It's probably unfair to blame the Olympics. In Australia, a former water polo champion, Keri Lane, is accused of murdering a new born baby because she wanted to compete in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Almost as alarming is Peter Keen, Director of Performance at UK Sport, who puts sport up there with 'economic domination' and 'warfare'. In an interview with the Guardian he said: 'Short of economic domination and warfare, I'm not sure what else makes sense of our national identity...'

'There appears to be little evidence of any benefit to tourism of hosting an Olympic Games, and considerable evidence of damage.' Findings of the European Tour Operators Association 2006 Report and Updates from 2008 and 2009.

The Olympics project is large and complex. It is not easy to quickly grasp the nature of its probable impacts on the Lower Lea Valley and London. Here is a collection of four useful papers which together give a relatively short description of some of the significant impacts.

Helen Jefferson Lenskyj, 2002, SUNY, ISBN pbk 0 7914 5473 8.