(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-01-31 07:28

The benefits derived after the conclusion of certain games may be more important than the games themselves, says an article in People's Daily. The following is an excerpt:

The National Winter Games ended in Qiqihar recently, and organizers and participants will now take stock of their experiences. But do we really understand why we should do this?

Our country has held quite a number of nationwide games. Every time we do so, we say the games will propel the development of sports and boost the local economies of the regions. But in fact, we seldom take full advantage of the games. It seems that few local governments carefully evaluate what they have achieved through their games.

The staging of large games involve huge financial and human resources, local government must consider whether they are justified.

Qiqihar, the host of the National Winter Games, is an economically backward city, still trying to catch up with other cities. But people there took hosting of the winter games as an opportunity to revitalize the rust belt in the northeastern part of China.

Many schools required students to write essays on the games, and the games sparked the enthusiasm of residents to do more exercise.

We should not evaluate the games on the tally of medals won, but whether it has contributed to urban reconstruction and management, and provided sustainable growth opportunities for the local economy.

We would probably find that post-game factors are more important than the games themselves in terms of the benefits they bring to the host city.

(China Daily 01/31/2008 page8)