London 2012 Olympic legacy events generate £130m

New report from UK Sport reveals economic impact of 25 National Lottery and taxpayer-funded events as well as spectator numbers

London 2012 Olympic Games legacy events
The 2017 IAAF World Athletics Championships and IPC Para Athletics World Championships were a huge success for London
(Image credit: Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)

The multi-million pound legacy of the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics has just been revealed. More than £130m has been generated in the capital and a total of 1.3 million spectators have attended major events there since the summer games six years ago.

In August last year, the IAAF event created an economic impact of £79m alone and attracted 705,000 spectators. The IPC Para Athletics World Championships in July had an impact of £28m and attracted 305,000 spectators.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Esther Britten, UK Sport’s head of major events, said: “Six years on from London 2012, it is fantastic to demonstrate such a strong major events legacy from the Olympic and Paralympic Games and our work in this area has significantly enhanced our international reputation.

“The significant economic impact comes on top of the benefits athletes receive when competing on home soil, in addition to the phenomenal opportunities spectators and volunteers enjoy when experiencing live sport.

“Every London 2012 venue has hosted world-class competition since the Games, while they have also been open to the general public, allowing people of all ages to use the same arenas as their inspirational Olympic and Paralympic heroes.”

Major events since the London 2012 Olympics

According to the UK Sport report, since London 2012 a total of 25 events has generated an economic impact of £133,929,924 and attracted 1,364,992 spectators.

Women’s Hockey World League

  • When: June 2013
  • Number of spectators: 10,700

Pruhealth Triathlon World Grand Final

  • When: 11-15 September 2013
  • Economic impact: £6,780,000
  • Number of spectators: 28,433

FINA.NVC Diving World Series

  • When: 25-27 April 2014
  • Economic impact: £142,000
  • Number of spectators: 5,863

Pruhealth World Triathlon

  • When: 31 May-1 June 2014
  • Economic impact: £1,410,000
  • Number of spectators: 27,500

ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup

  • When: 6-8 June 2014
  • Economic impact: £493,421
  • Number of spectators: 5,000

NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters

  • When: 26-30 November 2014
  • Economic impact: £168,592
  • Number of spectators: 2,718

UCI Track Cycling World Cup

  • When: 5-7 December 2014
  • Economic impact: £1,108,371
  • Number of spectators: 22,073

World Series of Boxing

  • When: February-April 2015
  • Economic impact: £600,000
  • Number of spectators: 6,250

Diving World Series

  • When: 1-3 May 2015
  • Economic impact: £150,000
  • Number of spectators: 9,765

Vitality World Triathlon London

  • When: 30-31 May 2015
  • Economic impact: £980,000
  • Number of spectators: 25,000

Unibet EuroHockey

  • When: 21-30 August 2015
  • Economic impact: £2,430,000
  • Number of spectators: 46,204

ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships

  • When: 16-20 September 2015
  • Economic impact: £1,280,000
  • Number of spectators: 8,060

BT World Wheelchair Rugby Challenge

  • When: 12-16 October 2015
  • Economic impact: £176,000
  • Number of spectators: 7,000

NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters

  • When: 2-6 December 2015
  • Economic impact: £338,000
  • Number of spectators: 3,193

World Series of Boxing York

  • When: January-May 2016
  • Number of spectators: 1,790

UCI Track Cycling World Championships

  • When: 2-6 March 2016
  • Economic impact: £3,220,000
  • Number of spectators: 52,450

LEN European Aquatics Championships

  • When: 9-22 May 2016
  • Economic impact: £4,740,000
  • Number of spectators: 26,034

Hockey Champions Trophy

  • When: 10-26 June 2016
  • Number of spectators: 35,935

Boxing World Series

  • When: March 2017
  • Economic impact: £533,540
  • Number of spectators: 3,005

FIG Gymnastics World Cup

  • When: 8 April 2017
  • Economic impact: £280,000
  • Number of spectators: 17,267

FIH Men’s World League

  • When: 15-25 June 2017
  • Economic impact: £1.2m
  • Number of spectators: 9,299

IPC Para Athletics World Championships

  • When: 14-23 July 2017
  • Economic impact: £28m
  • Number of spectators: 305,000

IAAF Athletics World Championships

  • When: 4-13 August 2017
  • Economic impact: £79m
  • Number of spectators: 705,000

World Para Taekwondo Championships and World Taekwondo GP

  • When: 19-22 October 2017
  • Economic impact: £900,000
  • Number of spectators: 1,453
Explore More