1st Edition

Olympic Aspirations Realised and Unrealised

Edited By J.A. Mangan, Mark Dyreson Copyright 2012
    424 Pages
    by Routledge

    420 Pages
    by Routledge

    Olympic Aspirations: Realised and Unrealised surveys more than a century of the Olympic Movement’s promotion of Olympic ideals internationally. The idea for Olympic Aspirations emerged at the world-renowned annual Beijing Academic Forum just months after the city hosted the impressive 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. One section of the Forum was devoted to the impact of the Olympic Movement on China and on China’s image in the world. The tone at times was too self-congratulatory for some present. The critical discussion that continued into late 2010 inspired this book.

    Olympic Aspirations is a companion volume to the well-received Olympic Legacies: Intended and Unintended and draws on expertise from academics in all parts of the world. Both volumes have a similar purpose: to record Olympic ideals achieved but more importantly, to stimulate reflection on those as yet unachieved. Both are constructive in approach, positive in tone and optimistic in attitude. Olympic Aspirations offers original and insightful arguments that address the actions the Olympic Movement has taken to improve the Games. It argues that these actions are as yet incomplete. In concert with Olympic Legacies, it presents two sides of the same coin minted to advance the purity of the Olympic 'coinage'.

    This book was originally published as a special issue of the International Journal of the History of Sport.

    Prologue: Concerns, Confidence, Caveats J.A. Mangan, Emeritus Professor, University of Strathclyde, UK

    1. Olympic Challenges Helmut Digel, University of Tübingen, Germany

    2. How Green Will My (Lea) Valley Be? Olympic Aspirations: Rhetoric or Reality Peter Horton, The Cairns Institute, James Cook University, Australia and Dwight H. Zakus, Griffith University, Australia

    3. Manly Displays: Exhibitions and the Revival of the Olympic Games Lia Paradis, Slippery Rock University, USA

    4. Planning and Reconversion of Olympic Heritages: The Montreal Olympic Stadium Romain Roult and Sylvain Lefebvre, Université du Québec á Montréal, Canada

    5. Mexico City 1968: Oscillating Aspirations Keith Brewster, University of Newcastle, UK

    6. Post-Sydney 2000 Australia: A Potential Clash of Aspirations Between Recreational and Elite Sport Kristine Toohey, Griffith University, Australia

    7. Athens' Post-Olympic Aspirations and the Extent of their Realization Penelope Kissoudi, Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki, Greece

    8. The Beijing Games, National Identity and Modernization in China Dong Jinxia, Peking University, China

    9. Olympic Aspirations: Reconstructed Images, National Identity and International Integration Ying Yu, Nottingham University, UK

    10. Beijing 2008: Volunteerism in Chinese Culture and its Olympic Interpretation and Influence Juan Zhuang, University of Bedfordshire, UK

    11. The Effect of Beijing 2008 on China's Image in the United States: A Study of US Media and Polls Nafees A. Syed, Harvard University, USA

    12. The ‘Black Auxiliaries’ in American Memories: Sport, Race and Politics in the Construction of Modern Legacies John Gleaves and Mark Dyreson, Pennsylvania State University, USA

    13. Outsiders: Muslim Women and Olympic Games – Barriers and Opportunities Gertrud Pfister, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

    14. ‘Team GB’ and London 2012: The Paradox of National and Global Identities Iain MacRury and Gavin Poynter, London East Research Institute, University of East London, UK

    15. Olympiads as Mega-events and the Pace of Globalization: Beijing 2008 in Context Paul Close, Open University, UK

    16. The Geopolitics of Global Aspiration: Sport Mega-events and Emerging Powers Scarlett Cornelissen, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa

    17. Perspectives of Sport in a Global World Helmut Digel, University of Tübingen, Germany

    Epilogue: Showcases for Global Aspirations: Meditations on the Histories of Olympic Games and World's Fairs Mark Dyreson, Pennsylvania State University, USA

    Biography

    J.A. Mangan is Emeritus Professor, University of Strathclyde, UK, FRHS, FRAI, D. Litt.(Durham) and Founding Editor of the International Journal of the History of Sport and the book series Sport in the Global Society. He is editor of Beijing 2008: Preparing for Glory, Chinese Challenge in the ‘Chinese’ Century (with Dong Jinxia) and Post-Beijing 2008: Geopolitics, Sport and the Pacific Rim (with Fan Hong) and other publications on the Olympics published by Routledge.

    Mark Dyreson is Professor of Kinesiology and History at the Pennsylvania State University, USA, a former president of the North American Society for Sport History, and the author of several books on the history of sport including Crafting Patriotism for Global Domination: America at the Olympics.