The Olympics Effect

9. Athens, Greece, Summer 2004: The Comeback Olympics

Going for gold: Based on the success of the first modern Olympics — held in Greece in 1896 not far from where the ancients first drew crowds by showcasing their athletic prowess naked — it had long seemed right that Athens again be allowed to host the Games. But the Greeks have such a reputation for not getting things done on time (the Corinth Canal, begun in the sixth century B.C., was not completed until 1893) that the International Olympic Committee waited until 2004 before taking a chance on returning to Greek soil. Most unsettling for doubters, 2004 was the first Summer Games following 9/11, and putting the security in place on time was a primary concern. (Of the $14 billion Athens spent, $1.5 billion went toward security.) To the world's surprise, Athens pulled it all off, and made the city a better place for locals and visitors.

Tourism legacy: The gossamer-winged roof of the Athens Stadium by Santiago Calatrava got lots of attention, but the real showpiece was the city's greatly expanded subway system, with many of its stops literally underground museums. The Games also helped usher in a still-expanding era of boutique hotels, and contributed to the development of newly gentrified areas such as Psirri and Gazi.

Results: Silver. All that talk about not being ready for the games? It was the labor unions, positioning themselves for overtime pay.

10. Lillehammer, Norway, Winter 1994: The Tiny Olympics

Going for gold: Never mind that its ice-hockey arena was in a cave. Even without the help of Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan, who both skated there, Lillehammer would have gotten considerable international press. Its setting was spectacular. Its hospitality was first-rate. But the world recognized too late that with a population of only 23,000, it was just too small to hold such a major event.

Tourism legacy: In the beginning, visitor numbers after the Games were up, but keeping them that way was the difficult part. Within a few years, 40 percent of the hotels in Lillehammer had gone bankrupt.

Results: Silver. Although Lillehammer put on a good show, it is unlikely that the IOC will ever again award the Games to such a small town. That did not, however, stop a village in Andorra with a population of 22,000 and another in Spain with a population of 11,000 from bidding for the 2010 Winter Games — which went to Vancouver, population of almost half a million.

11. Los Angeles, Summer 1984: The Cheap Olympics

Going for gold: No Olympics has left less of a mark on a city than the 1984 Summer Games. Yet oddly enough, they were the first since 1932 to make a profit, of $225 million. Or perhaps it is not so odd when you consider the financially disastrous 1976 Games in Montreal, which it took the Canadians 40 years to pay for, and the politically disastrous 1980 Games in Moscow, which the United States boycotted. No city other than L.A. had any interest in hosting the Games in 1984 (with the weird exception, and only very briefly, of Tehran). But rather than spend public money, most events were held in venues that already existed (something possible only in a very big city), and we showed those Commies by raising needed funds in the American way, through commercial sponsorship.

Tourism legacy: Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX did happen to open in 1984, but when the Olympics left town, about the only vestiges of the Games were the 7-Eleven Olympic Velodrome and the McDonald's Olympic Swim Stadium.

Results: Bronze. Democracy prevailed, and the television show "The Simpsons," which spoofed the McDonald's connection, got a good episode out of it.

12. Montreal, Summer 1976: The Late Olympics

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Going for gold: Some time before the 1976 Games, the city's mayor famously said, "The Montreal Olympics can no more have a deficit than a man can have a baby." As it turned out, he was wrong, and most spectacularly so. Thanks in large part to its stadium, which, to give it its due, is among the most architecturally ambitious of Olympic stadium designs, the debt for those games got so out of hand (about $1 billion) that it wasn't paid off, at public expense, until three decades later. By that point, the stadium had earned the nickname, "The Big Owe."

Tourism legacy: The stadium, which was not finished in time for the Games, and in fact wasn't completed until 1987, is still standing, although used only occasionally. But the general consensus is that Montreal's biggest legacy was to scare off for years to come any other city but Moscow and L.A. from wanting to host a summer Olympics.

Results: Did not finish. As further evidence that the Canadians had no business hosting that year, they became the first host nation of a Summer Games not to win a single gold medal.

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