stories that are shaping the world, from the origins of artificial intelligence in Greater Manchester to the birth of a nation of workers which reshaped the world. The legacy of the 2002 Commonwealth Games and the breadth of ambitious, new sports events that are coming into the region - with Manchester recently making the Top 10 list of sporting cities worldwide - makes this a compelling vision for the International Olympic Committee to consider as a safe pair of hands with a remarkable heritage in making Olympic memories."
On whether the region has the required transport infrastructure to stage an event of the scale of the Olympic games, Professor Miah added:
“Transport infrastructure could be seen as a weakness with a northern bid, but I don’t see it as a huge issue for a couple of reasons.
“Firstly, bid processes are often a mechanism to kickstart dramatic transformations to infrastructural limitations and transport is one of those key areas where the bid can have that impact. Any eventual Games will be in the 2040s, so there is also plenty of time to get these things figured out.
“The crucial thing the bid needs to focus on is the narrative of the north's heritage in supporting Olympians and delivering world class events, and the 2002 Commonwealth Games investment remains a key pillar of that story. The IOC know that wider areas bidding will have these issues and are prepared to be more flexible with their requirements than in the past. Milan Cortina, host of the 2026 Winter Olympics, was very split across sites and it took a long time to travel between them but was widely seen as a success.
“The north of England won't have anything like those geographical challenges and feels like a very compelling vision for a Games that is more inclusive and more widely supported."
