The tab starts at more than $10 billion and often winds up being much, much higher. The predominant legacy is white elephants. The infrastructure improvements often wind up looking better on paper than in reality.
No wonder the Olympics are fast becoming an undertaking only an autocrat can love.
In a scathing report issued Monday, a federal prosecutor in Brazil said the country’s bid for last summer’s Rio Olympics was made with “no planning.” This will come as no surprise to anyone who has followed the International Olympic Committee and its never-ending search for the best party.