International Sports Competitions Research Articles

A simple method for gender verification based on PCR detection of Y-chromosomal DNA and its application at the Winter Universiade 1991 in Sapporo City, Japan.

A simple and reliable screening method for gender verification at international sports competitions was developed on the basis of detection of Y-chromosomal DNA which was specifically amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Total DNA obtained from buccal mucous membrane cells by digestion with proteinase K followed by boiling treatment was directly used for the PCR. The amplified product was electrophoresed on an agarose gel staining with ethidium bromide. We adopted three sets of the PCR primer, identifying different regions of Y-chromosome, of which sensitivity and specificity were preliminary evaluated for 228 (112 male, 116 female) DNA samples from lymphocytes. This new method was first applied for the gender verification test at the Winter Universiade 1991 Sapporo, accompanied by traditional microscopic tests for X- and Y-chromatins. No positive results were obtained for 155 female competitors using both the PCR and the microscopic methods. The superiority of the proposed method was clearly shown in the reliability of the results and also in the saving on instrumental and personnel costs as compared to previous cytologic methods.

Rites of Passage: the 1988 Seoul Olympics as Public Diplomacy

iplomacy is communication applied to the relations among nationstates. Traditional studies of diplomatic communication have focused on direct, government-to-government contacts, but recent scholarly attention has begun to turn to less direct forms of so-called diplomacy, in which the government of one nation seeks to employ the media and public opinion of a second to bring constituency or other political pressure on the second nation's government to act in its favor (Davison 1974; Merritt 1980). Such pressure can be directed at either increasing or restricting the latitude of foreign-policy decision making available to the target government. Manheim (1987) has proposed an interactive model of media-public-policy influences which can be used to predict or explain public diplomacy efforts, and in a recent series of studies employing the model, Manheim and Albritton (1984, 1986, 1987; Albritton and Manheim 1985) have examined the use of public relations and news management techniques by several governments to influence their portrayal in the news media of a target country, in this instance the United States. These studies have demonstrated the effect with which governments can produce, construct, and/or control access to newsworthy events for the purpose of influencing foreign public or elite opinion to their advantage. In that context, major international sporting competitions offer targets of opportunity for public diplomacy efforts. The final match of the 1986 World Cup, for example, drew a worldwide audience of 652 million, and the opening ceremony of the 1984 Olympic Games was viewed by an estimated 522 million persons (Larson 1989). And, precisely because it holds the attention of large numbers of people in multiple countries and conveys to them simple and highly symbolic messages, high-level international sporting competition is inextricably linked with international politics. With their visible nationalistic elements (flags, uniforms) and the opportunities they provide propagandists and commentators alike to interpret individual or team accomplishments as tests of national character, will, and achievement, such sporting events provide a showcase for leaders or advocates of causes who compete for world attention. (Hoberman 1984: 7-11) As Hazan (1982: 18) has put it: Sport . . . is a medium that may simultaneously embrace billions of people, an unsus-

The effects of theophylline on the physical performance and work capacity of well-trained athletes

Theophylline, a pharmacologic agent presently permitted during international sporting competition, has come under scrutiny because of the suggestion that it may be ergogenic. This study examined the effects of serum theophylline levels of 10 to 20 mg/L and the administration of a placebo on selected measures of physical performance and work capacity to determine any ergogenic outcomes. Seven male and three female elite athletes from a variety of team sports and aged 18 to 30 years participated in the study. The variables measured were height, mass, maximal oxygen consumption, muscular endurance, muscular power, muscular strength, FVC, FEV 1, and reaction time. When the scores obtained after ingestion of theophylline and a placebo with a double-blind, crossover technique were compared, no significant difference was found for any of these variables. A two-way analysis of variance of FEV 1 scores obtained before and after maximal exercise revealed no significant “F” ratios. This indicated that none of these trained athletes demonstrated exercise-induced asthma and that there was no difference in airway resistance after maximal exercise while they were under the influence of theophylline or placebo. We conclude that no ergogenic effects were attributable to theophylline therapy which should therefore remain an acceptable means of management of athletes with asthma participating in international sporting events.

Apartheid and Sport: South Africa Revisited

The South African government’s socially based policy of segregation and discrimination, or “apartheid,” has caused tremendous external, as well as internal, pressures to reverse the government’s inhumane treatment of its repressed populace. Until recently none of the pressures have been more forceful than those evoked by the sporting world and the United Nations. Since 1960, these forces have served to isolate South Africa from most international sports competitions, including the Olympic Games. At one juncture, various leanings in apartheid policy seemed to point toward a tilt in attitudinal posture not only in regard to sport but to various related apartheid conduct. Recent events, however, have elucidated a continued dominant posture concerning South Africa’s all-encompassing socially repressive apartheid practice. It appears that, unless the South African government initiates swift and salient apartheid expiration, the perilous game they are playing may get out of hand.

Diplomats in Track Suits: the Role of Sports in the Foreign Policy of the German Democratic Republic

In a relatively short period of time the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) has become a formidable power in international sport competition. Because East Ger many was not able to obtain diplomatic recognition by means of regular channels, it decided to make its presence known via the accomplishments of its athletes. The se quence of events which East Germany followed to acquire athletic status and subsequent diplomatic recognition are described.

Olympics Reflect Different Philosophies

Among the psychological challenges for which American athletes should be prepared at the Olympics, suggests a three-time participant, are differing concepts of sportsmanship and the virtually inevitable political overtones of international amateur sports competition. "From a psychological standpoint," says former Olympian Wayne Baughman, "when you live all your life with one set of standards, then encounter a completely different set, it can really blow your psyche." In the field of wrestling, where he is coaching the United States' freestyle team in the current Olympics, he finds it helpful that an increasing number of American wrestlers are gaining international experience before competing in the quadrennial games. Nonetheless, he notes that even when funds are raised to provide this exposure to top competition—and often different philosophies—overseas, it often is difficult for American wrestlers to take time away from their jobs and other responsibilities. Now a major in the US Air Force, coach

An Overall Review of U.S. Accomplishments in Recent Olympic Competition Leads Inevitably to the Conclusion that New and Imaginative Steps Must be Undertaken if the U.S. is to Regain and Maintain in the Future an Outstanding Position in International Sports Competition

An Overall Review of U.S. Accomplishments in Recent Olympic Competition Leads Inevitably to the Conclusion that New and Imaginative Steps Must be Undertaken if the U.S. is to Regain and Maintain in the Future an Outstanding Position in International Sports Competition