Olympic Games Legacy: From General Benefits to Sustainable Long-Term Legacy

The purpose of this article is to map and contextualise the evolution of the concept of legacy over time using bid and final report documentation from Olympic Games host and candidate cities. As a result of the increased importance of legacy in the modern Olympic movement, many trends have emerged. Examples of modern trends include numerous new legacy themes (e.g. environmental, information, educational); changes in the types of legacy being emphasised (e.g. closer links to city and regional planning initiatives and legacy sustainability), its increasing complexity and interconnectedness found within the typology of legacies, and legacy's overall governance including major influencers and decision makers.