In the 64 years since London hosted the 1948 Summer Olympics, the ways in which global athletics are promoted and produced have gone through dramatic changes. The challenge to produce a bigger, flashier Olympics is ever-present.
Consider the following description of the way things were in '48 from a BBC News Magazine article entitled "How to stage the Olympics on a shoestring":
"When London last staged the Olympics in 1948, money was so tight, athletes slept in military huts and leftover food went to local hospitals."