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Introduction
The Olympic Games is the world's largest and most complex sporting event to host and manage. Such an endeavor is linked with significant public expenditure, the building of facilities and infrastructure, urban rejuvenation, and revival objectives, which can have favorable or unfavorable lasting consequences for public stakeholders (Horne, 2007). Public stakeholders (e.g., residents, local business owners, and tourists) are some of the numerous stakeholders involved with the Olympic Games. Other stakeholders include the federal, state, or provincial governments, sport and tourism organizations, volunteer organizations, and the Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games. Officials from each host city strive to host the best games possible, envisioning the longevity of positive impacts.
Often, the concept of the Olympic Games' legacy is discussed in bid books of candidate host cities. Bid books include details about the suitability of the city to host the Olympic Games with regard to venues, marketing, sports, finances, human and community resources, as well as the legacy that the event will leave with the city or region. One question that arises upon evaluation of bid books involves the sustainability of legacies over time. In the recent sport and tourism literature, legacy has been defined as "planned and unplanned, positive and negative, intangible and tangible structures created through a sport event that remain after the event" (Gratton & Preuss, 2008, p. 1924). The International Olympic Committee (IOC) hosted a symposium in 2002 about the legacy of the Olympic Games between the years 1984 and 2000. The results of that symposium suggested that more research is needed regarding the planning of such legacies as well as the management of legacy programs. After that symposium, the IOC included a 14th mission statement in its Charter that dictated the need for positive legacies that benefit the quality of life of the host city and country (Chappelet, 2008). Recently, the IOC through its Olympic Studies Center issued a call for research proposals on the role of legacies and legacy management for Olympic host cities. The call for research invited scholars and practitioners to examine the concept of legacy among stakeholders and factors that can contribute to an Olympic city remaining Olympic over time (International Olympic Committee, 2009), in other words, sustaining the connection with the Olympic Games' image...