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THE INVASION
Athletes expected: 10,300
Members of Olympic committees: 260,000
Journalists: 21,000
Domestic visitors to the Games: 74,000
International visitors: 110,000
THE COSTS
Upgrading Sydney airport: $360 million
Upgrading rail link to airport: $900 million
Stadium Australia: $650 million
Operating costs for Sydney organizing committee: $2.5 billion
Olympic facilities in New South Wales: $2.3 billion
Number of condoms issued to athletes: 100,000
Number of daily meals served in athletes’ main dining hall: 60,000
Nightly tab for Regent Hotel suite for IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch: $4,000 (U.S.)
Number of imported Indonesian housekeepers accommodated per single room: 10
Seating capacity of McDonald’s largest restaurant at Olympic Park: 5,000
Number of lawyers policing ads to ensure that only official Olympic brands are displayed: 60
Australian government guest tab for tickets and corporate boxes: $850,000
THE FALLOUT
Percentage of Sydney residents subject to unchecked rent increases before and during the Games: 31
Percentage average increase in rents for two-bedroom flat in Homebush (near Olympic stadium) during the first three months of 2000: 24
Number of inquiries to Homeless Person Info Centre in 1995: 14,000
Number of inquiries in 2000: 28,000
Rents in Sydney compared to Melbourne: 40 per cent higher
Normal annual increase in Sydney house prices: 2 per cent above inflation
Increase in Sydney house prices in 1998 alone: 7 per cent above inflation
Percentage of inner-city South Sydney boarding houses converted into “backpacker” accommodation for tourists: 76
Expected increase in restaurant prices during Games: 30 per cent
Normal vs. Olympic price of a mug of beer: $3.30 vs. $4.50-$4.80
Normal vs. Olympic price of french fries: $2.20 vs. $3.50-$4
Number of expected passenger trips on Cityrail during Games: 34 million
Normal number of trips on Cityrail during the same time period: 14 million
Number of Olympic merchandising items designed to comply with the Olympic environmental guidelines: 0
Percentage of Coca-Cola drinks at the Olympics cooled using safer Greenfreeze hydrocarbon tech: 6
Percentage of McDonald’s restaurants using safer Greenfreeze hydrocarbon tech at the Games: 0
All figures in Australian dollars except where noted (one Australian dollar = .82 Canadian dollars).
