Even as the world bid farewell to the Tokyo Olympics this past weekend pundits agree that the Tokyo 2020 games will go down as the most expensive Olympics in history.
When Tokyo was awarded the Olympics back in 2013, the bid committee projected total costs of Ksh.795 billion (US$.7.3 billion), a figure that was revised upwards to Ksh.2.6 trillion (US$.12.6 billion) in December 2019, ahead of the postponement.
Japan’s National Audit Board then reported that the final cost would be substantially higher at Ksh.3 trillion (US$.28 billion) a figure which is Ksh.1.7 trillion (US$.16 billion) more than the cost of the Pyeongchang winter games that was held in 2018.
The event was supposed to take place between July 24 and August 09, 2020, but it was postponed in March of last year due to the pandemic.
According to Forbes, it is estimated the 2020 postponement alone cost Japan Ksh.304.9 billion (US$.2.8 billion), two-thirds of which was paid with public funding.
In December last year, the organizers of the Tokyo Olympics announced that the cost of the games had increased by 22 percent from the initial estimated cost.
The extra increase the organizers said had come from the expenses of renegotiating contracts due to the postponement of the games and sustained measures to combat the COVID -19 Pandemic.
But just how much does the cost of this year’s Olympics compare to other previous competitions?
It cost the organizers of the Rio Olympics an estimated Ksh.1.4 trillion (US$.13.7billion) unlike the Winter games in Sochi Russia which cost Ksh.2.3 trillion (US$.21.9 billion).
The cost of the London Olympics was put at Ksh.1.6 trillion (US$.15 billion) and Beijing Olympics cost Ksh.741 billion (US$.6.8 billion) while the Turin Winter games held in Piedmont Italy cost Ksh.479.3 billion (US$.4.4 billion).
Vancouver games and the Athens games held in 2010 and 2004 respectively have been cited as the least expensive games at Ksh.272.3 billion (US$.2.5 billion) and Ksh.315.9 billion (US$.2.9 billion) respectively.
Tokyo Olympics games were concluded on August 8 and focus now shifts to the 2024 Olympics which is slated be held in Paris, France.
This will be the sixth time that France will be hosting the Olympic Games having hosted two summer games in Paris previously in 1900 and 1924.
The 2024 Paris Olympics is likely to cost more than the just concluded Tokyo Olympics because there is always pressure and need to upstage the quality of the Olympic games, but it could also cost less.
