London Olympics Research Articles

Analysis of badminton competitions in 2012 London Olympics

In this study, the general analysis of 2012 London Olympics Badminton matches are aimed to be made. In this analysis, the physical characteristics of the Olympic players, the average match and rally durations, the countries which have participated by rally stroke points and the distributions of the medals were studied. The official website of 2012 London Olympics were used as a means of collecting data and during the matches, the results and analysis of a total 189 matches published on this site were recorded and evaluated. The study was carried out by using the data which belong to a total of 170 players (90 women and 80 men) who participated from 52 countries. Descriptive statistical analysis of data (mean, standard deviation, minimum and maximum values, percentage distribution) was done by using SPSS 17.0 for Windows. As a result of this research, the mean total match duration in singles and doubles categories were determined as; for males 45.12±13.24 minutes, 39.37±11.46 minutes, for females 37.7±12.46 minutes, 42.27 ±8.94 minutes respectively. The longest rally mean durations of competitions in man and women singles were respectively 38.4±16.22 seconds, 34.6±8.15 seconds; in men doubles, in women doubles and in mix doubles were respectively 38.18±15.13, 48.16±11.8 and 23.19±9.15 seconds. When the highest rally strokes, with average of 53,39±15,7 strokes, took place in the women doubles, it was followed by women singles (41,39±10,6), men singles (38.66±13.26), men doubles (36.74±12.58) and mix doubles (35.43±8.67). When looked at the data obtained in this study, it is observed that the highest mean match durations are in men singles and the longest mean rally durations and the highest mean rally strokes are in women doubles categories. As a conclusion, according to the 2012 London Olympics analysis, badminton coaches must revise technical, tactical, conditional elements of badminton and they have to prepare special schedules for category properties.

Foucault, justice, and athletes with prosthetics: the 2008 CAS Arbitration Report on Oscar Pistorius

The participation of Oscar Pistorius in the 2012 London Olympic Games served as a significant milestone for the inclusion of disabled athletes in major international athletics. An account of the struggle by Pistorius to compete in international competition is presented by the 2008 CAS Arbitration Report released by the CAS arbitration panel that ultimately ruled for his eligibility. Superficially, the Arbitration Report reads as an account of a correction in procedural error, with the CAS Arbitration Panel working to correct the decision of an IAAF hearing that the CAS Arbitration Panel critiqued as lacking transparency and going “off the rails.” This paper, however, goes beyond a superficial reading of the Arbitration Report and instead engages a deeper analysis by applying the theories of Michel Foucault to identify what the report reveals about the nature of justice under the CAS for athletes with prosthetics in international sport.

The hybridization of sight in the hybrid architecture of sport: the effects of television on stadia and spectatorship

A year after the 2012 Olympics in London, and as the authorities of Brazil prepare for the forthcoming Olympics and football's World Cup, this paper examines the influence of the televised media image on the development and design of sports stadia, and the nature of contemporary sports spectatorship. Arguing that globalized television has turned sport into an international media event, it will suggest that its architecture has mutated into a semi-real, semi-virtual phenomenon in which the difference between the physical structure and its mediated image has definitively blurred. Drawing upon the ideas of Paul Virilio, we suggest that a concomitant blurring in terms of spectatorship is one of the results. In this new mediated realm the nature of vision human itself threatens to morph and evolve as it merges with mediated visualization.

Shakespeare and Media Ecology: Beyond Historicism and Presentism

This article proposes media ecology—a combination of media studies and performance studies with literary and cultural history—as a research perspective for Shakespeare studies. In contrast to a hermeneutics of renewal—as evinced in both New Historicism and what has been called presentism—media ecology combines a sense of historical alterity with an awareness of the continuing transformations of Shakespeare in changing media settings: from manuscripts and printed texts to theatrical performances, music, opera, cinema, and new media. As an example, the article focuses on the masque in The Tempest, which poses obvious difficulties for a hermeneutics of renewal and is often cut from performance. Productions and adaptations frequently extend the spectacular qualities of the masque to The Tempest as a whole and ignore the skepticism about theatrical illusion that is voiced by Prospero in the play. In the case of The Tempest, cultural productions ranging from theatrical performances to the closing ceremony of the London Olympics of 2012 are difficult to conceptualize in the framework of adaptation studies (which relies on the precedence of an original over its derivations). The article argues that media ecology can help scholars map out such connections and differences between performances and cultural phenomena relating to Shakespeare as cannot be fully grasped either in a historicist or presentist perspective.

The Liancourt Rocks: Media Dynamics and National Identities at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games

After the South Korean men’s soccer team beat its Japanese counterpart in the bronze-medal match at the 2012 London Olympics, South Korean player Park Jung-Woo celebrated with a banner that displayed Dokdo is our land. Dokdo is called the Liancourt Rocks in English, the sovereignty over which has been an ongoing point of contention between South Korea and Japan. This study conducts a critical discourse analysis to examine media representations of Park’s banner celebration, as well as the ensuing discussion in major Korean and Japanese newspapers. The analysis reveals a contrastive picture: The Korean media vocally approached Park’s behavior as an emotional response of self-righteous indignation and quickly enacted memories of Korea’s victimhood in World War II to make justifications, whereas the Japanese media participated in a relatively disengaged absence. Japan’s silence disclosed a glimpse into its rich postwar history of social conflict and political resistance. Such contrast is also indicative of how sport media can be engaged in nuanced social contexts, generating representations that serve nation-state regimes situated in different political dynamics.

The Factors Influencing Olympic Performance Perceived by Korean Athletes Participated in 2012 London Olympic Games

The Factors Influencing Olympic Performance Perceived by Korean Athletes Participated in 2012 London Olympic Games

At the crossroads of inclusion and distance: Organizational crisis communication during celebrity-endorsement crises in China

Celebrity endorsements, though popular as a means of communicating about products, carry high risks and may lead to negative consequences for the organizations that solicit them, especially when endorsers find themselves embroiled in scandals or crises unrelated to the products they promote. This study investigates how Liu Xiang's withdrawal from the 2012 London Olympics and Sun Yang's unlicensed driving crisis affected their sponsorships of Nike and Beijing Hyundai, respectively. Attribution theory and the concept of in-group/out-group orientation provide a framework for examining both primary and secondary public reactions to these public relations crises on Sina Weibo. As a comparative study, this paper adopts both qualitative (thematic analysis of two official announcements) and quantitative methods (content analysis of 738 Weibo postings). Within a Chinese cultural context, evidence indicates that celebrity-endorsement crises are internally attributed and perceived to be controllable. Where primary public attitudes are concerned, integrity violations lead to more negative reactions; however, inclusion strategies find a better reception than distancing, regardless of the public's crisis-responsibility attributions. For secondary online reactions, Weibo posters’ perceptions of external locus, controllability, and integrity violations generate more “likes” than organizational strategies, thereby proving themselves more influential online. This study ultimately provides a more comprehensive refinement of attribution theory by both conceptualizing crisis-response strategies with a discussion of Chinese cultural sensitivities and offering empirical data on the ways in which primary and secondary crisis communication affects stakeholders via social media.

Will moving into social and affordable housing in East Village, London, UK, increase family physical activity levels? Evaluation of a natural experiment

BackgroundFew natural experiments have assessed the effect of the built environment on physical activity. The 2012 London Olympic Games Athletes' Village (renamed East Village) will provide social, intermediate, and market-rent accommodation. This development offers a unique opportunity to assess the effect of a rapidly changing built environment designed to encourage health and active living on the physical activity patterns of residents. MethodsA 2-year controlled longitudinal study of 1200 families (each including at least one adult and one child) will be carried out to establish whether physical activity levels in families relocating into East Village show a sustained increase compared with families living outside East Village. Families applying to live in the social, affordable, and market-rent accommodation in East Village will be recruited at application. Participants will have assessments of objectively measured physical activity (with ActiGraph monitors, ActiGraph, FL, USA) and body composition in their present place of residence and will be reassessed 1 year later, either in East Village (intervention group) or in their original place of residence (control group). Multilevel models will assess differences in change in physical activity between intervention and control groups, allowing for individual and household level factors, and other sociodemographic confounding factors (ascertained by electronic questionnaire). FindingsWe will assess whether differences in physical activity among intervention and control groups relate to use of the local environment, and (if so) which environmental components. The study is predicated on a 70% follow-up rate and is powered to detect a 5% increase in the number of daily steps (and other activity and adiposity outcomes); this represents the lower limit of potentially worthwhile increases in physical activity. To date, 1121 participants have been recruited from 386 social and 322 intermediate households; 69% (487/710) and 84% (346/411), respectively, have recorded at least 4 days (>540 min) of physical activity data. Baseline recruitment will be complete by early 2015. InterpretationThis study offers an important opportunity for a natural experiment. Behavioural theories, particularly social learning theory, which can underpin potential benefits of a changed built environment, will be explored. Although the opportunity is unique, the results might also be generalisable to other urban building projects and should inform future evidence-based urban planning. FundingThis research is being supported by project grants from the Medical Research Council National Prevention Research Initiative (MR/J000345/1) and National Institute for Health Research (12/211/69).

The Invisible Woman?

While the coverage of women's sport in UK media rises to comparable levels to men's sports during large sporting events like the Olympics, academics agree that “routine” women's sports coverage is under-represented. According to the Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation, “81% of people think that the female athletes at London 2012 make better role models for young girls than other celebrities.” This article examines the representation of women in sport and compares routine coverage of women's sports in the UK national press across a week in February 2012, six months before the London Olympics, with coverage in a week in February 2013, six months after the Olympics, to see if there has been an Olympic “legacy” that increased coverage. It also examines coverage at the same time of year a decade earlier, to see how far, if at all, women's sports coverage in newspapers has progressed. The results suggest that there has been minimal change in everyday coverage of women's sports after the Olympics, and that female athletes continue to be hugely under-represented in the UK press.

Skyfall, James Bond's Resurrection, and 21st-Century Anglo-American Imperial Nostalgia

This article provides readers with an ideological critique of the latest James Bond installment, Skyfall. The author argues that the director of the film, Sam Mendes, has succeeded in creating a highly popular movie by tapping into societal desires for Anglo-American imperial nostalgia. Several characters in the movie, including Bond and M, suffer falls from grace that parallel the loss of British imperial power, but in the end, both Bond and the empire are resurrected when they return to the old and true ways of dealing with cyberterrorist dangers. The 2012 release of Skyfall became a part of the British pageantry that swirled around the London Olympics and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, and the nostalgic imperialism of this latest Bond film allowed Anglo-American audiences to celebrate Britain's continued relevance and the need for MI6, the British Secret Service.

Impact of the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games on physical activity of rheumatology patients.

Lack of physical activity in the general population is one of the biggest health challenges we face. For rheumatology patients, and other patients with chronic disease, exercise is an essential part of disease management. However, very few patients exercise effectively.One of the aspirations of the London 2012 Olympic/Paralympic Games was to catalyze people into long-term physical activity. We surveyed our rheumatology patients at 3 high-profile times in the year after the Olympics. Two hundred fifty-three patients were enrolled within the study; the largest diagnosis subgroup being rheumatoid arthritis (36%). Ninety-five percent of our patients regard exercise as beneficial; 36% still think it does harm. Most common barriers to exercise were pain (53%), tiredness (44%), and lack of time (36%). Forty-five percent exercise daily, mostly just walking. Twnety-seven patients (16%) were motivated by the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games toward physical activity. They were mostly motivated by athletics' individual stories (67%), taking part in a big sports festival (11%) and demonstration of top sporting levels (4%). Eighteen patients in total (7%) increased their amount of exercise in response to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. There was no difference between patient diagnostic groups. Only a small minority of patients increased their amount of exercise in response to the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The message about the importance of physical exercise to health needs to be clear, unambiguous, and consistent, because a significant number of patients still think that physical activity does harm. Big sporting events such as the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games can be used as an opportunity to remind patients that physical activity does good and is not harmful. Athletes' individual stories could be used in future as part of a strategy to encourage exercise for all patients.

Segmenting volunteers by motivation in the 2012 London Olympic Games

The present research employed seven motivational factors to delineate sports-event volunteer segments for the 2012 London Olympic Games. The investigators conducted a survey of 11,421 volunteers in the 2012 London Olympic Games and used the factor-clustering method to identify three distinct segments (i.e., the obligated, the enthusiastic, and the semi-enthusiastic). In addition, these segments' overall satisfaction, behavioral intentions for other future events, and socio-demographic backgrounds were assessed, uncovering significant differences among the segments. An ANOVA and a chi-square test found the segments to differ significantly from each other in all of these regards.

Coping with a Self-Induced Shock: The Heterarchic Organization of the London Olympic Games 2012

This paper starts from the assumption of a structural analogy between mega-events and large-scale disasters. Both imply forceful interruptions of everyday routines, and both involve imperatives for imminent action. Similar to the immovable deadline of an opening ceremony, a looming natural disaster triggers a complex set of precautions and preparations to cope with the inescapable forthcoming shock. In the case of mega-events, of course, this shock is self-induced. In fact, cities fiercely compete to host mega-events. In the face of the daunting challenges of hosting a mega-event—the immovable timeframe, the rigorous standards set by regulatory bodies, and the exceptional public visibility—the authorities and organizations in charge traditionally have resorted to strategies of a strict adaptation to the conditions imposed on them. Aligning all available resources and capabilities to match the foreseeable demands, however, undermines the adaptability to cope with unpredictable perturbations. This paper seeks to explore the strategies and practices to attain adaptability during the preparation, staging and implementation of legacy plans of a mega-event with an evidentially noteworthy record: the London Olympic Games 2012. The paper seeks to demonstrate that the project ecology in charge managed to enhance adaptability by implementing three key features of heterarchy: ambiguity, redundancy and loose coupling. By leveraging the principles of heterarchy, the project ecology was able to draw lessons from previous mega-events and both to anticipate and respond to unforeseen challenges.

When do megaprojects start and finish? Redefining project lead time for megaproject success

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose to redefine the concept of project lead time (PLT) to encompass the time between the project initial idea and the moment in which success is being assessed, which can be beyond the project close-out, using whatever criteria is appropriate for the stakeholder at that moment in time. The conventional project life cycle does not count for the long-term effects of the megaproject, which can have a significant impact on its perception of success. Thus the megaproject life cycle should include a significant part of the operational life cycle of the end product or result, and the criteria of success should include the long-term benefits of the project (measured along various years after the delivery of the end product or result). Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses three illustrative cases of megaprojects: Airbus A380, London Heathrow Terminal 5 and London Olympic Games 2012. These megaprojects, despite their problems in achieving objectives of time, cost and quality (the triple constraint), can be viewed as success or failure depending on the performance and benefits of the resulting product/infrastructure analysed over a long period of time after its delivery. Findings – In order to reconcile the usual distinction between project and product life cycle, and the various definitions of success in different moments of the project/product life cycle, the authors propose to redefine the concept of PLT to encompass the time between the project initial idea and the moment in which success is being assessed, beyond the project close-out, using any criteria which is appropriate for the stakeholder at that moment in time. Originality/value – When assessing the success of the megaproject it is important to define the PLT under which success is being assessed. As pointed out earlier, in findings, the authors propose to redefine the concept of PLT to encompass the time between the project initial idea and the moment in which success is being assessed, beyond the project close-out, using any criteria which is appropriate for the stakeholder at that moment in time.

Using a hybrid LCA method to evaluate the sustainability of sediment remediation at the London Olympic Park

Abstract Remediation operations may have a wide range of environmental, social and economic impacts not only within the physical boundary of a contaminated site and over the operational period, but also across geophysical boundaries and beyond project life cycle. Life cycle assessment (LCA) has been increasingly used by both researchers and industrial practitioners in the ongoing green and sustainable remediation movement. This paper proposes a new hybrid-LCA method. In comparison with most remediation LCA studies in literature, the proposed approach offers several advantages by: 1) expanding the system boundary and reduces truncation errors; 2) incorporating consequential benefits (i.e. tertiary impact) of remediation; and 3) covering social and economic impact in addition to environmental impact. The hybrid LCA method is built on the 123 sector input–output analytical table and environmental account for the UK. The model was augmented with additional socioeconomic data (e.g. employment, occupational health and safety) to measure social and economic impact indicators. A sediment remediation project at the London Olympic Park site was examined using this method. The hybrid LCA was found to capture an additional 32% of secondary impact in soil washing, and 8% of secondary impact in landfilling. The tertiary impact was found to be over twice the primary plus secondary impact in soil washing, and nearly 80% of the primary plus secondary impact in landfilling. The quantitative social and economic impact assessment results also provided useful information for holistic decision making, balancing project costs with social and economic benefits.

News translation as a site of framing Chinese identity: The case of Yeeyan Sport

This article examines the various devices which the translators of Yeeyan Sport employ to reframe certain narratives of China and Chinese sport that were encoded in the Western media during the convening of the 2012 London Olympics. They range from selective appropriation, labelling, temporal and spatial framing, to repositioning of participants. In so doing, we are enabled to understand the hold of ‘positioning’ over linguistic production, and particularly how the translators’ claimed position can conflict with their position which is performed in their action of framing and which is embodied in the narratives they construct in translation. It also calls attention to the role of news translation in reconstructing national identity, and particularly, how translation of sports news can be infused with ethnocentric undertones.

Descriptive Epidemiology of Paralympic Sports Injuries

Paralympic sports have seen an exponential increase in participation since 16 patients took part in the first Stoke Mandeville Games on the opening day of the 1948 London Olympic Games. More than 4,000 athletes took part in the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Few sporting events have seen such rapid evolution. This rapid pace of change also has meant challenges for understanding the injury risks of participation, not only because of the variety of sports, impairment types, the evolution of adapted equipment but also because of the inclusion of additional impairment types and development of new sports over time. Early studies were limited in scope but patterns of injuries are slowly emerging within Winter and Summer Paralympic sports. The IPC's London 2012 study is the largest to date with a prospective cohort study involving 49,910 athlete-days. The results identified large differences across sports and highlighted the need for longitudinal sport specific studies rather than solely games-time studies. This will require collaboration with international sports federations to examine injury patterns and risk factors for injury in this population to appropriately inform injury prevention strategies. Further studies will also need to address the impact of sporting participation, injury, and future health.

Is the kinematic of the trunk during the forehand in tennis still disrupted in women at one year postpartum?

The number of female athletes (♀) has shown significant growth in the recent Olympics. The percentage of ♀ has increased from 18 % in Seoul (1988) and 38 % in Sydney (2000) to 44 % in the London Olympics (2012). It is not so unusual that elite athletes have a child during their high level career. However, throughout pregnancy (P), ♀ cannot continue their training pace as before (Clapp, 2000). These influence their physical capacity and reduce their athletic performance in postpartum (PP) and / or delay the return to a pre-P performance level. In contrast, Beilock et al. (2001) show that maintaining a certain level of cardiovascular and muscle strength during P can help athletes to quickly return to competition in PP. Tennis is a sport that significantly solicits the trunk to produce its technical gestures (Ellenbecker 1996). Indeed, to a large extend, the transfer of kinetic energy from the legs to the racket depends on a suitable rotation of the trunk. The trunk is the part 'hinges' in the kinetic chain to develop and transfer the power from the legs to the racket during the strike (Roetert & Groppel 2001). Several studies on pregnant ♀ show that the trunk is the most affected part by the morphological changes during P. This is especially due to a relaxation in articulations ligaments because of the hormonal changing (Clapp et al. 1989) but also decreased activity during P. Forehand is the second most common technical gesture in tennis. It requires ‘good’ trunk rotations for its completion (Johnson, 2006). The angle of trunk rotation in the transverse plane at the end of the preparation phase is quantized to 104° (shoulder line relative to the bottom line of tennis court; Kibele et al. 2009). We hypothesize that a strengthening program centered on the trunk during P could help to quickly return to the initial level of technical performance before P.

Trading in Security: Issues in the Commodification of Public Security

In early July 2012, just a few weeks before the opening of the London Olympics on 27 July, the multinational security company G4S defaulted on its £284m contract to provide 10,400 security personnel for the event, citing recruitment and scheduling difficulties. Around 4,700 members of the armed forces had to be drafted in to cover the shortfall in security personnel (Aljazeera, 2012). Additionally, police officers engaged in Olympic security worked overtime, and other officers were placed on standby. The default cost G4S £88m in penalties and other payments such as reimbursements to the police and military to cover salaries and accommodation (Monaghan and Weardon, 2013). The share value of G4S also fell significantly in the days following the Home Secretary’s 12 July announcement of the default (Bryan-Low, 2012).

A Unified Version of London 2012: New-Media Coverage of Gender, Nationality, and Sport for Olympics Consumers in Six Countries

Traditional media coverage of the Olympic Games has been shown to exhibit biases in terms of gender, nationality, and the type of sports covered, which can contribute to negative societal consequences and inaccurate historical records of such events. Scholars have suggested that because of the Internet’s expanded spatial parameters, new media have the ability to provide more equitable coverage of events such as the Olympics. In this study, we used agenda setting theory to employ a content analysis methodology to determine whether different constructions of the 2012 London Olympics were presented to media consumers on news websites in Australia, Brazil, China, Great Britain, Kenya, and the United States. Findings indicated that very few gender, nationalistic, or sport biases existed in any of the countries’ coverage, lending credence to the notion that the Internet affords media managers with an opportunity to provide more equitable coverage and thus a more accurate depiction of events.