History Of Sport Research Articles

Amyloid PET across the cognitive spectrum in former professional and college American football players: findings from the DIAGNOSE CTE Research Project

BackgroundExposure to repetitive head impacts (RHI) in American football players can lead to cognitive impairment and dementia due to neurodegenerative disease, particularly chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). The pathognomonic lesion of CTE consists of perivascular aggregates of hyper-phosphorylated tau in neurons at the depths of cortical sulci. However, it is unclear whether exposure to RHI accelerates amyloid-β (Aβ) plaque formation and increases the risk for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Although the Aβ neuritic plaques characteristic of AD are observed in a minority of later-stage CTE cases, diffuse plaques are more common. This study examined whether former professional and college American football players, including those with cognitive impairment and dementia, have elevated neuritic Aβ plaque density, as measured by florbetapir PET. Regardless of cognitive and functional status, elevated levels of florbetapir uptake were not expected.MethodsWe examined 237 men ages 45–74, including 119 former professional (PRO) and 60 former college (COL) football players, with and without cognitive impairment and dementia, and 58 same-age men without a history of contact sports or TBI (unexposed; UE) and who denied cognitive or behavioral symptoms at telephone screening. Former players were categorized into four diagnostic groups: normal cognition, subjective memory impairment, mild cognitive impairment, and dementia. Positive florbetapir PET was defined by cortical-cerebellar average SUVR of ≥ 1.10. Multivariable linear regression and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) compared florbetapir average SUVR across diagnostic and exposure groups. Multivariable logistic regression compared florbetapir positivity. Race, education, age, and APOE4 were covariates.ResultsThere were no diagnostic group differences either in florbetapir average SUVR or the proportion of elevated florbetapir uptake. Average SUVR means also did not differ between exposure groups: PRO-COL (p = 0.94, 95% C.I. = [− 0.033, 0.025]), PRO-UE (p = 0.40, 95% C.I. = [− 0.010, 0.029]), COL-UE (p = 0.36, 95% CI = [0.0004, 0.039]). Florbetapir was not significantly associated with years of football exposure, cognition, or daily functioning.ConclusionsCognitive impairment in former American football players is not associated with PET imaging of neuritic Aβ plaque deposition. These findings are inconsistent with a neuropathological diagnosis of AD in individuals with substantial RHI exposure and have both clinical and medico-legal implications.Trial registrationNCT02798185.

Misfolded α-Synuclein in Cerebrospinal Fluid of Contact Sport Athletes.

Misfolded α-synuclein in Parkinson's disease (PD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) can be detected using the real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) technique in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The objectives are (1) to examine misfolded CSF α-synuclein incidence, and (2) to compare clinical presentation, sports history, brain volumes, and RT-QuIC α-synuclein positivity in former athletes. Thirty former athletes with magnetic resonance imaging, neuropsychological testing, and CSF analyzed for phosphorylated tau 181 (p-tau), total tau (t-tau), amyloid-β 42 (Aβ42), and neurofilament light chain (NfL). CSF α-synuclein was detected using RT-QuIC. Six (20%) former athletes were α-synuclein positive. α-Synuclein positive athletes were similar to α-synuclein negative athletes on demographics, sports history, clinical features, CSF p-tau, t-tau, Aβ42, and NfL; however, had lower grey matter volumes in the right inferior orbitofrontal, right anterior insula and right olfactory cortices. α-Synuclein RT-QuIC analysis of CSF may be useful as a prodromal biofluid marker of PD and DLB. © 2023 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

Analysis of the coupled and coordinated development of sports and tourism industries and the driving factors

The Yellow River Basin has a wealth of tourism resources, a long history of folk sports, and strong legislative support, all of which are advantages for the growth of the sports tourism sector. This study constructs an evaluation index system based on panel data from nine provinces and regions in the Yellow River Basin from 2011 to 2020, and then measures the development index and analyzes the driving factors using the entropy method, coupling coordination degree model, kernel density estimation method, and grey correlation analysis method. The findings demonstrate that (1) the Yellow River Basin's overall level of growth in the sports and tourist sectors exhibits a consistent and upward trend and that Shandong and Henan provinces clearly have an edge over other provinces in terms of development. (2) The geographical development pattern was lower Yellow River > upper Yellow River > middle Yellow River, and the coupling coordination status shifted from slight disorder to good coordination. (3) There is a close connection between sports tourism and variables including population density, financial prowess, and infrastructure growth. The employment population index has the smallest link with invention patent authorization. The macro-policy framework should therefore be strengthened in the future, the sports tourism infrastructure should be improved, and the Yellow River basin's unique sports tourism resources should be fully utilized in order to increase brand influence. In addition, new sports tourism products should be developed in response to market demand and consumer preferences, and enterprise innovation and research and development efforts should be increased in order to achieve high-quality development transformation.

“Our Life Out of the Dungeon”

Abstract “Our Life Out of the Dungeon” examines the life and career of Robert L. Vaughan, the legendary and longtime head basketball coach at Elizabeth City State University, an Historically Black University, and explores the racial and cultural politics of Black college basketball in the twentieth-century United States. Using oral history and Vaughan's words, this article moves Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Black college basketball to the forefront of African American history and sport history, providing a window onto the world of college basketball that existed on the other side of the color line and in the decades after segregation. African Americans at HBCUs revolutionized basketball and transformed the sport into a cultural staple that shaped Black people, communities, and institutions. Through Vaughan's words and experiences, we can understand the struggles and successes and the political and cultural language of Black college basketball within the context of what I call the “politics of Black athletic emancipation”—a Black athletic agenda that stood in opposition to racism and white supremacy and reverberated the ethos of self-determination and collective striving of African Americans who demanded the right to be free and the right to play basketball.

Sporting bodies, societal norms in history

The historical exploration of the body in sports hinges upon the value attributed to the body throughout time and converges various social science approaches, encompassing philosophical, religious, educational perspectives, and intersecting histories that involve political, sociological, economic, and medical dimensions. Sports, as a multifaceted cultural phenomenon, hold profound sociocultural significance, reflecting prevailing attitudes towards the human body. The study of body image in sports history becomes a nexus where anthropology, sociology, psychology, and sports science converge, offering valuable insights into the evolution of body ideals and their implications on athlete identity. This examination delves deep into the annals of sports history, unearthing the evolving notions of body image and its impact on athlete identity, shedding light on the implications of historical body image ideals for contemporary sports culture and proposing recommendations for fostering a positive body image and identity in sports. The objectives of this narrative review include unearthing the historical evolution of body image ideals, examining the influence of societal norms on perceptions of athletic bodies throughout history, unravelling the role of media, technology, and popular culture in shaping body image ideals in sports, and identifying the intimate connection between body image and athlete identity, exploring its profound ramifications on athletic performance and overall well-being. By synthesizing findings from existing systematic reviews and scholarly works, this exploration aims to illuminate the intricate interplay between sporting bodies and societal norms throughout history and their enduring legacy on sports culture in the present day.

Striking for Victory

Abstract By the 1940s, the Women's International Bowling Congress (WIBC) was the largest sports membership organization for women in the world. At the advent of World War II, the WIBC implemented a nationwide fundraising campaign to support the war effort resulting in the direct purchase of a bomber, an ambulance, and three air evacuation planes for the US Armed Forces. The WIBC war effort unified, engaged, and connected more than two hundred thousand members to a common cause, while contributing to a significant growth in women's organized bowling nationwide. The effort helped usher in the “modern era” of women's organized bowling. Through it all, the WIBC emerged a more cohesive, stable group of state and local affiliations. The story of how WIBC leadership marshaled resources to contribute to the war effort while continuing their commitment to membership growth in wartime is important for the value it adds to the history of women's sports.

EVOLVEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT OF SAMBO IN THE VOLUNTARY SPORTS SOCIETY “DINAMO” OF THE CHUVASH ASSR (1960s)

The history of sambo, including in the force structures, reflects the entire history of domestic sports. A retrospective analysis of sambo evolvement and development stages in the Society of Sports and Physical Training “Dynamo” enables not only to eliminate some historical gaps, but also to identify a number of administrative and managerial decisions that contribute to the most effective and dynamic development of sambo as a sport.
 
 The purpose of the study is to specify the time limits of sambo evolvement and development stages in the Society of Sports and Physical Training “Dynamo” in the Chuvash ASSR and to identify the conditions that ensure dynamism to the development of the domestic combat system in the Chuvash Republic. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the fact that it for the first time revealed the stages in sambo evolvement and development in the Society of Sports and Physical Training “Dynamo” in the Chuvash ASSR, as well as the conditions that determine dynamism of its development in the republic.
 
 Materials and methods. In achieving this goal, such scientific methods as analysis, generalization and interpretation of data from archival sources, publications in periodicals and Internet resources were used. At this, the main materials of the study were data from the state archive of modern history of the Chuvash Republic and publications in the periodical press.
 
 Study results. A brief historical overview covering evolvement and development of sambo in the Society of Sports and Physical Training “Dynamo” in the Chuvash ASSR during the 1960s is presented. Some statistical data are given that give an idea of the dynamics of sambo development in the Society of Sports and Physical Training “Dynamo” in the Chuvash ASSR. Based on the philosophical categories and categories of the general theory of systems, the time limits of sambo evolvement and development stages in the Society of Sports and Physical Training “Dynamo” in the Chuvash ASSR are specified, and a number of conditions characterizing dynamism of its development are theoretically substantiated. The practical significance of the study lies in the fact that the results obtained supplement the regional history with information about sambo evolvement and development stages in the Society of Sports and Physical Training “Dynamo” in the Chuvash ASSR; personalities who influenced and contributed to the progressive and dynamic promotion of sambo in the force structures of the Chuvash ASSR in the 1960s. They can be used to prepare a course on the history of physical culture and sports in the Chuvash Republic, as well as be taken into account in the development of a number of management decisions aimed at ensuring dynamism of the development of sambo as a sport. The obtained research results can serve as a basis for conducting similar studies covering the period of the 1970s and 1980s, as a result, it will be possible to carry out a comparative analysis of the results obtained, the final result of which may be new historical information of regional significance.
 
 Conclusions. By analyzing the data of archival sources and periodicals through the prism of philosophical and systemic categories, the stages of sambo evolvement and development in the Society of Sports and Physical Training “Dynamo” in the Chuvash ASSR in the 1960s are theoretically substantiated, and a number of conditions that determined dynamism of its development in this historical period are specified.

EVOLVEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT OF SAMBO IN THE VOLUNTARY SPORTS SOCIETY “UROZHAI” OF THE CHUVASH ASSR (1970s)

According to archival sources, in the 1960s, following integration at the All-Russian level of the VSC “Kolkhoznik” and the VSC “Urozhai” in the Chuvash ASSR, these sports societies were also reorganized. At this, it should be noted that among the most popular and highly-demanded sports among the rural youth were various types of wrestling, among which a special place was occupied by sambo wrestling, which embodied all the best of the national types of wrestling of the peoples of the USSR. Taking into account the tasks to be solved facing the newly created VSC, sambo optimally approached their implementation due to its pronounced applied nature. However, as evidenced by the retrospective analysis of archival data, issues about the evolvement and development of domestic wresting among workers of the republican agrarian sector remain unexplored in the regional historiography, which determines the relevance of the research undertaken.
 
 The purpose of the study is to identify the stages of evolvement and development of sambo in the republican VSC “Urozhai”.
 
 Materials and methods. A retrospective analysis of the historical aspects in sambo evolvement and development in the sports society of agricultural workers was carried out on the basis of data from republican archives, information from regional periodicals, as well as publications of scientific and methodological literature. The main research methods were analysis and generalization of data from archival sources, publications in periodicals, information from scientific and methodological literature and Internet sources. For the first time, some historical aspects of sambo evolvement and development stages in the republican VSC “Urozhai” are investigated, and their boundaries are theoretically outlined.
 
 Study results. A brief historical overview covering evolvement and development of sambo in the VSC “Urozhai” of the Chuvash ASSR during the 1970s is presented. Some statistical data are given that give an idea of the dynamics of sambo development in the VSC “Urozhai”. The practical significance of the research lies in the fact that the results obtained eliminate gaps in the regional history of sports and can be used for preparing various textbooks of a sports and historical nature and in training specialists in physical education in regional vocational education institutions of various levels. The prospects of the research are that the results obtained can be used in generalization and systematization of information on evolvement and development of sports cultivated in the Chuvash Republic.
 
 Conclusions. On the basis of a retrospective analysis of research materials and statistical data on the dynamics showing the increase in the number of trainees in sambo sections in the republican VSC “Urozhai”, the stages of its evolvement and development are theoretically substantiated and differentiated.

SAMBO WRESTLERS OF CHUVASHIA IN THE INTERNATIONAL SPORTS ARENA (1970s–1980s)

The domestic system of unarmed self-defense is considered as a specific socio-cultural phenomenon and it is noted that cultivation of sambo at the international level is essential. According to the results of earlier studies, the period of the 1970s–1980s saw a stage of rapid development of sambo in the Chuvash ASSR, as well as recognition of sambo as a world cultural phenomenon, which was the cumulative result of the activities carried out by sports functionaries and sambo wrestlers from various regions of the USSR.
 
 The purpose of the study is to analyze the results of the performance of sambo wrestlers of the Chuvash ASSR on the international sports arena in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as the contribution of Chuvash sambo wrestlers to the recognition of sambo as a world cultural phenomenon.
 
 Materials and methods. A retrospective analysis of the results of the Chuvash athletes’ performance in the international sports arena in the 1970s and 1980s was carried out on the basis of generalizing the data from republican archives, information from regional periodicals and a number of Internet resources. The main research methods were analysis and generalization of data from archival sources, publications in periodicals and Internet sources. For the first time, an attempt was made to assess the contribution of Chuvash sambo wrestlers to the recognition of sambo as a world cultural phenomenon.
 
 Study results. A brief historical overview of the results of the Chuvash sambo wrestlers’ performance on the international sports arena in the 1970s and 1980s is presented. The practical significance of the research lies in the fact that the results obtained eliminate gaps in the regional history of sports and can be used for preparing various textbooks of a sports and historical nature and in training specialists in physical education in regional vocational education institutions of various levels as well as in advanced training courses for sambo trainers-teachers of supplementary educational institutions. The obtained results can be used in the generalization and systematization of information in the formation and development of sports cultivated in the Chuvash Republic.
 
 Conclusions. Based on a retrospective analysis of statistical data on the results of Chuvash sambo wrestlers’ performance in the international sports arena, a number of particular conclusions are formulated. The period in the 1970s–1980s is characterized as a stage of rapid sambo development in the Chuvash ASSR, which is associated with the participation of Chuvash sambo wrestlers in international competitions and achievement by some of them the standards of the USSR Master of Sport of International Class. Chuvash sambo wrestlers made a certain contribution to the team-wide success of the USSR national sambo team, which resulted in the recognition of sambo as a global sociocultural phenomenon.

To rest or to compete? A 4-week cohort study of analgesic use and willingness to compete hurt in Danish youth elite athletes

ObjectivesTo assess the association between analgesic use and willingness to compete hurt (WCH) in Danish youth elite athletes, and to explore factors associated with such willingness. Design4-week prospective cohort study. Methods592 Danish youth elite athletes (15–20 years) completed a baseline questionnaire assessing demographic information, sport history, and WCH, and provided weekly reports on analgesic use for 4 weeks via text messages. Analgesic use was categorized as no use (0 weeks) or use across 1, 2, 3, or 4 weeks, and as the total number of days with analgesic use. Multinomial logistic regression and zero-inflated negative binomial regression analyses estimated the association between analgesic use and WCH. Linear backward stepwise regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with WCH. ResultsOverall, risk of analgesic use increased significantly with increasing WCH scores (relative risk ratios ranging from 1.06 (95% CI 1.0 to 1.12%) to 1.34% (95% CI 1.15 to 1.57)). The incidence rate of analgesic use increased significantly with increasing WCH scores (incidence rate ratio 1.09 (95% CI 1.04 to 1.14)). Associations between the investigated possible antecedent factors and WCH were weak and not considered practically important (R2 = 0.05 or lower). ConclusionsHigher WCH scores were associated with increasing risk of analgesic use, irrespective of the underlying reason for the use, in Danish youth elite athletes, suggesting that analgesics may be an ingrained part of a sport-specific culture of risk acceptance. Future studies should include measures of culture, norms, and social interaction to better explain the variance in WCH.

Making sense of one’s sports history: The body, microanalysis, peripheries

This article explores the meanings and directions I have given to my work as a sports historian, and which have contributed to the construction of my “sense of history.” More precisely, it brings to light the three main axes of reflection that have marked my scientific trajectory: the place (physical and symbolic) of the body in research, the choice of interdisciplinarity, and the perspective of examining the evolution of sports practices from the national peripheries. These axes should be understood not as a linear succession of intellectual stages but rather as the progressive interweaving of different reflections on my own work. More than a return to oneself and a study of the intimate, these fragments of embodied history, which question the motivations and the “true objectivity” of the researcher, intend to make their contribution to the collective history of the profession.

Contemporary Muscular Christian Values as "Culturalized Religion": A Theoretical Framework and Pilot Data

Abstract: Muscular Christianity is widely regarded as a leading contributor to the development of contemporary sport culture in the United States. Sport historians and sociologists have recognized muscular Christianity as a "hegemonic influence on modern sport culture" (Meyer, et al., 2020, p. 171) but the implications of this insight have not been thoroughly investigated in the field of sport management. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to develop a theoretical framework for future research on muscular Christianity in the context of sport management. To accomplish this, we combine theories of culturalized religion and cultural repertoires from the sociology of religion and culture literatures, arguing that muscular Christianity can be studied as culturalized religion. We support this argument with pilot survey data using the Contemporary Muscular Christian Instrument, as well as literature reviews that show that Christianity often operates as a regnant, if secularized, discourse in both sport culture and higher education. We conclude with a brief discussion of how this framework can be applied to study and teach on muscular Christianity in the sport management context.

Vanguard of the Athletic Revolution: The Black Panther Party, Micki and Jack Scott, and the Sports Liberation Movement

Abstract: During the 1970s, the Black Panther Party believed in and provided sports programming that spoke to community embodiment. The Party's approach aligned with what Jack and Micki Scott called "the sports liberation movement." Though understudied in sports history, the Scotts endeavored to create a revolution motivated by the 1968 Olympics. They controversially wrote about and taught sports in a way that prioritized the needs and well-being of professional athletes and everyday people, rather than US patriotism and capitalism consumption. Influenced by fellow leftists like the Scotts, the Black Panthers circulated ideas on freedom and free movement, drawing inspiration from international role models in non-European, socialist countries too. They imagined that socialist sports could escape the militarization of sport in the US and find space for gender inclusion. Their interpretation of socialism showed up in both philosophy and pedagogy, on and off the mat. Using sports archives from the Party as well as broader newspaper research, I contend in this essay that the Panthers, representative of the larger Black Power movement, politicized sport as a necessary site to revolutionize the everyday person's life.

Sport and religion: a mapping analytical research

This study uses scientometric analysis to comprehensively describe the descriptive parameters of publications about the relationship between sport and religion. Using ScientoPy, VOSviewer, and Biblioshiny software and datasets from two leading academic databases, Scopus and Web of Science, the current study can identify the most active scientific sources, keywords, and trending topics in sports and religion research. According to the findings, numerous types of research have been carried out on the correlation between sports and religion, and most of these papers have been published by scholars from the United States. The International Journal of the History of Sport and Sport in society has become the most active scientific journal. Furthermore, this study emphasizes the frequently utilized terms in the literature, explicitly "religion" and "sport." These keywords have protruded along with other terms that are gaining popularity in the study of sports and religion: "sports" and "muscular christianity." This information can be valuable to researchers and scholars and guide future research directions.

Communication Breakdown: Sports Federations and Media Politics in the Weimar Republic

Abstract Organized sport in the Weimar Republic was dominated by three strands—so-called bourgeois sport, the gymnastics movement (Turnen) and the workers’ sports movement (Arbeitersport). While scholarship has rightly pointed out the differences between their federations, it has neglected a significant feature they had in common: the struggle to communicate key messages to their members. For the first time, this article examines debates about and developments in the communications of Weimar’s leading sports organizations. It shows that through the 1920s producing journals, running news services and lobbying the press became as important as competing in or watching sport itself, as the organizations sought to raise their profile, gain new members and retain the members they already had. Each of them, while envying the others, failed to meet its goals for similar reasons: inadequate internal structures, poor decision-making and the allure of commercialized sport and the papers and magazines it fed and produced. While scholarship has often noted the high level of sports coverage in the mainstream press, it has not explored the dynamic pull of such reporting on readers. By examining the effects of the professional media on the active members of the three main federations, this article therefore also sheds light on the power of new forms of writing and entertainment to influence individuals as the shift to consumer habits increased in all social classes throughout the Weimar Republic. In doing so, it bridges between empirically orientated forms of sports history and cultural histories of the press.

Epidemiology of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Tears in National Collegiate Athletic Association Athletes: 2014/15 - 2018/19.

To describe the epidemiology of ACL tears in NCAA men's and women's sports. Injury and exposure data collected within the NCAA Injury Surveillance Program from 2014/15-2018/19 were analyzed. ACL tear frequencies, rates (IRs) and proportions were used to describe injury incidence by sport, event type, injury mechanism, and injury history. Injury rate ratios (IRRs) were utilized to examine differential injury rates, and injury proportion ratios (IPRs) were used to examine differential distributions. A total of 729 ACL tears were reported from 8,474,401 recorded athlete exposures (AEs) during the study period (IR = 0.86 per 10,000 AEs), and the competition-related ACL tear rate was higher than the practice-related rate (IRR = 5.52, 95% CI: [4.75, 6.39]). Among men's sports, the highest overall ACL tear rate was observed in men's football (IR = 1.44 per 10,000 AEs), while among women's sports, the highest overall rate was observed in women's soccer (IR = 2.60 per 10,000 AEs). Among sex-comparable sports, ACL tear rates were higher in women's basketball, softball, and soccer, as compared with their men's counterparts. ACL tears were more prevalently attributed to player-contact mechanisms in men's sports than women's sports (IPR = 1.73, 95% CI: [1.37, 2.19]), while more prevalently attributed to non-contact mechanisms in women's sports than men's sports (IPR = 1.17, 95% CI: [1.01, 1.35]). ACL tear risk in women's sports continues to warrant attention and prevention efforts. Given the differential rates by event type, future research efforts may also evaluate initiatives to reduce competition-related injury burden in NCAA sports.

Rethinking sports history to include sportswomen in 1900s France.

In the history of French sport, the practice of physical activities by women is essentially considered non-existent before the 1920s, with the exception of a few aristocratic women. Although this idea persists, it has been challenged by recent research on early sportswomen. These studies raise the question of the scope of sports history, and indeed the very definition of sports itself. These are usually defined in the social sciences as physical activities that are organized, codified and institutionalized, structured by clubs and federations. While at the beginning of the 20th century these clubs and federations were most often closed to women, this does not mean that women were not practicing sports. Physical activities were gaining increasing popularity among women even before this time, and not only among the upper class. There is evidence of women swimming, cycling, racewalking, and even wrestling or boxing in the United States, Canada and Britain, as well as in France. These practices necessarily developed outside institutions, with women taking them up as individual pastimes. As demand grew, some sought to profit from this, and sports promoters organized the first competitions. Journalists then reported on these events in the press, sometimes with amusement, sometimes with disapproval. Yet the first women walkers, runners, cyclists and other athletes are only now beginning to appear in historical studies. This paper seeks to contribute to the rehabilitation of these sportswomen, who include working-class boxers and wrestlers, all of whom have long been subject to a double exclusion-institutional and historical. It presents the history of the first competitions of sportswomen-professional or amateur-in France at the turn of the century, a first foundation stone in writing a new and more inclusive history of sport.

Walter Ulbricht, Physical Culture and Sport in the GDR (1949-1971)

The politicization of sports is a topical subject of contemporary history. The study of nations’ history of sports and sports policies can yield insights into important aspects of foreign political regimes and their evolution. The GDR was a notable example of a country that, in line with the state ideology, systemically and effectively leveraged sports in domestic and foreign policy. This article examines the role of Walter Ulbricht, the leader of East Germany, in the sphere of physical education and sports from late 1940s to early 1970s. Through analysis of party and state documents and sports officials' memoirs, the authors explore Ulbricht's ideological principles and personal motives as well as his influence on the decision-making in the sports policy. We point out how his efforts in the sphere of physical education and sports contributed to his image of a “model teacher and friend of German sportspeople” We arrive at a conclusion that Ulbricht managed to build a well-functioning system geared towards the development of high-performance sports. On the one hand, this system raised the GDR to the status of a sporting superpower. On the other hand, the focus on elite sports resulted in a lack of resources for the development of mass sports (physical education). This contradicted the original intent of Ulbricht who, in keeping with the tenets of Marxism-Leninism, sought to make physical education an essential part of producing well-rounded socialist personalities.

Sports heritage and sports history: theory and practice

Sports heritage and sports history: theory and practice

Populist Dimensions of Sport Histories

Abstract This article explores the concept of populism to further our understanding of sport-based institutions and discourse and to demonstrate the relevance of “sportive populism” to sport history scholarship. It begins with an account of the application of the concept to strongman populism in historical and contemporary contexts and then focuses on two specific historical cases: the Colosseum in Rome in the first century CE, and the formative discourses of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Based primarily upon secondary sources, analysis of the cases illustrates the interpretive potential of the populist concept for our understanding of a form of sportive populism in the political project of the Colosseum and in the formative discourses and persisting rhetoric of the two international sporting bodies.