2028 La Olympics Super Early Discussion

[Ms Motts]

LA's great. I think the Olympics will make the city less hospitable. I'd definitely visit for a gymnastics nationals or worlds in SoCal.

My limited experience (Sydney) is that Olympics temporarily (and in some ways permanently, if the city plans well) make a city more hospitable, not less. Everything is optimised so that the city runs as smoothly as it is possible for it to run, and the excited, welcoming vibe is contagious, even to people who are total NIMBY Olympic grinches up until it starts.

I was a public servant at the time, and a lot was done behind the scenes to make the Olympics work. School terms were adjusted so there wouldn’t be anyone on the roads doing the school run/sports run, and my office was close to an official venue, so to make life easier for both us, and the venue-goers, we were offered a choice of redeployment to ‘Olympic Volunteer’ (but at our regular wages) or redeployment to an alternative work site. These days it’d be voluntary work from home I imagine.

 

[MaryClare]

My limited experience (Sydney) is that Olympics temporarily (and in some ways permanently, if the city plans well) make a city more hospitable, not less. Everything is optimised so that the city runs as smoothly as it is possible for it to run, and the excited, welcoming vibe is contagious, even to people who are total NIMBY Olympic grinches up until it starts.

I was a public servant at the time, and a lot was done behind the scenes to make the Olympics work. School terms were adjusted so there wouldn’t be anyone on the roads doing the school run/sports run, and my office was close to an official venue, so to make life easier for both us, and the venue-goers, we were offered a choice of redeployment to ‘Olympic Volunteer’ (but at our regular wages) or redeployment to an alternative work site. These days it’d be voluntary work from home I imagine.

This was exactly my experience too, living in London in 2012. Companies were encouraged to have people work from home, long before it was a “thing”. The atmosphere in the city was amazing and nearly everyone said they wished we could do it again, despite there being a lot of scepticism about the cost and the organisation leading up to the games.

 

[JDB]

You all jumped at the opportunity to brag about how much better you are at hosting than the USA. That's fair. London was a better choice than NYC. And Paris was a better than LA, and way better than Boston.

 

[rlayt]

I hope you are joking. Who are you talking about? Does You all mean people on this board? I don’t remember that claim.

 

[MaryClare]

You all jumped at the opportunity to brag about how much better you are at hosting than the USA. That's fair. London was a better choice than NYC. And Paris was a better than LA, and way better than Boston.

I’m not sure that’s the case at all, but even if it was, what exactly is your issue? Since you appear to agree

 

[JDB]

That post was tongue-in-cheek.

Has anyone seen what event finals cost? I'm curious.

 

[Ms Motts]

My earliest Olympic memory is of the pianos in LA. I don’t remember anything else about those games, but the pianos left a strong impression!

 

[makam]

I just got my email with my time slot: April 17th. So, we'll see what is available. One of my friends also put in for the draw at my urging and she got April 15th. So, guess we'll see. I am willing to splurge on one gymnastics event, or else I need to find who is a sponsor and kiss up for those fancy seats.

 

[RAFIKI]

I didn’t get a time slot this go around. Mixed feelings.

 

[OnoNoKomachi]

I think there won't be a second ticket drop for gymnastics.
The whole process sounds like a massive headache.

 

[makam]

I didn’t get a time slot this go around. Mixed feelings.

Word online is that basically all drop 1 tickets are sold out, so I'll log in to make sure I remember my password, see if there is anything at all, and then hope for a better drop 2 time. If they release more WAG hospitality tickets, I might grab one just so I can say I got to go to gymnastics at the Olympics on my (far in the future) tombstone.

 

[rlayt]

They could probably use volunteers.

 

[makam]

I think you have to commit to a pretty good chunk of time and maybe for both olympics and paralympics. If I weren't on the exact opposite end of the country and had a job I could ghost for a month and a half...

But if anyone here is doing it, let us know, it sounds like it could be really awesome.

 

[JDB]

I discovered the voice actress for Ash Ketchum was a rhythmic gymnast. She didn't like the lottery system either.

All Sarah Natochenny, a voice actress who plays Ash on Pokémon, wanted was tickets to rhythmic gymnastics, a sport she practised growing up, even winning bronze at the 1999 Junior Olympics. “My whole life, it was a distant dream to go and watch the Olympics and see my sport performed at the highest level,” she said.

She got access during the second ticket drop, but they were already sold out. “I really didn’t understand how,” she said. “In the next drop, the public drop, are there going to be more tickets, or is everything gone? And what is going to happen to the prices? The prices are ridiculous.”

‘Highway robbery’: the LA 2028 Olympics ticket lottery was a disaster

Scheme to give Angelenos fair and affordable access to the summer Games is labelled ‘patently offensive’, with eye-watering prices and limited options

www.thetimes.com

 

[MaryClare]

I think you have to commit to a pretty good chunk of time and maybe for both olympics and paralympics. If I weren't on the exact opposite end of the country and had a job I could ghost for a month and a half...

But if anyone here is doing it, let us know, it sounds like it could be really awesome.

Unless LA is doing things differently, Olympic and Paralympic have 2 different sets of volunteers