Olympics-British gold rush silences gripes over cost

* Government says Games will raise more than they cost

* Olympics to provide only fleeting boost to economy

* London enjoys boost to battered image

LONDON, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Britain is counting its medals

rather than adding up the bill after an acclaimed Olympic Games

silenced a debate - for now at least - about whether it was

worth nine billion pounds ($14.2 billion) of public money.

The price was more than double what was forecast when London

was named host seven years ago, never mind the government mantra

that the Games were "delivered on time and under budget".

Prime Minister David Cameron, desperate to revive a

recession-hit economy, has made London 2012 a centrepiece of his

commercial diplomacy to sell UK Plc to visiting business chiefs.

The government says the Games will deliver economic benefits

of 13 billion pounds in coming years - meaning they will more

than pay for themselves - and brushes aside scepticism about the

long-term effects of hosting major sporting events.

Yet away from the Games, the news has been bleak.

The central bank has warned the economy will not grow this

year, the governing coalition partners are at loggerheads and

Standard Chartered has become the latest London bank

caught up in scandal.

Economists say the Games should help Britain's economy to

return to growth fleetingly in the three months to

end-September. Sales of tickets and T-shirts and spending by

Games organisers will provide a short-term boost likely to fade

fast.

After that, it becomes harder to distinguish the Olympic

effect from what is happening in the broader economy.

"We're all having a great time but, similar to most parties,

there's going to be a hangover," said Georgios Kavetsos of the

London School of Economics.

"Mega events, such as the Olympics, do not significantly

increase tangible outcomes such as economic growth, tourism,

employment or wages," he added.

However, he said London might have a positive impact on

British society.

"There is limited evidence on whether they might have

intangible benefits, such as happiness and the promotion of

healthy living."

PROMOTING LONDON

The Games have certainly been a public relations boon for

capital and country, helping to repair the damage done by images

of youths burning and looting in English cities a year ago.

"London has looked very professional and slick on the world

stage," said Sara Parker, London director for the CBI business

lobby group.

"What the last two weeks have done is to show the diversity

of what British business can do."

Britain went through a crisis of confidence just before the

Games began, fearing that transport and security problems could

make it a laughing stock on a global stage.

Those concerns have proved unfounded. The 70,000 Olympic

volunteers ensured all went smoothly and venues in the centre of

London illustrated the city's ancient and modern appeal.

"I was expecting things to be well organised but the warmth

of the people has surprised me," said Manuel Parga, chief

financial officer for the Madrid team bidding to host the

Olympics in 2020.

"I lived in Paris for five years and used to think it was

the real capital of Europe but now it feels like London is the

place."

It is easy to get caught up in the giddy atmosphere in

London, but the Olympics have been a summer sideshow for many.

"The thing about the London games is that everything seems

to have gone well," said Tyson Barker, head of transatlantic

relations at the Bertelsmann foundation in Washington.

"And that means no one is talking about it. If it had been a

fiasco it would be a different matter."

GOLDEN TONIC

Britons now talk of little but sport. The country has

enjoyed its most successful performance at an Olympic Games for

over a century, a tonic during seven lean years of austerity.

The Games have also helped transform what was long a

forgotten and polluted corner of East London.

Stratford, home to the Olympics and one of the poorest parts

of the capital, now boasts Europe's largest urban shopping

centre and excellent transport links to the rest of the capital.

The apartments where the athletes have lived for the past

few weeks will be converted into flats for sale next year.

Athletes will return to the Olympic stadium in 2017 for the

world championships and Britain is also bidding to hold the

world cycling championship in the velodrome in 2016.

Local soccer team West Ham United are the best known of four

potential tenants for the stadium, built at a cost of 430

million pounds, and would give the area a focal point.

Manchester City moved into the stadium built for the 2002

Commonwealth Games and have become Premier League champions

thanks to an infusion of cash from Abu Dhabi.

West Ham's "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" theme tune rang

around the arena in one of the more parochial moments from Danny

Boyle's opening ceremony. That may have pointed the way towards

a viable sporting legacy for the venue.

(Additional reporting by Peter Apps; Editing by Kate Kelland.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/olympics-british-gold-rush-silences-gripes-over-cost-141958565--sector.html

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