Dikaia Chatziefstathiou

Developing a physical activity legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games: a policy-led systematic review

Aims: There is no evidence that previous Olympic Games have raised physical activity levels in adult populations. However, it may be premature to assume that this lack of previous evidence for an inherent effect is an indication that there is no potential to proactively harness the Games to generate a physical activity or sport legacy. Given that the political goal of achieving a physical activity legacy had already been set, the policy-led aim of this systematic review was to examine the processes by which the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games might deliver a physical activity (as opposed to sport) legacy. Methods: Searches were conducted on five databases: SPORTS DISCUS, CINAHL, PsychINFO, MEDLINE and Web of Knowledge. Results: There are two key findings: first, that communities that are not positively engaged with hosting the 2012 Games in London are likely to be beyond the reach of any initiatives seeking to harness the Games to develop legacies in any area; second, major events such as London 2012 can, if promoted in the right way, generate a ‘festival effect’ that may have the potential to be harnessed to promote physical activity among the least active. The ‘festival effect’ derives from the promotion of the 2012 Games as a national festival that is bigger than and beyond sport, but that is also rooted in the lives of local and cultural communities, thus creating a strong desire to participate in some way in an event that is both nationally significant and locally or culturally relevant. Conclusions: Physical activity policy makers and professionals should seek to satisfy this desire to participate through providing physical activity (rather than sport) opportunities presented as fun community events or programmes. The key to generating a physical activity legacy among the least active adults through this process is to de-emphasise the sporting element of the 2012 Games and promote the festival element.

Hellenism and Olympism: Pierre de Coubertin and the Greek Challenge to the Early Olympic Movement

The aim of this paper is to examine the deeper processes that contributed to the incorporation of Hellenistic ideals and Anglo-Saxon values into the ideology of Olympism, especially at the end of the nineteenth century. It focuses on Baron Pierre de Coubertins ideas, motives and actions as expressed in his published articles and personal correspondence, principally on the grounds that ‘modern Olympism was conceived’ by him. 1 This commentary draws on a detailed analysis of a sample of 201 texts written by de Coubertin between 1894 and 1937. As evidenced in the documents that were analysed, an eclectic approach to Olympism may be interpreted not simply as a reflection of the admiration of de Coubertin for these sets of values, but rather more significantly as part of his discursive strategy to appeal to and gain the support of the governing body of the IOC and its adherents, as well as to safeguard the games from other influences.

Olympic sponsorship: evolution, challenges and impact on the Olympic Movement

Over the past decade, the Olympic Movement has become increasingly dependent upon financial support provided by corporate sponsors. This study explores the evolution of the Olympic sponsorship programme, presents current and future marketing strategies employed by sponsors, and discusses major challenges within the programme.

Paradoxes and contestations of Olympism in the history of the modern Olympic Movement

The ideology of Olympism has long been criticized for being inherently contradictory, its call for universal ideals and equal opportunities for all people and all nations belied by the exclusionary, elitist and racist nature of its early practices. This article advances a more complex interpretation, namely that the paradoxes to be found in the discourse of Pierre de Coubertin, Carl Diem and other exponents of Olympism and the changes to Olympic practice they initiated reflect the divergent forces and contestations of the geopolitical and social forces and events they faced. For example, while the organization of Regional Games, wherein the ‘colonized’ were given the opportunity to participate and win against the ‘colonizers’, the gradual admission of women into the Olympics and the democratization and popularization of Olympism to the working classes in the interwar period may be seen as strategic responses of the IOC to secure the survival of the movement, they may also be understood as ‘punctuated’ changes necessitated by geopolitical and social events that took place during this period.The ideology of Olympism has long been criticized for being inherently contradictory, its call for universal ideals and equal opportunities for all people and all nations belied by the exclusionary, elitist and racist nature of its early practices. This article advances a more complex interpretation, namely that the paradoxes to be found in the discourse of Pierre de Coubertin, Carl Diem and other exponents of Olympism and the changes to Olympic practice they initiated reflect the divergent forces and contestations of the geopolitical and social forces and events they faced. For example, while the organization of Regional Games, wherein the ‘colonized’ were given the opportunity to participate and win against the ‘colonizers’, the gradual admission of women into the Olympics and the democratization and popularization of Olympism to the working classes in the interwar period may be seen as strategic responses of the IOC to secure the survival of the movement, they may also be understood as ‘punctuated’ cha...

Olympic education and beyond: Olympism and value legacies from the Olympic and Paralympic Games

This article starts with a discussion on the links between Olympism and education as presented in the early years of the modern Olympic Movement and the ideological vision of its founder, Baron Pierre de Coubertin. Questions about whether that vision can remain as an ideological platform for the Olympic and Paralympic Games are debated in the light of the emerging challenges of the contemporary era. The key pedagogical approaches of “Olympic education” are reviewed and are examined in order to consider the different ways in which Olympic value legacies can be achieved in varying contexts.

The History of Marketing an Idea: The Example of Baron Pierre de Coubertin as a Social Marketer

Abstract This article seeks to identify and evaluate how the ideas of the founder of the Olympic movement, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, may reflect the promotion of the set of values encapsulated in the ideology of Olympism as a complex social marketing product, ultimately aiming at micro, group and macro social changes. To this end, his writings, correspondence and speeches were analysed, using the method of Ethnographic Content Analysis (ECA), a variation of the qualitative content analysis. The article concludes that Coubertin may be considered as a social marketer of his times and it may also be claimed that Olympism has been treated as a social marketing product ever since its emergence.

UrbanDig Project: sport practices and artistic interventions for co-creating urban space

Abstract The paper argues that sports and art can compose a common cultural language that operates as a tool for communities to co-create urban space. In particular, we present the research/artistic/community platform ‘UrbanDig Project’, based in Athens, Greece. The platform employs artistic and sport practices as a means to activate and bridge local communities, collect stories, call for participation and action and finally narrate, re-imagine and even re-construct urban space. We choose to discuss certain moments of the platform’s projects, as fruitful examples of its social impact. Within the conceptual framework of the production of space and the sports-art representations, we discuss how sport and artistic practices can intervene in the urban space, map the communities’ aspirations and lead to collective decision-making as an alternative grassroots participatory-planning method.

‘Trust me I am a Football Agent’. The discursive practices of the players’ agents in (un)professional football

Abstract FIFA’s decision to deregulate the industry is perhaps a reflection of the neoliberal influences surrounding the organization to let the agents govern themselves and deal with the wrongdoings of the alleged bribery, exploitation and trafficking of young players. However, it can also be seen as the organization’s inefficiency to maintain the primacy of self-regulation and self-governance in matters such as agents’ global leadership and regulation of practices. This paper, using qualitative data collected from players, agents and managers from professional football leagues in the UK and Ireland, aims to uncover the unethical, extremely complex and deceptive sides of the agents’ industry. Two key issues are unpacked: (i) the alleged (un)ethical behaviour of football agents that provokes so much hostility in the football world; (ii) the power shift(s) from clubs and managers to agents and players and the implications these may have on the ethics of the business practices in football.

Aretism: An Ancient Sports Philosophy for the Modern Sports World, M. Andrew Holowchak and Heather L. Reid

Aretism: An Ancient Sports Philosophy for the Modern Sports World is a valuable book for students and academics interested in the philosophy and history of sport, but can also appeal to all those in sports professions, including coaches, trainers and athletes. The book, apart from offering a comprehensive historical review of the development of sport, presents a thoughtprovoking critique of the two traditional models identified in its history: the martial/commercial (MC) and the aesthetic/recreational (AR), while it further suggests that ‘Aretism’ shall be the idealmodel to be adopted. The authors proclaim that the book came as a result of their own interrogation of the discrepancies between the modern Olympic motto ‘Citius, Altius, Fortius’ (Faster, Higher, Stronger) and the ancient Greek thought, which, among other issues (e.g. gambling, drugs and violence), reinforced their belief that the traditional competitive sport is in need of a considerable reform. The book is structured into fourmain parts. Part 1, ‘Brief History of Competitive Sport’, includes five chapters (Chapters 1–5) which present the historical evolution of competitive sports from its early roots (Sumerian, Greek and Roman) and its development through the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries until its current form of commodification and commercialization. Part 2, ‘The MC Model of Competitive Sport’, comprises six chapters (Chapters 6–11) which start with a listing of the main features of today’s competitive sport and then provide a detailed critique of the failings of it. More specifically, the authors argue that theMCmodel of sport encourages deviant behaviours such as drug use, commitment to performance enhancement at all costs, aggression and violence, exclusion of women, dangerous individualism and obsession with quantification and scores. Thus this naturally leads the reader to the question asked in Part 3, ‘Why Can’t We Just Enjoy Sports?’ In this part, consisting of six chapters (Chapters 12–17), the authors present the counterpart to the MC model, the AR model, which is characterized by the love for fun and play, thus competition is simply a form of play, while rules and others are respected as a precondition of enjoyment. TheARmodel also places an emphasis on the community rather than the individual, as opposed to the MC model, while pleasure, gratification and an appreciation for beauty are greatly valued. In the last chapter of Part 3 (Chapter 17), the aesthetic link between economy and unity is underlined as a suitable cure for the commercially driven sensationalism in competitive sport using vivid examples from traditionally labelled ‘non-aesthetic’ sports such as rowing. Notwithstanding some significant traits attached to the AR model, the authors contend that both models, MC and AR, are too extreme to follow and therefore they suggest an alternative one, the ‘Aretic model’. The last section of this book, Part 4, is perhaps the most fundamental one as it exemplifies the authors’ recommendations for a reform of today’s sport following this new model. The title ‘How Should Sports Be Reformed?’ is rather explicit about the authors’ attempt to offer a different way of living and experiencing sport which they thoroughly

Coubertin: Patronage and Paternalistic Discourses of Olympism (1887–1937)

While discourse on matters Olympic did not begin with Coubertin, for our purposes in reviewing the development of ideas about Olympism, Coubertin and his work represent a compelling start point for evaluating the changing meaning of Olympism from the 1894 Olympic Congress at the Sorbonne up to the present day. In this chapter we identify the implications of Coubertin’s speech and actions for the ways in which Olympism and Olympic sport were conceptualised in late nineteenth-century Europe, as well as in and beyond Europe in the twentieth century (1887–1937). The chapter seeks to examine and understand Coubertin’s shaping of the discourse of Olympism and the interests it promoted as expressed in the founder’s correspondence, publications and personal records. As Coubertin’s conception of Olympism was an outcome of processes which started before the Sorbonne Congress in 1894, we begin by considering the precursors of Olympism (1887–1894). Then we move to discourse around the official establishment of the IOC and the early years of the development of Olympism (1894–1918), and finally we conclude with the years of the expansion of the movement beyond Europe (and Coubertin’s death in 1937).