While the sporting benefits to Britain are clear, much of Wednesday's elation stemmed from hopes that the Olympic Games will also bring an economic boom to London and the UK.
The main effect of staging the Games in 2012 will be the complete transformation of London's Lower Lea Valley, billed as the largest remaining regeneration opportunity in inner London, running north to south from Stratford to Canary Wharf on the bank of the River Thames.
The area is home to one of the most deprived communities in the UK, with high unemployment and a poor public-health record.
PHOTO: AP
Policy-makers have long talked of the need to enhance the economic productivity of London's East End.
Planning permission has already been obtained to build key Olympic venues there, including an 80,000-seat stadium, a world-class aquatic center, a velodrome and BMX track and a three-arena sports complex.
There will also be an Olympic village to accommodate up to 17,800 athletes and officials. Those properties will be used for public housing once the Games are over.
The effort of bringing the plans to life will affect every sector of the London and UK economy. It is projected that 12,000 permanent jobs will be created in the area of the Olympic park alone, as well as thousands of temporary ones. It is thought that 7,000 jobs, at the very least, will be created in the construction sector.
Thousands of firms involved in manufacturing, catering, merchandising and services should also be able to cash in.
The Olympics has already accelerated projects such as the ?1.25 billion (US$2.17 billion) East London railway line and the extension of the Docklands Light Railway. It has also given added impetus to projects such as the Channel tunnel rail link -- which will serve the Olympics with a high-speed "javelin" service.
Graham Watts of the Construction Industry Council -- who is also manager of the British fencing team -- said: "This is fantastic for the industry but we must keep the momentum going. The biggest problem with other Olympics has been that some of the euphoria is lost between the winning of the Games and when the work started."
He said it was important that the bid team was quickly replaced by an organizing committee.
"Lord Coe's job is done and so is that of Keith Mills. Someone must quickly decide whether these are now the people to deliver the Olympics itself," Watts said.
Watts said firms from all over the world would bid for the construction contracts.
"This will expand the industry but we have already shown that we can successfully recruit from overseas," he said.
The plan is to spread the benefits and the consumer spending. Though many of the venues will be in east London, some events will draw competitors and spectators to places outside the capital.
Competitors will also travel out of London to reach some training facilities.
The Games should also provide a boost for the tourism industry as over half a million visitors head to the UK. Analysts believe Olympics-generated income from tourism in that year could reach ?2 billion.
There are already 100,000 hotel rooms in the capital, more than is necessary, with another 17,000 expected to be built over the next seven years. But the key issue is not so much the number of visitors who attend the Games but the effect on the tourist industry afterwards.
Sydney says its economy was boosted by ?5 billion in the five years after the city hosted the Games in 2000.
In assessing the economic impact of its bid, the London team used Sydney as a comparator. It is said that in New South Wales business won more than A$1 billion (US$745,741) in contracts. The Games are said to have generated A$6.1 billion worth of international publicity for "Brand Australia" and to have attracted an additional 1.6 million visitors.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
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