ADVERTISEMENT

Step by step, jump by jump, the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games are coming to an end. In just a couple of days, the athletes will abandon their 'anti-sex' cardboard beds and return to their normal regime. If we consider tirelessly maxing out your human capabilities normal, that is.

So, we at Bored Panda decided it's the perfect time to put together a new list of memes that sum up this amazing spectacle. Continue scrolling to check out the pictures and catch up on the series here.

In 2013, when it bid for the 2020 Summer Games, Tokyo estimated it would spend $7.3 billion. However, by summer 2020, an Oxford economist told the Associated Press that Tokyo’s costs had already more than doubled to $15.84 billion and became the most expensive Summer Games on record. Local organizers have disputed that number but they admitted in December 2019 that costs had risen to $12.6 billion.

Competing estimates from a national audit board and national newspaper are even higher, saying it could be nearly $30 billion.

Of course, these Olympics are special. The city had to postpone the Games for a year after Covid-19 made hosting the international event impossible, and to top it all off, the city won’t receive the tourism boom that usually accompanies the event.

ADVERTISEMENT

But a 2020 paper by Oxford economist Bent Flyvbjerg discovered an interesting fact: "every Olympics since 1960 has run over budget, at an average of 172 percent in real terms, the highest overrun on record for any type of megaproject."

In other words, there might be something wrong with the Olympics bidding process as a whole.

ADVERTISEMENT

As Vox pointed out, some of the supposed benefits of hosting the Olympics have come under scrutiny by locals and economists alike. Economists Victor Matheson and Robert Baade outlined the potential benefits as "the short-run benefits of tourist spending during the Games; the long-run benefits of the ‘Olympic legacy’ which might include improvements in infrastructure and increased trade, foreign investment or tourism after the Games; and intangible benefits such as the ‘feel-good effect’ or civic pride."

The Games can also provide a brief employment benefit and stimulative effect. But it's not as significant as we might think: "Overwhelmingly, the studies show actual economic impacts that are either near-zero or a fraction of that predicted prior to the event," Matheson and Baade write.

ADVERTISEMENT
#11

Imagine Thinking You Could Be Simone "The Goat" Biles

telushk Report

Add photo comments
POST
samuelchen avatar
*me*
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Continue working on my mental health and work up to doing gymnastics again

bl4ket4ylor avatar
Blarrg
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The most upvoted comment is someone saying what they would do. But isn't the point that it doesn't matter what anyone else would decide to do? Even if they happen to agree with what she did?

Load More Replies...
paolamartz avatar
Paola Martz
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I can't understand why so many people feel like Simon Biles owes them anything! She's doing it for herself, and if she's not feeling like doing it, it's nobody else's business.

tjr avatar
T J R
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

As I have said to me kids forever: "Whose business should you be minding?" Answer: "Mine"

Load More Replies...
skapon avatar
Sharon Kapon
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I wouldn’t quit, cause you gotta fight, and the show must go on

jofalkinder avatar
Jo Falkinder
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This actually had nothing to do with mental health. She takes Ritalin for ADHD, but its banned in Japan because its performance enhancing. Even with a therapeutic usage exemption of 2.16g, it wasn't enough so she was literally withdrawing... This has been made publicly available in news stories and releases by Team USA before anyone starts accusing me of being a crazy lol

florapolvado_1 avatar
Catlady6000
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

So exactly which part of that has nothing to do with mental health? How well did you cope when you had to withdraw from a medication that you were taking for YOUR MENTAL HEALTH? Which, BTW, your comment is the first I've heard this story

Load More Replies...
View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu

Pacific University professor Jules Boykoff criticized the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for running itself like a "profit-gobbling cartel."

"For too long, the IOC has claimed that the city doesn’t have to build new infrastructure, that it’s the city’s decision. Of course, host cities have to build new venues if they actually want to host the Games. Whitewater kayak venues don’t grow on trees," Boykoff wrote in a 2017 Los Angeles Times column. "In truth, the IOC chips in for operating costs by essentially laundering money from its lucrative corporate sponsorships and television rights deals. That’s all well and good, but it’s time the organization stepped up and contributed to infrastructure costs as well."

As the Tokyo Olympics plays out in virtually empty stadiums, the IOC will continue raking in profits but it's the Japanese people who will have to pay the bill.

ADVERTISEMENT
#15

OoCPokemon Report

#16

And This Person Who Tried To Mansplain An Olympic Sport To An Olympian

Superchair14 Report

Add photo comments
POST
thamarbakker avatar
Myrkur
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Besides, aren't they supposed to hold those guns with just one hand? Not sure but I thought I saw some comments about it

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#19

So Proud Of These Tweens!

hunter_mufc Report

#21

sarahussein Report

#22

zross12 Report

#23

Gotta Love Dads

simoncholland Report

Add photo comments
POST
thamarbakker avatar
Myrkur
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Honestly, I love it when my dad talks about stuff that happened on the Olympics. I don't really care about sports, but it's fun to listen to someone who is enthusiastic about it

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
See Also on Bored Panda
#25

Kid Just Won First Place In The Olympic Archery

arti-dokuz Report

Add photo comments
POST
samuelchen avatar
*me*
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have a strong feeling this will become a famous meme, the template, I mean

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#27

OfficeMemes_ Report

Add photo comments
POST
jdmohier avatar
Jean-Daniel Mohier
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Reminds me of one time I was in a café in Paris next to a guy reading a book on how to learn swimming. I don't understand why these books exist

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#28

Tokyo-2020-Olympics-Funny-Reactions

Olympics Report

Add photo comments
POST
camlynn1234 avatar
Miss Frankfurter
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The runners who are behind him crossing the finish line! In the 200m this Olympics he beat Usain Bolt's speed for that distance. And really the only reason Bolt won the 100m was because he is taller and could lean forward further. Ya, gonna get down voted on that one. But he's our guy! 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#29

All That Preparation For Nothing

invalid.memories Report

Add photo comments
POST
mjw0sysascend_com avatar
lara
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I think that's unfair, just start over. The atmosphere is so intense, they aren't trying to cheat, they are just wound up tight.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu