Boston 2024 and the Rio Olympics, By the Numbers
Photograph by iStockphoto
Whether you’ll be watching with a sense of chagrin, schadenfreude, or unbridled joy, there’s no doubt that this month’s Games in Rio will bring back memories of our city’s near miss with the Olympics. By overturning the Boston 2024 bid, did we dodge a bullet, or miss out on our calling as the Athens of America? Let’s run the numbers.
179%
Average cost overrun for the 17 Summer and Winter Games from 1968 through 2012
15
Age at which Boston’s Henry Richardson took bronze at the 1904 Summer Olympics
Average Cost of Hosting the Olympics
By City
Athens 2004
$16 Billion
Beijing 2008
$40 Billion
London 2012
$20 Billion
54
Age at which Bolton native Karen O’Connor competed in the 2012 Olympics, making her the oldest athlete at the London Games
$573 Million
Estimated cost to build a 60,000-seat Olympic stadium in Widett Circle
$345 Million
Estimated amount Boston would have chipped in for the stadium
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35
Hours per week Needham native (and three-time Olympic medalist) Aly Raisman spends training
33
Number of venues proposed to be built as part of the Boston 2024 plan
Percentage of Local Support for Boston 2024
By month, 2015
The Death of a Bid
Boston 2024’s origin and demise.
2006
MassArt undergrad Corey Dinopoulos mocks up a branding campaign for a Boston Summer Olympics
2012
Mayor Tom Menino connects Dinopoulos with Eric Reddy. The pair later form the Boston 2024 exploratory committee
February 2013
Boston is invited by the USOC to explore submitting a bid
January 2015
The USOC announces that Boston will represent the U.S. in its bid for the 2024 Olympics
February 2015
Massachusetts is walloped by two record-breaking snowstorms
May 2015
Boston magazine publishes the bid book, showing financial discrepancies
July 2015
Mayor Marty Walsh pulls support for Boston 2024, and the bid is officially declared dead
Photograph by iStockphoto
480,000
Number of tourists the International Olympic Committee predicts will travel to Rio for the Olympics
