Hosting the Olympic Games has become a unique occasion to implement several projects aimed at upgrading public infrastructure and improving the economic performance of the host city. Thus, some cities are so determined to host the Olympics that they decide to bid multiple times. One of the examples of such a city is Paris, which since the 2000s has submitted its bids three times, for 2008, 2012, and 2024, of which the last attempt turned out to be successful. Based on the above, the main aim of this article is to present the trajectory of changes and developments made by the three successive bid attempts, with an emphasis on the latest successful campaign. This study demonstrates that there are some recurrent ideas, projects, and plans shared by each bid with some modifications to emphasize their uniqueness, novelty, and up-to-date approach. In some aspects, the Paris 2024 bid builds on its previous candidature from 2012 in the field of long-term legacy effects and sustainability. Therefore, there is a consistent action taken by the bid managers and city authorities in terms of using the Olympic Games as a tool for urban regeneration and sports development.

The highly competitive global environment reinforces the trend to seek new investment opportunities that have various impacts on the local economy, and staging the Olympic Games is seen as one such example. The 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London have been widely discussed and investigated due to the very ambitious plans for socioeconomic and infrastructural development prompted by the Olympic legacy framework. Based on these observations, there are two main aims of this article. The first one is to evaluate London’s post-event legacy based on a literature review. The second research goal is to assess London’s economic performance compared with reference groups of global cities by using selected economic indicators. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were applied in this research, such as a critical literature review, a series of figures and tables with economic indicators and descriptive statistics. Based on the literature review and the author’s own elaborations, it can be concluded that the Olympic legacy framework and the Games themselves fostered economic and urban development, especially in East London. However, positive impacts and legacies were intermingled with several adverse effects. In turn, a comparative analysis of economic performance between London as the host city and reference groups of global cities demonstrates that, in the adopted time intervals, the dynamics of changes in applied economic indicators is relatively quite similar in groups of European, North American and Australian cities. In contrast, Asian cities, as one reference group, outperformed London and other global cities for the vast majority of the adopted time span.

The Olympic Games are considered to be the most important sports event in the world. In spite of the sports’ dimension of the Olympics, there are many other aspects which should be taken into consideration when thinking about the Olympics. These refer to economic, political, organisational and social fields. An appropriate budget, organisational structure, sports and non-sports infrastructure are just a few of the necessary issues. The major aim of this article is to present the spectrum of cooperation between the public and private sector during the Athens 2004 and London 2012 Olympic Games, the economic effectiveness of the Olympics in both cities and the realisation of the Olympic Legacy focused on post-game infrastructure and other facilities and areas of a socio-economic reality. The results of this study reveal that only a host city where an appropriate organisational structure, net of stakeholders, budget and strategy for Olympic infrastructure are established, is capable of drawing potential benefits from The Olympic Legacy.

The article reviews the literature on the social challenges of modern sport. Particular attention was focused on the links between sport and ecology and the problems of sport promotion among children, women and the elderly. The problem of abuse of children and animals in traditional sporting events was also presented. The article ends with a presentation of the phenomenon of sharing economy in relation to sport and Olympic Games.Resumo -O artigo revisa a literatura sobre os desafios sociais do esporte moderno. Particular atenção foi voltada para as relações entre esporte e ecologia e os problemas de promoção do esporte entre crianças, mulheres e idosos. O problema do abuso de crianças e animais em eventos esportivos tradicionais também foi apresentado. O artigo termina com uma apresentação do fenômeno do compartilhamento da economia em relação ao esporte e aos Jogos Olímpicos.Palavras-chave: Gestão de esporte; Ecologia do esporte; Esporte e cultura; Sustentabilidade no esporte; Economia compartilhada no esporte; Jogos Olímpicos; Legado Olímpico compartilhado; Abuso de crianças no esporte; Abuso de animais no esporte. RESPONSABILIDAD SOCIAL Y DESAFÍOS DE LA GESTIÓN DEPORTIVA EN EL SIGLO XXI. ECOLOGÍA, SOSTENIBILIDAD, CONTROVERSIA CULTURAL Y ECONOMÍA COMPARTIDA EN EL DEPORTEResumen -El artículo revisa la literatura sobre los desafíos sociales del deporte moderno. Se prestó especial atención a la relación entre el deporte y la ecología y los problemas de promoción deportiva entre niños, mujeres y ancianos. También se presentó el problema del abuso infantil y animal en los eventos deportivos tradicionales. El artículo termina con una presentación del fenómeno de compartir la economía en relación con el deporte y los Juegos Olímpicos.Palabras-clave: Gestión deportiva; Ecología del deporte; Deporte y cultura; Sostenibilidad en el deporte; Economía compartida en el deporte; Juegos Olímpicos; Legado olímpico compartido; Abuso de niños en el deporte; Maltrato animal en el deporte.Malchrowicz-Mośko E, Jastrząbek J, Contiero D, Tsordia C, Rosina D. Social responsibility and challenges of sport management in the 21st century: Ecology, sustainability, cultural controversies and sharing economy in sport.