Reviving the Flame

Nonetheless, framing legacies does not provide the host city with concrete steps to achieve them.
Rather, the term implies that positive outcomes will prevail over negative ones and will naturally arise from
the event. Yet, academics determined that legacies can be positive, tangible, and planned, or not. And
information is missing on the way to leverage these legacies, and when these operations should occur.
Since most works focus on an “ex post, impacts-driven, outcomes oriented approach” based on tangible
aspect (Smith, 2014, p. 18), this research will rather favour an ex ante and analytical tactic, based on
intangible aspects of Sion 2026’s desired legacies and their leveraging strategies. The author will call these
intangible legacies “communities’ legacies”, which regroups themes linked to the society like sport, human
capital, national identity, the environment, and tourism.
This leads our author to set her research goal:
To determine the purposes and legacies Sion 2026 aims to achieve, by evaluating the potential smaller
initiatives and projects bear within an international event (from Mega to human size event) for the
destination, in order to determine in what ways, these leverages can provide a win-win situation between
the destination and the locals.
This goal will be attained by answering the following research question and sub-questions:
What legacies can be leveraged and achieved through a “human size” Olympic Winter Games to
benefit both the destination and local population?
o What legacies and purposes does Sion 2026 aims to achieve? And what domain bare most
interest in this context?
• What initiative and project are needed and/or planned in the region even without the OWG?
o What is meant by “human size” event?
o What leverages are already in place and/or scheduled? When will they be implemented and/or
planned?
o What are the main aspects of communities’ legacies?
• What leverages can foster them?
• What is their potential and added value within the OWG and in the future?
o Who will benefit from these legacies and how?
Literature Review 12