Volume 6, Number 2, Spring 2025
Table of Contents:
Articles
The Role of Sport Involvement on Residents’ Evaluation of Youth Olympic Games Benefits, Quality of Life and Event Support.
Kyriaki Kaplanidou, Inje Cho, Dikaia Chatziefstathiou, and Chris Ma
Abstract:
The study aimed to examine how host city residents’ sport involvement influences certain psychological concepts such as involvement with mega events, evaluation of event benefits, community quality of life (CQoL), and ultimately event support. Data was collected from an online resident panel from the two host cities of the 2016 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) using a web survey with 294 subjects. Structural Equation Modeling was used to test the study’s six hypotheses. The results supported the proposed model indicating the influential role of sport involvement on the psychological involvement with YOG, which subsequently positively influenced the evaluation of the YOG benefits, which in turn increased residents’ CQoL and event support. YOG involvement fully mediated the relationship between general sport involvement and YOG benefits. The findings contribute to involvement and social exchange theories by shedding light to the variables that enhance mega event resident support and quality of life.
Keywords: sport involvement, Youth Olympic Games, community quality of life, event support, legacies, impacts
Sport on Display: Robert Graham, the Olympic Gateway, and Artistic Legacy in Los Angeles
Ashley Loup
Abstract:
The Olympic Gateway acted as the centerpiece of the Olympic Arts Festival and as an enduring legacy of the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. The artwork was created by sculptor Robert Graham and stands nearly twenty-five feet tall with two headless nude figures atop the structure. The Gateway was, at its most uncomplicated, a public monument. However, it was also meant to exist in the refined space of the art world, ultimately legitimizing Los Angeles as a global city that produced and celebrated fine art. The Gateway straddled the line between low and high culture. Sport has long been considered part of mass culture and art has been viewed as insular and belonging to a more refined subset of culture. In many ways, the monument acted as a gateway between the worlds of sport and art and between the worlds of the viewing public and the art critic.
Keywords:
Sports statues, public memory, art history, Olympic Games
The American and Canadian Decisions to Boycott the 1980 Moscow Olympics: A Comparative Analysis
Andrew Rice
Abstract:
This article compares the American and Canadian decisions to boycott the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics across three realms. The first section explores how the boycott was decided and executed. It argues that although US President Jimmy Carter was initially hesitant to endorse the boycott, he was quickly persuaded and became a champion of the initiative, whereas Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau was less enthusiastic. The similarities and differences between how the United States Olympic Committee and the Canadian Olympic Association reacted to the decisions of their respective governments are then explored. This article argues that both organizations strongly opposed the boycott but were similarly forced to comply due to financial and political pressures. The final section examines the reaction of the Olympic athletes. It argues that both nations’ athletes opposed the boycott, although US Olympians were more energetic in vocalizing their displeasure.
Keywords:
1980 Olympic boycott; American–Canadian relations; United States Olympic Committee; Canadian Olympic Association
We’ll be cheering, win, lose, or draw: Ronald Reagan as the Olympic President
Erin E. Redihan
https://doi.org/10.5406/26396025.6.2.04
Abstract:
This article analyzes Ronald Reagan’s involvement in the Olympic Movement and places it in comparison with his Cold War-era predecessors. It argues that Reagan remains the American president most supportive of the Olympic Games due to a convergence of factors. While Ford and Carter both had political and Cold War-related reasons to engage with the Olympics, both of Reagan’s presidential campaigns and his presidential administration coincided with some of the tensest off-field moments of the Olympic Movement—not to mention the financial pressure that the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics faced. In addition to his unqualified support for the Olympics, Reagan leveraged his support for the Games into patriotic and appealing campaign rhetoric especially in 1984, further demonstrating his understanding of their political utility. It draws on archival materials from the Ronald Reagan presidential library as its main sources.
Keywords: Cold War, Olympic Games, Ronald Reagan, Politics
50 Years Legacy: The Sport Venues of the Olympic Games, Munich 1972
Maike Weitzmann and Holger Preuss
Abstract:
The Olympic Games and the sports venues built for them attract considerable attention. The 1972 Olympic Games in Munich made a significant contribution to urban development at the time. Consequently, it is pertinent to consider whether and how the sports venues of that era are used after more than five decades. This article describes the current use and function of the Olympic venues. To this end, an individual case study of the sports venues of Munich 1972 was carried out, followed by a qualitative data analysis. Most of the sports venues are still in use today, primarily as venues for training and competitions. Of particular note is the entire Olympic Park complex, which has consistently served as a hub for events and is overseen by a municipal holding company.
Keywords:
Olympic Games, Legacy, sports venues, 1972 Munich Games
Research Note
Assessing the Impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Olympic Games
George Yiapanas