The Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism NetworkThe Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Network

6th Annual Conference17-18 September 2007 Missenden Abbey

Promoting Olympism: The Role of AcademiaPromoting Olympism: The Role of Academia

Dr Vassil Girginov, Brunel UniversityDr Jim Parry, Leeds University

Promoting Olympism: The Role of Academia

Aim: To Consider the role of the

academia in the UK in promoting Olympism by offering an ethical and process oriented approach

Structure of presentation:

London 2012 promotional strategy for Olympism

Lessons from past Games An ethical and process oriented

approach to promoting Olympism

London 2012 promotional strategy for Olympism

“The vision of the London 2012 Olympics is to stage inspirational Games that capture the imagination of young people around the world and leave a lasting legacy” Seb Coe, 2007

FuturePast

A successful promotion of Olympism can only be achieved by adopting a longitudinal, interdisciplinary and historic approach to understanding the processes which contribute to its sustainability in 21st century.

The Olympic values

Excellence

Friendship

Respect

(Mass, 2007, Olympic Review)

• Tolerance

• Generosity

• Solidarity

• Friendship

• Non-discrimination

• Respect for others

(Samaranch, 1995, Olympic Review)

WITHOUT going into too many details, it may be useful for the Benefit of future meetings to sketch the outlines of the more

important parts of the work undertaken by the British Olympic Council in

organising The Games of 1908 in London.

(London 1908 Games Report, p.373)

MANY suggestions have been made for providing the large sum of money

necessary to carry out adequately any celebration of the Olympic Games

in modern times…. Different nations have naturally solvedthe problem in different ways ; but in England we have hitherto beendeprived of one form of assistance which is common, I believe, to the

restof the world ; for we never have been able to count upon any Financial contribution from the public funds through the channels of Official Administration nor have we been able to avail ourselves of the patronage of the Government in raising money, by any officially-

supported scheme, for these objects.

(London 1948 Games Report, p.388)

Lessons from the 2000 Sydney Games

28 Higher institutions in Australia polled 17 questionnaires sent 25 Institutions responded (8 Sydney, 6 NSW and ACT, 11

Interstate) Sydney-based institutions benefited more significantly than

regional universities Good staff involvement 10,000 students in total were involved Virtually no educational innovations “Did the Olympics lead to a greater collaboration between

faculties?” – A resounding “NO”

Olympic goal of ‘bringing people together’ was not fully realised “Were the aims of the Olympic movement met?” – 3- Yes; 18 –

NO

Source: Cashman and Toohey, 2002

The Olympic project and Academia

From 1908 to Games Knowledge Production From 1948 ‘No’ to a heavy Governmental support From excellence, equality, education, peace, international

understanding to excellence, friendship and respect. 1998 – IOC – Knowledge Transfer Programme 2000 – Sydney report HE sector and the Games 2008 – First comprehensive Olympic Games Impact

Issues for the academia: Focus on processes of knowledge production Understanding the role of the state and other agencies in staging and

promoting Olympics Understanding the learning legacy of the Games

Who learns what, how, when and to what effect?