The Cost Overrun Games Olympic Style

Way back in 2009 we were talking about cost overruns for the 2012 Olympic games. The price to build the Olympic Stadium in London was soaring faster than Europe's economy was sinking.

Come to find out, Olympic Games are always over budget. For the past 50 years, overruns have averaged 179 percent. Oxford University researcher and cost overrun expert Bent Flyvbjerg studied Olympic budgets from 1960 to 2012 and found that London's 101 percent budget increase is in line with the Beijing, Barcelona and Montreal games. But overall, the London Games are expected to be the most expensive in history.

Are cost estimates ever right?

Big Stadiums:

• Top Olympic Venues of 2012
• Great Stadiums and Arenas
• Cost of 2012 Olympic Stadium Nearly Doubles (The Guardian, February 5, 2009)

Your Own Building Projects:

• How Much Will Your New Home Cost?
• How to Build Your House on a Budget

^{Source: "London Olympics on track to be 'most costly Games ever,'" University of Oxford website (OxWeb), June 25, 2012 [accessed July 22, 2012]. Press photo of Olympic Stadium ©London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), London 2012.}