Historical research on the Olympic Movement is highly valuable as it displays processes of continuity and transformation by which knowledge building processes on the Olympic Movement, its structure and on Olympic sport can be expanded. The Olympic Movement can be addressed from multidisciplinary perspectives, including management, sociology, education, philosophy and history. This comprehensive collection examines the multifaceted profile of the Olympic and Paralympic Movement and presents new insights drawn from a variety of research projects. Historical and political dimensions of the Olympic and Paralympic Movement are addressed, along with educational, ethical, commercial and sociological perspectives. This book was originally published as a special issue of The International Journal of the History of Sport.

There has been an explosion in the quantity of sports history literature published in recent years, making it increasingly difficult to keep abreast of developments. The annual number of publications has increased from around 250 to 1,000 a year over the last decade. This is due in part to the fact that during the late 1980s and 90s, many clubs, leagues and governing bodies of sport have celebrated their centenaries and produced histories to mark this occasion and commemorate their achievements. It is also the result of the growing popularity and realisation of the importance of sport history research within academe. This international bibliography of books, articles, conference proceedings and essays in the English language is a one-stop for the sports historian to know what is new.

An evidence-based scientific understanding of factors determining Olympic winter sports performance, recent changes, the evolution in training content and methods, the improvement in technology as well as the occurrence of injury and illness is required. On one hand, this would provide the opportunity to translate research to practice. On the other hand, to guide the practice of Olympic winter sports with the ultimate goal of improving the performance. Certainly, the continued evolution of Olympic winter sports has contributed to an enormous accumulation of knowledge, evidence, and relevant training technologies. Sports sciences, including physiology, conditioning, nutrition, biomechanics, coaching, psychology, as well as sport technology, history and social sciences, have much to contribute to the preparation of the athletes in the Olympic winter sports. Consequently, this Research Topic sought to provide a platform of contributions to set out a comprehensive framework of the components that should be addressed when developing training plans leading to elite Olympic winter sports performance. Overall, the papers were all directed toward a better understanding of physiological, biomechanical, and training factors related to different Olympic winter sports disciplines: cross-country skiing, alpine skiing, biathlon, Nordic combined, speed skating, snowboarding, and ski-cross.

The Olympics: A Critical Reader represents a unique, critical guide to the definitive sporting mega-event and the wider phenomenon it represents – Olympism. Combining classic texts and thoughtful editorial discussion with challenging new pieces, including previously unseen material, the book systematically addresses the key questions in modern Olympism, including: what does studying Olympism entail? how do historical accounts create and challenge Olympic myths? how do different theoretical perspectives inform our understanding of Olympism? which socio-political processes influence personal, collective and imagined Olympic identities? how do we experience and make sense of Olympism? who owns Olympism and why does it matter? how do cities compete for and celebrate the Olympics? how are the Olympic values promoted? why is it important to protect the ethical principles and properties of Olympism? what are the grounds for contesting Olympism? how can Olympism be taught? how can the principles and practices of Olympism be sustained in the future? Each thematic part has been designed to include a range of views, including background treatment of an issue as well as critical scholarship, to ensure that students develop a well-rounded understanding of the Olympic phenomenon. The Olympics: A Critical Reader is essential reading for students of the Olympics and Olympism, the sociology of sport, sport management and cultural studies.

Argumentation—arriving at conclusions on a topic through a process of logical reasoning that includes debate and persuasion— has in recent years emerged as a central topic of discussion among science educators and researchers. There is now a firm and general belief that fostering argumentation in learning activities can develop students’ critical thinking and reasoning skills, and that dialogic and collaborative inquiries are key precursors to an engagement in scientific argumentation. It is also reckoned that argumentation helps students assimilate knowledge and generate complex meaning. The consensus among educators is that involving students in scientific argumentation must play a critical role in the education process itself. Recent analysis of research trends in science education indicates that argumentation is now the most prevalent research topic in the literature. This book attempts to consolidate contemporary thinking and research on the role of scientific argumentation in education. Perspectives on Scientific Argumentation brings together prominent scholars in the field to share the sum of their knowledge about the place of scientific argumentation in teaching and learning. Chapters explore scientific argumentation as a means of addressing and solving problems in conceptual change, reasoning, knowledge-building and the promotion of scientific literacy. Others interrogate topics such as the importance of language, discursive practice, social interactions and culture in the classroom. The material in this book, which features intervention studies, discourse analyses, classroom-based experiments, anthropological observations, and design-based research, will inform theoretical frameworks and changing pedagogical practices as well as encourage new avenues of research.

This book explores how the Olympic industry has shaped hegemonic concepts of sporting masculinities and femininities for its own profit and image-making ends, examining its continuing marginalization of athletes on account of their race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and class.

Britain and the Olympic Games, 1908-1920 focuses upon the presentation and descriptions of identity that are presented through the depictions of the Olympics in the national press. This book breaks Britain down into its four nations and presents the debates that were present within their national press.

This is the second issue of IARS’ Youth Voice and the first of three to have a special focus on the 2012 Olympics 1. With the games only two years away, it is timely to reflect on the progress made in preparation for the games, its impact on the lives of young Londoners and the legacy they will be handed when the party is over. This reflection is done by young people in London, who tell us whether they think they are getting what was promised when the bid for the games was initially submitted in 2003 and what impact if any the games may have on their lives and that of their peers. The articles take the form of opinion pieces written in an essay style and each focuses on a distinct topic chosen by the young contributors and informed by IARS’ Youth Advisory Group. Table of Contents Articles Akilah Russell (2010) The Impact of the Olympics on community cohesion in East London Cherie Yang (2010) The Economics of the Olympics: What Does It Mean for Young People? Folashade Bello (2010) The Legacy of the Olympics: What Does it Have to Offer Young People? Hanna Woodside (2010) The Branding of the Olympics: A Young Person’s Perspective on the 2012 Potreyal of Britishness Kumal Tukhoo (2010) The Olympic site and the changing built environment: Sustainable choices?

This 2nd edition of a highly successful book (published in 2000) provides a comprehensive, critical analysis of the Olympic Games using a multi-disciplinary social science approach. This revised edition contains much new data relating to the Sydney 2000 Games and their aftermath; and preparations for Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 Games. The book is broad-ranging and independent in its coverage, and includes the use of drugs, sex testing, accusations of power abuse among members of the IOC, the Games as a stage for political protest, media-related controversies, economic costs and benefits of the Games and historical conflicts between organizers and host communities.

In the edited collection Restart: Sport After the Covid-19 Time Out, practitioners and international scholars explore the “restart” of sport and fitness following the initial period of lockdowns during spring 2020. The chapters provide insight into the sport and fitness landscape following the initial wave of the pandemic. The book focuses on challenges for sport providers, consequences for sporting participants, and opportunities for new ways of practicing sports. It contributes contemporaneous data, analyses, and insights into the global sport landscape that has been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. This book presents a variety of interdisciplinary perspectives in a total of nineteen individual chapters, organized around five main themes. The first four chapters deal with the restart of sporting events in four countries. This section is followed by an assessment of the Olympic Movement’s challenges after its postponement of the 2020 Summer Olympic Games to 2021. Chapters in the next theme provide analyses of how national governments handled restarting sport and fitness in different geographical locations. Finally, the last three chapters look at the role of the media during the restart phase, both in reporting sport and with regards to innovations and the implementation of new technology in staging and broadcasting elite sport.