Those who know in depth the history of Olympic logistics in all its variables say that it was in Barcelona 92 that for the first time the concept of “The Games at the service of the city” was fully fulfilled; very often, and not only on the occasion of the games, the story ends up cynically being the other way around.
That unforgettable party on Catalan soil left an important legacy in several areas. None more unique than having altered the idea of a city with its back to the sea. Fundamentally, thanks to the Olympic Village, a short walk from the beach, Barcelona finished honoring its inconcealable and enchanting link with the Mediterranean.
Just as in the first post-World War II games (London 1948, those of an austere resurrection), the athletes stayed in barracks of the British armed forces, four years after Barcelona, in Atlanta 96, many of the athletes rested their dream of glory in housing usually intended for university students.
This was, perhaps, the last step backwards in the idea of giving prestige to the athletes’ home over the vast majority of the venues of the different sports. Sometimes it seems that, both for the members of the local Organizing Committee and for the IOC authorities, only the Olympic Stadium and the swimming pool matter as much as the Villa.
In this sense, Sydney 2000 marked the starting point of a logic that went through practically all the successive games, as well as the YOG of Buenos Aires 2018; including what will happen with Paris 2024.
With greater or lesser success, usually with a good deal of conviction, the intention is that the units that constitute the Olympic Village, which usually consist of brand-new apartment buildings, be acquired by residents of the city involved.
It is true that there were some variables in this regard. For example, in Athens 2004 there was the Olympic Village, there were hotels of different levels and even luxury cruise ships where, for example, professional North American basketball players of both genders stayed, supposedly with the intention of protecting them from some unpleasant surprise by Al Qaeda. It is always worthy remembering that these games were the first major international mega-event after the US invasion of Iraq.
In my experience, never before or after has the concept of a Villa (and Olympic Park) serving the city been better reflected than in London 2012. It was the most complete example of a legacy that not only benefited those who live in that area in the east of the British capital, but also gave the neighborhood a vitality it had never had.
So, we already know. Those who want to register to purchase one of the 174 units that are already on sale, of the total that will house 14,500 people accredited for the Olympic Games and more than 9,000 who will do so for the Paralympics, can now get started.
Of course, they should have something like 7500 U$S per square meter for a three-bedroom apartment.
If it seems expensive to you, just remember that nothing can be extremely cheap in charming Paris. Nor in Saint Denis, L’Île de Saint Denis à Saint-Ouen-Sur-Seine, the communes or arrondissements where people work so hard to finish every detail of the Olympic buildings.
In addition, being the final owner of the apartment inaugurated by an Olympic champion is not an everyday matter. Those things that, in some ways, are priceless.
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