National Olympic Committee Research Articles

“Decisive Political Means”: International Security Cooperation and the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games

Abstract The International Olympic Committee (IOC) selected Seoul, South Korea, as the host of the 1988 Summer Olympic Games in Baden-Baden, Germany, in 1981. Due to the acrimonious history between the two nations, in particular North Korea’s bombing of a South Korean civilian airplane in 1987, fear existed that North Korea might attack the games. In response to the North Korean threat, the IOC, national governments, and national Olympic committees worked together to provide security for the 1988 Seoul Olympics. As relations between the United States and Soviet Union slowly improved, protecting the Olympics factored into arms-control discussions between the two rivals. Simultaneously, despite a long-held aversion to politics interfering with sport, the situation forced the IOC to manipulate political ties to ensure a safe Olympic Games. This system of international security cooperation had a lasting impact on Olympic security.

Sports injuries and illnesses at the Lausanne 2020 Youth Olympic Winter Games: a prospective study of 1783 athletes from 79 countries

ObjectiveTo describe the injury and illness characteristics among participating athletes during the Lausanne 2020 Youth Olympic Winter Games (YOG 2020), 9–22 January 2020.MethodsThe daily number of athlete injuries and illnesses...

Polish Participation in the 1984 Summer Olympics Boycott: The Inside Story

Scrutiny of archival documents, press materials, and testimonies from eyewitnesses reveals circumstances under which Poland joined the boycott of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. The politically motivated decision not to send the athletes to California arose due to Poland’s dependence on the USSR. As early as in May 1982 Moscow outlined the instruction for all Eastern Bloc states concerning a propaganda campaign aimed at contesting organizational preparations for the 1984 Summer Olympics. Intensification of the efforts took place in months directly preceding the event. Finally, the Soviet authorities declared the boycott on May 8, 1984. Poland did so nine days later. Still the Polish communists tried to keep up appearances. They announced the members of the National Olympic Committee had made the crucial decision. This way the ruling political circles made a scapegoat of the institution. De facto, it was a communist Polish United Workers’ Party decision. The roots of the affair dated back to the United States-led boycott of the Moscow Olympics, which had taken place in 1980. A glance at the episode enables to put the main story into a relevant historical context. The 1984 communist countries’ withdrawals were mere retaliatory enterprises, typical of the Cold War reality.

Ambush Marketing and Rule 40 for Tokyo 2020: A Shifting Landscape for Olympic Athletes and Their Sponsors

This study explores the historical development of the regulatory landscape related to Olympic and Paralympic athlete marketing activities, together with current restrictions imposed on athlete marketing, and discusses potential legal challenges to these restrictions. Specifically, this study analyzed various countries’ Rule 40 Tokyo 2020 guidance through a trans-national lens by comparing and contrasting the different approaches found in various national Olympic committees’ legal frameworks to combat ambush marketing. The potential legal challenges to the United States Olympic Commititee’s enforcement of new Rule 40 guidance are highlighted, with particular focus on discussing the restrictions and enforcement rights contained within the personal sponsor commitment agreement within the United States for the postponed Tokyo 2020 Games. Critical analysis of the potential impact of enforcing this agreement within the broader Olympic intellectual property and brand protection frameworks for Olympic stakeholders in the US is provided.

Suicidal thoughts (ideation) among elite athletics (track and field) athletes: associations with sports participation, psychological resourcefulness and having been a victim of sexual and/or physical abuse

ObjectiveTo examine associations between suicidal ideation and sexual and physical abuse among active and recently retired elite athletics (track and field) athletes.MethodsThe study population consisted of all athletes (n=402) selected...

Protecting the world’s finest athletes: periodic health evaluation practices of the top performing National Olympic Committees from the 2016 Rio or 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Games

AimTo describe the periodic health evaluation (PHE) practices of the top performing National Olympic Committees (NOCs).MethodsWe sent a survey to NOCs finishing in the top 8 for medal count at...

Sudden Cardiac Death in Athletes in Italy during 2019: Internet-Based Epidemiological Research.

Background and objectives: An Italian nationwide pre-participation screening approach for prevention of sudden cardiac death in athletes (SCD-A) in competitive sportspeople showed promising results but did not achieve international consensus, due to cost-effectiveness and the shortfall of a monitoring plan. From this perspective, we tried to provide an epidemiological update of SCD-A in Italy through a year-long internet-based search. Materials and Methods: One year-long Google search was performed using mandatory and non-mandatory keywords. Data were collected according to prevalent SCD-A definition and matched with sport-related figures from Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) and Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI). Results: Ninety-eight cases of SCD-A in 2019 were identified (48.0% competitive, 52.0% non-competitive athletes). Male/female ratio was 13:1. The most common sports were soccer (33.7%), athletics (15.3%) and fitness (13.3%). A conclusive diagnosis was achieved only in 37 cases (33 of cardiac origin), with the leading diagnosis being coronary artery disease in 27 and a notably higher occurrence among master athletes. Combining these findings with ISTAT and CONI data, the SCD-A incidence rate in the whole Italian sport population was found to be 0.47/100,000 persons per year (1.00/100,000 in the competitive and 0.32/100,000 in the non-competitive population). The relative risk of SCD-A is 3.1 (CI 2.1–4.7; p < 0.0001) for competitive compared to non-competitive athletes; 9.9 for male (CI 4.6–21.4; p < 0.0001) with respect to female. Conclusions: We provided an updated incidence rate of SCD-A in both competitive and non-competitive sport in Italy. A higher risk of SCD-A among competitive and male athletes was confirmed, thus corroborating the value of Italian pre-participation screening in this population.

Predrag Manojlović - nacionalna misija vizionara sporta - prilog upravljanju olimpijskim razvojem

In the period from 2001 to 2009, a conscious effort was taken in Serbia on many occasions aimed at determining the ways of development of as many factors of the national sports system (NSS) and its associated environment as possible. The term "national mission of a sports visionary" in the title of this editorial indicates that the changes occurred thanks to the individual person. Using ex-post consideration of available material and through inductive reasoning, while striving to realize the vision of Predrag Manojlović, a scholar of progress and development in this field, the paper aimed at reaching conclusions about the professional and scientific foundation of changes in the NSS and the National Olympic Committee (NOC). In order to avoid a subjective approach to inferencing, the analyzed documents were compared with the results presented in periodicals of the same period in terms of their meaning, terminology, timeliness, action plans, etc. The results of this qualitative analysis should also be understood as a contribution to Olympic studies, namely to the subfield of thereof - Management of Olympic Development. While reflecting on Manojlović's work, numerous examples of good practice models have been identified, which, through analysis of their wider meaning, have been classified into clusters of an innovative approach to sports organization and management: (1) NOC and its development, (2) an Athlete, (3) NSS and its development, (4) Sports coach, (5) Sponsors and donors, (6) the Republic of Serbia, (7) the Society of the Republic of Serbia, (8) Human resources for sports of the 21st century, (9) Multisport competitions, (10) Olympic studies and competencies of a leader of Olympic development, (11) International cooperation and the agenda of sports developments in Europe. The singularity of Manojlović, as a leader, stems from his open-mindedness. As a leader of Olympic development, his qualities were especially spirituality, morality, education, intelligence, comradery. He was dedicated to his task and aspired for achieving excellence, he was also brave, innovative, resolute, fair, discerning, reasonable, and principled. In the area of his work, Predrag Manojlović was ''Aretes'' - a true Olympian, an exceptional man, and his achievements in the field of sports stand out in many ways.

Rvanje - srpska olimpijska vrednost

Wrestling in Serbia has a long tradition and has had considerable accomplishments. According to the number of medals won at the Olympic Games, wrestling is the most successful sport in Serbia. The continuity of medal winning at big wrestling competitions was interrupted with the imposition of sanctions to SR Yugoslavia (1992). After the crisis that was conditioned by sport sanctions, a new 'golden age of wrestling' in Serbia started in 2007. Since then wrestlers have won 30 medals in senior category and 17 in pioneer, cadet, junior and young senior categories, at the major international championships. The wrestling club 'Partizan' triumphed in the Champion League. The key factors to the success were young talented wrestlers, development of coaching structure, organization of international competitions, financing the highest results by the state and the national Olympic committee, but also the activity and leadership of a sport official Nenad Lalović. It is natural to expect the continuity of success to be maintained, and one priority in the following period ought to be a construction of a national wrestling training centre, which would enable continuous practice, expansion of the wrestling base, implementation of scientific monitoring methods, formulation and dissemination of training methods.

Associated factors of ECG abnormalities in black athletes at Brazzaville (Republic of the Congo)

To determine the associated factors of ECG abnormalities in athletes at Brazzaville (Republic of the Congo). This cross-sectional study was conducted from April to August 2019 at the sport medical center of Alphonse Massamba-Débat stadium in Brazzaville. Included athletes were affiliated with national federations of disciplines recognized by the National Olympic Committee, aged from 12 to 35 years old, and have received a clinical examination and a resting ECG. A total of 436 athletes were involved, including 334 males (76.6%). The mean age was 21.9 ± 5.1 years (range 12 and 35 years). The sports concerned were: handball ( n = 137), football ( n = 94), taekwondo ( n = 57), basketball ( n = 54). The average weekly training duration was 8.6 ± 2.6 hours. The average duration of sports practice was 5.5 ± 4.5 years. ECG showed abnormalities in 382 athletes (87.6%), including 56.2% physiological abnormalities, 7.8% borderline abnormalities and 23.6% pathological abnormalities. In the multivariate analysis, associated factors with the abnormalities were male sex (adjusted OR 4.4, 95%CI 2.3-8.6, p < 0.001) and endurance sport, in particular: football (adjusted OR 2.4, 95%CI 1.2-11.7, P = 0.03), marathon (adjusted OR 2.5, 95%CI 1.4-14.7, P = 0.02) and volleyball (adjusted OR 4.2, 95%CI 1.7-3.3, P = 0.04). The study reports many ECG abnormalities among athletes in Brazzaville. These abnormalities should be explored by cardiac ultrasound and other methods of exploring heart, to identify athletes at risk of sudden death.

EXTRAJUDICIAL INSTITUTIONS IN RESOLUTION OF SPORTS DISPUTES

The article analyzes extrajudicial instances for resolving sports disputes, identifies their role and advantagesover courts. It is noted that in practice, sports relations cannot exist without disputes, and the latter can take placebetween athletes, on the one hand, and coaches, sports organizations, mediators, etc., on the other hand; betweenathletes (on both sides), or when an individual athlete is not a party to the dispute at all. It is established that the mostcommon disputes today are about objective judging, anti-doping, fair play.As a result of the analysis of literature sources, it was found that in all national federations of Ukraine orassociations (except the Football Federation) such specialized bodies, as a rule, do not exist. The executive bodiesof the federation are empowered to resolve disciplinary disputes, and the powers to review them on appeal arevested in higher governing bodies (for example, congresses, conferences, general meetings). This provokes situationswhere sports disputes are considered by federation leaders who do not have the appropriate legal education, or evenhave a legal education but do not have relevant experience in resolving such disputes, which negatively affects thequality of sports disputes, as often unfair decisions are made or those that contradict the regulations of internationalfederations in certain sports.The work of such an independent international arbitration body as the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which isauthorized to resolve sports or sports-related disputes, is analyzed. These disputes are divided into two groups; GroupI includes commercial disputes arising from contractual relations between professional clubs, between clubs andathletes, sports agents, disputes over the specifics of transfer activities, agreements on the transfer or distributionof television and other media rights, etc., and group II – disciplinary disputes considered by the Court of Arbitrationfor Sport as a court of the first instance or a court of appeal in the case of a dispute between national authorities.It is concluded that to protect the rights and legitimate interests of sports entities, there is an extensivesystem of national and international out-of-court bodies for resolving sports disputes. Despite this, Ukraine has anunderdeveloped system of such bodies, as only the football sphere has an effective mechanism for resolving sportsdisputes at the national level, and therefore there is a significant need to establish a Sports Arbitration Court underthe National Olympic Committee of Ukraine to protect the rights of other sports.

Branding a Nation with Sport: The Importance of Collaborative Strategies

Sport (e.g., mega event, athlete, traditional sport, facility) can be an effective tool for nation branding. Nation branding with sport is a complex process with multiple organizations involved (e.g., National Olympic Committee, Organizing Committee, Ministry of Sport). With focus on collaborative relations and the case of Korea, this study explores the branding strategies of key organizations involved in promoting a nation’s brand through sport and investigates the current and ideal collaborative relations among the organizations with document analysis, interviews, and a simplified MACTOR analysis. Based on the findings, suggestions are made for better utilization of sport in nation branding and for developing collaborative strategies.

The Effect Of Work Ethics On Reinforcing Knowledge Administration in Iraqi National Olympic Committee

The researcher studies the effect of work ethics on knowledge administration in the Iraqi national Olympic committee. The research tries to answer questions like what ethics should be concentrated on to develop administration in sports foundations. The researcher studied effects and relationships to conclude that work ethics are excellent in reinforcing knowledge administration in members of the Iraqi national Olympic committee as well as the presence of a significant correlation relationship between work ethics and knowledge administration.

Hinge point fibrosis is highly prevalent in male elite water polo players

Abstract Background/Introduction The grey zone between cardiac adaptation to sports and exercise and (early stages of) cardiac pathology constitutes one of the greatest challenges for clinicians involved in the care for (elite level) athletes. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) with late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) is a central diagnostic tool to help differentiate between physiological adaptation and pathology. LGE as seen in myocardial fibrosis has been shown to be a strong predictor for cardiac events. While general (ie. dynamic, static sports) levels of physiological adaptation in athletes have been described, sports-specific CMR findings are essentially lacking, and a systematic sport-specific investigation of LGE is absent. Purpose To establish a sports-specific baseline for CMR indices in apparently healthy, male elite water polo players. Methods We performed a cross-sectional study in Olympic-level male water polo players. All athletes were asymptomatic and were examined during pre-participation screening. The athletes underwent a comprehensive CMR protocol consisting of long- and short-axis cine imaging, LGE and was performed on two 3 Tesla MRI-scanners (Philips). CMR data were analysed using Circle Cardiovascular Imaging software, and statistical analyses were performed in R. Results We screened 24 athletes with a mean age (±SD) of 24.2±3.6 years and body surface area (BSA) of 2.23±0.2 m2. The athletes had indexed end-diastolic volumes of 101.87±33.01 ml and 104.51±43.24 ml, stroke volumes of 140.70±33.23 and 139.44±29.93 ml, and ejection fractions of 56.68±9.07% and 52.98±8.18%, in the left- and right ventricle, respectively. Thirteen athletes (54.2%) had LGE consistent with hinge point fibrosis (HPF+) (one case example presented in the figure). Another two athletes had other patterns of LGE (LGE+). There was a trend towards having a smaller BSA in the LGE+ and HPF+ groups (2.18±0.17 m2 in LGE+ vs 2.31±0.10 m2 in LGE−, p=0.056, and 2.18±0.18 m2 in HPF+ vs 2.29±0.10 m2 in HPF−, p=0.072). Conclusion Myocardial fibrosis is present in more than 50% of asymptomatic elite water polo players, with a predilection for the inferior hinge point. Our findings in asymptomatic elite athletes suggest that HPF could be a normal finding in athletes instead of an early sign of pathology. Further studies are warranted to investigate if the HPF is associated with long-term cardiac changes or the development of cardiac pathology. Figure 1. Late gadolinium enhanced short axis image (left) combined with a polar map of cardiac segmentation (right) depicting the fibrosis pattern in a case of an elite male water polo player alongside the inferior hinge point - as expressed in the percentage of myocardium exceeding the mean signal intensity of reference myocardium plus six-times standard deviation. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: Public grant(s) – National budget only. Main funding source(s): Harald Jørstad has received funding from the Amsterdam Movement Sciences and the National Olympic Committee &amp; National Sports Federation

Measuring Olympics Achievements via Stochastic Multicriteria Acceptability Analysis

The lexicographic and sum ranking systems are two widely-used instruments to measure Olympics achievements. However, the lexicographic ranking system is typically criticized as overvaluing gold medals, while the sum ranking system is particularly criticized as devaluing gold medals and incapable of discriminating National Olympic Committees (NOCs) with identical total number of medals. Meanwhile, there are controversial scoring schemes to assign points to gold, silver and bronze medals. In addition, measuring Olympics achievements in either the Winter or the Summer Olympic Games is unfair to the NOCs who perform significantly different at both Olympics. These issues are addressed in this study by developing a sophisticated mathematical transformation without the exact weights determination to aggregate the lexicographic ranking system in an interval metric. An interval decision matrix is therefore formulated under the simultaneous consideration of the Winter and the Summer Olympics. A Stochastic multicriteria acceptability analysis method is finally utilized to provide a robust measurement with sufficient discriminating power. Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients are calculated to indicate the merits of our method. The proposed method and relative analysis are demonstrated using the date drawn from the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics and the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics.

Олімпійський спорт у системі гуманітарної освіти (український досвід)

The extreme popularity of the Olympic sport, its exceptional historical and cultural heritage, multifaceted and impressive modernity, rich not only in bright and dynamic sports events but also permeated by extensive links with politics, economics, education, upbringing, ecology, modern technology, create wide opportunities to use the Olympic Movement and the Olympic Games as an arena for diverse humanistic and humanities education. Objective. To highlight some constituents of the Ukrainian experience of using the Olympic sport humanistic potential as one of the means for the education system modernization. Methods. Analysis of literature sources, documentary materials, surveys, synthesis, and generalization. Results. Ukraine is one of the world leaders in the organization of the Olympic studies, the dissemination of the ideas of Olympism, and the development of materials that allow the use of the Olympic sport achievements in humanities education. Recognition of our country’s achievements in research on the Olympic topics and dissemination of the Olympic ideas and values became possible due to active cooperation of the Olympic Academy of Ukraine with the National University of Physical Education and Sport of Ukraine and the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine. The main components of a comprehensive approach to addressing the use of the Olympic sport achievements in the humanities education of youth at the National University of Physical Education and Sport of Ukraine include the introduction of the «Olympic and professional sport» educational specialty; the opening of the Department of the Olympic sport and the «Olympic sport and education» Master’s Degree course, organization of international scientific congresses and conferences; creation of the «Olympic Literature» Publishing House and the Educational and Scientific Olympic Institute; powerful research activities, the result of which is the publication of numerous fundamental works on the Olympic themes; establishing business contacts with leading international scientific institutions dealing with various aspects of the Olympic sport and the Olympic education.

Corruption in the field of international and Russian sport

The article is a response to the current scientific research of Professor S. V. Maksimov, dedicated to the problems of corruption in the field of international sports. Analyzing the conceptual apparatus, such categories as "sports competition", "organizer of sports competition", exploring the range of unofficial and official international sports events, the status of the organizers of international official sports competitions and paying attention to corruption factors in the activities of the International Olympic Committee, S. V. Maksimov, limited by the scope of his work, is forced to ignore the activities of international sports federations and national Olympic committees.&#x0D; The author fills this gap by analyzing the activities of the Russian Olympic Committee, the International swimming Federation, and the all-Russian swimming Federation. Supporting the thesis of S. V. Maksimov that athletes are the "weak side" of the Olympic movement, whose rights and legitimate interests are not properly guaranteed, the author identified the problems of mass sports in Russia, the difficulties of material and technical support for sports teams, the lack of funding for swimmers in the regions, the lack of sports schools and sports pools, flaws in the legislative regulation of assigning sports categories. Such problems are partly caused by corruption in Russian sports and generate injustice.&#x0D; The author agrees with S. V. Maksimov position that it is necessary to adopt a comprehensive UN Convention on sport and improve anti-corruption criminal law bans in the criminal code of the Russian Federation. It also seems appropriate to adopt the principles and provisions of the new Code of ethics of the International Olympic Committee, adopted in 2017, at the national and regional level.

Life after doping—A cross-country analysis of organisational support for sanctioned athletes

AimThis article investigates the available support services/interventions offered by sporting organisations worldwide for athletes facing career transitions resulting from suspensions due to violating anti-doping policy. The authors aim to provide an overview of existing support systems and raise an awareness of the need of customised and structured support for sanctioned athletes as part of duty of care in sport, MethodWeb-based data was initially collected. Following this we contacted each sport organisation by email with a request to answer prepared research questions. Fifty sport organisations were contacted, including the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and National Olympic Committees (NOCs). The data from 22 sport organisations representing five continents are presented. ResultsThe data are presented under five main themes: Termination of support, Psychological support, Financial support, Informative support, and Development in progress. The central finding is that none of the sporting organisations in this study has established a structured support programme or system for supporting doping sanctioned athletes to date. ConclusionIn most cases sanctioned athletes are simply cut off from all organisational support and left to cope on their own when they are likely to be vulnerable. We argue there is a need for better awareness and support programmes of the challenges faced by athletes following a competition ban or other forced exit from sport due to an anti-doping violation.

An exploration of the institutional environment of the National Olympic Academies by following a mixed method approach

Within the present framework of the Olympic Charter (2019) the International Olympic Committee (IOC) supports educational issues through the International Olympic Academy (IOA), the National Olympic Committees (NOCs), and the National Olympic Academies (NOAs). However, there are a number of de facto variations in the arrangements adopted in different national settings. To that end this study seeks to identify the organisations within the institutional environment of the NOAs and how these determine the strategy and the decisions made by NOAs. How does the environment affect the effective operation of the IOA, and of the NOAs in the Olympic academy system? In order to address this question, an archival research along with a set of exploratory semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 key stakeholders from the IOC (4), IOA (2), NOAs (8), Academics (5). The archival research along with thematic analysis of the interview data, provided themes to be incorporated into a questionnaire conducted with NOA officials (response rate 67.8% - 99 of the 146 registered NOAs) focusing on the strategic and organizational factors involved in their functioning. The paper highlights future amendments and changes and a number of ways in which the IOC and the IΟΑ can respond to NOA’s needs and expectations.

Nelson Paillou et la transformation du handball en France (1942–1982) : Entre discours et réalités

Nelson Paillou can be considered a major sports leader of the second half of 20th century France. He was president of the French Handball Federation from 1964 to 1982, vice-president and eventually president of the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF) from 1971 to 1993, and a key person in the foundation of the French association for violence-free sport and fair play. Based on printed sources and on personal as well as institutional archives, this article questions the role Paillou played in the development of French sport. First, Paillou worked to introduce and disseminate handball in France, and he developed a policy to enable masses of people to learn to play handball across the country. As such, he targeted the French youth and founded a national executive for handball technique in order to structure the supervision of players of all levels, from initiation up to the elite level. Second, Nelson Paillou also contributed to the recognition and visibility of handball in France and at European and international levels. He developed a significant communication policy and assured a remarkable presence at all handball events in order to reinforce his choices in terms of management and diffusion of the game. Finally, it appears that during the second half of the 20th century, Paillou, who strongly supported the ideals of Pierre de Coubertin, emerged as a promotor of humanist values in sport and in handball. His position against sponsors and some kind of professionalism was overcome with difficulties but it was necessary to open French handball to the international field. Paillou presented himself as an ambiguous French sports leader who sometimes took contradictory decisions. However, Paillou’s resolutions reflected the choices of an opportunistic leader in front of the transformation of sport in a period marked by the arrival of show business and professionalism.