Olympic Legacy Research Articles

Heritage, urban form and spatial resignification in the production of sustainable Olympic legacies: an urban design analysis of the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games

The Olympic Games have been associated with many urban transformation projects throughout their history, often focusing on city expansion. Recent sustainability concerns, however, constitute a pressing challenge, with the regeneration of central areas fulfilling a key role in existing urban agendas. In this paper, the legacy of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at two proposed centralities was analysed, namely, the Olympic Park, intended as a future neighbourhood to the west of the city, and Porto Maravilha (PM), an urban project aimed at revitalizing a central, historical area of the city. By comparing the Olympic Park and the first provided areas in PM, in terms of selecting urban design criteria through qualitative in loco assessments, this paper focused on analysing the impacts of urban forms and heritage on the consolidation of these two centralities, as well as encouraging social interaction and integration into the city. The analysis results indicated that urban design attributes such as human-scaled, mixed-use, context-based urban spaces could interfere with social interaction and the usability of spaces. Moreover, the repurposing of heritage buildings contributed to urban cohesion for legacy transformation. Hence, novel insights into urban design and heritage could become important for future editions of the Olympics so that host cities may fulfil their sustainability agendas.

Detecting the Olympic tourism legacy: a data-driven approach

ABSTRACT This research applies a data-driven approach for identifying changes in time series to model the Olympic tourism legacy. Measuring potential legacy effects from mega-sporting events has been problematic in prior research. Issues revolve around how to measure tourism, how to control for pre-existing trends, and how to account for extraneous events affecting tourism unrelated to the Olympics. Most problematic for analytical models is determining when the tourism legacy begins and what is the functional form of the tourism legacy. Many of these issues interact and can confound results leading to erroneous conclusions. The seminal methodology developed by Tsay [(1988). Outliers, level shifts, and variance changes in time series. Journal of Forecasting, 7(1), 1–20] requires no prior assumption about the timing or functional forms of the outliers, therefore solving these issues and provides a framework that can be used when analysing mega-sporting event legacies. Using this methodology, the research finds limited support for a short-term Olympic tourism legacy and no support for a long-term tourism legacy.

Transforming “white elephants” into positive legacies for cities: An assessment of the sustainability of winter Olympic venues and its implications

AbstractAs major attractions for host cities, mega‐event venues have the potential to generate revenue and attract new events, create job and business opportunities, and drive urban innovation and transformation. However, they are often criticized for being unsustainable due to high resource and energy consumption, potential environmental pollution, large construction and operating costs, and insufficient usage post‐event. Winter Olympic venues, in particular, are frequently situated in ecologically sensitive areas and are more exclusive, leading to higher maintenance and conversion costs as well as greater ecological risks. Until now, studies examining the sustainability of large‐scale winter venues have been lacking. In this study, a multi‐dimensional conceptual model was developed to include ecological, social, and economic aspects, and the scorecard method was used to quantitatively evaluate the sustainability of venues from six Winter Olympic Games held between 1998 and 2018. The results show that the overall sustainability of the venues is at a medium level, with relatively high ecological sustainability. Additionally, the sustainability of the venues has improved over time, while the economic dimension of sustainability has decreased. Furthermore, indicators that hinder the sustainability of Winter Olympic venues were identified, and strategies from ecological, social, and economic dimensions were proposed to improve their sustainability. This study enriched the knowledge of Olympic legacies and sustainable venues, providing theoretical implications for the assessment of venue sustainability and practical implications for the construction and utilization of sports facilities as sustainable city infrastructure.

Rudolph Brilloff, the Olympic Games, and Salto Mortale in Circus Performances in the Grand Duchy of Posen

Introduction: In 1839 the Gazeta Wielkiego Xięstwa Poznańskiego (Gazette of the Grand Duchy of Posen) announced the holding of the Olympic Games in the city of Posen by Rudolph Brilloff’s circus troupe. The aim of this study is to examine the role of Rudolph Brilloff in the history of nineteenth-century circus and to ascertain whether he consciously advocated for the organization of Olympic Games in circus format as part of the legacy of the Olympic tradition. Moreover, it aims to explore the distinctive characteristics of his circus performances within the realm of the Grand Duchy of Posen. Materials and Methods: The study used the historical methodology of the humanities of physical culture. Books, newspapers and other documents from archives and library collections in Poznan, Berlin and Potsdam were consulted. Findings: The research results show that although Rudolph Brilloff is considered the father of the German circus, little biographical information about him has survived. As a talented circus entrepreneur, who performed with his troupe under the name of the Olympic Games, he probably had little awareness or knowledge of the Olympic idea and therefore did not intend to promote it. However, Brilloff’s circus staged unique performances in the form of pantomimes or feats rarely seen in Poland before due to their dangerous nature, e.g. the salto mortale, also known as the leap of death. Summary: Rudolph Brilloff can be regarded as the forgotten father of German circus and should not be directly associated with the question of the Olympic legacy. However, Brilloff’s work had a real impact on nineteenth-century society and certainly contributed to other circuses expanding their repertoires with new elements based on various physical activities, ultimately leading to the development of modern circus art.

Olympic Public Transportation Investments, Legacy, and City Prosperity: An Empirical Look at the 2000-2016 Summer Games

The complexity of hosting the Olympic Games has grown throughout its history. The financial risks to cities vying for the hosting rights are often viewed as excessive and consequently, fewer bids are being submitted in modern times. Critics suggest that public funds would be better spent supporting other social programs. However, history has demonstrated that host cities can use the Games to expand and modernize public transport systems to efficiently move people, increase accessibility, reduce personal travel and garner environmental benefits like improved air quality and less noise pollution. The authors examined the five Summer Olympic Games host cities between 2000-2016 using the City Prosperity Index (CPI) to measure city performance across six indexes to determine the accrued public transit benefits of hosting the Games. The authors hope this paper can provide a clear path forward for future Olympic bidders and city officials. Keywords: Olympic Games, City Prosperity Index, public transportation, investments

Examining the Olympic Education’s Legacy on the Teacher Community: A Case Study of the Transforma Program

Hosting the Olympic Games may result in learning skills and add educational value for the host region. Based on the legacy framework proposed by Koenigstorfer et al., the current study examines the Olympic legacy on personal experiences, training/information, networking, and skill development of teachers. The case study was conducted in the context of Rio 2016 Olympic Games, and data were collected among teachers who attended the Transforma Program, through an online questionnaire (n = 617). The results of a structural equation model indicate that the Olympic legacy measured through four factors contributed positively to the educational development of teachers as well as to their Olympic knowledge. This study reveals the importance of Olympic education, arguing that when Olympism is embedded into educational practices, positive consequences can occur and contribute to positive education legacy.

S14-5 Girls Active and Change4Life Sports Club - two effective programmes to increase physical activity in schools and colleges

Abstract Purpose Girls Active aims to tackle declining participation in physical activity of girls aged 10 to 18 and its associated implications on health, wellbeing and education. Change4Life Sports Clubs are designed to address inactivity in 7 to 11 year olds and improve healthy lifestyle behaviours with exercise, food and hydration. Both projects aim to reduce physical inactivity of those children suffering the greatest challenges to achieving the recommended daily physical activity level of an average of 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity every day. Project description Both programmes were developed from evidence reviews and principles that work to engage, inspire and motivate targeted groups of children to be active. They were both developed by the children’s charity Youth Sport Trust, who have used sport and play to improve the lives of children and young people since 1995. They were co-designed with children and implemented through a national network of 450 School Games Organisers. Youth Sports Trust’s ‘content, delivery, structure’ model was used. For Girls Active we used the Active Lives Children Data from Sport England and Change4Life Sports Clubs were aligned to the Department of Health’s National Child Measurement Programme data to target where the programmes were most needed and to ensure that the right groups of children and young people were included in the interventions. Both programmes have been externally evaluated through academic partners using pre and post survey data, case studies and control elements and achieved high quality evidence scores. Both programmes have been scaled through a variety of funding streams including London 2012 Olympic Legacy, Sport England Lottery, Corporate Social Responsibility budgets and local public health funding. Girls Active has been adopted in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Conclusions We will share the evidence-based principles that have made these two approaches highly effective in addressing inactivity in primary school aged children and adolescent girls that can be applied in multiple contexts and will share resources and content that can be accessed following the session.

Spatio-Temporal Network Analysis of the Impact of Mega Event-Based Development: The 2018 Winter Olympic Host City (Gangneung, South Korea) Case

Background and objective: Although mega-events are generally expected to have both short-and long-term lasting favorable effects on host cities, few quantitative studies have investigated this impact based on demand-oriented evidences and through a phased data collection. This study examines the case of Gangneung, a Winter Olympic host city, in order to identify the extent to which the effects of the Olympics are durable.Methods: City map survey was conducted 48 times for 527 visitors for a year and half for visitation pattern observation. In order to investigate the temporal impact of the Olympic event and seasonality, attraction visitation network for seven periods are compared based on using Network density comparison analysis. In addition, a regression analysis-a QAP (Quadratic Assignment Procedure) was followed to examine different factors affecting network formation.Results: As the Winter Olympics were taking place mainly around the Olympic Park, the visitation network results displayed very strong connections among the Olympic park, the Northern coast, and the Southern city’s downtown. However, except the major connections, all other connecting strengths were presented with noticeably weaker strengths when compared to the pre-Olympic period. After the Olympics, the edge strengths were restored to levels similar to those of the pre-Olympic period and, the most noticeable change was the reduced gap between the strongest and weakest attraction group, indicating that the edge strengths tend to distribute equally. Another change was that the strengths of connections to the Olympic Park became stronger, indicating that the Olympic legacy was included as one of the touristic attractions. The results of the following season indicated that the connections among the Northern and Eastern coasts, the Western historical sites, and the Southern downtown area remained strong and connections to the downtown became more prominent with new powerful attraction points.Conclusion: The longitudinal observations revealed that there is a noticeable durable impact of hosting the Olympics. To some extent, Olympic hosting and the KTX railway construction seem to have changed tourist visitation patterns. Although the results warn that the expectation of spillover and durable effect can be hasty, the following results imply that the redevelopment project induced by a mega event has brought the changes and reorganized the travel pattern in small city. This also provides evidence that mega-event impact sometimes lags behind the city government and local community’s schedule, which explains the need for a long-term evaluation.

Now what? An assessment of perceived legacies post-Olympic cycle

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the post-event perceptions of Rio de Janeiro residents regarding the legacies left to them from hosting the 2016 Olympic Games. Additionally, this study examines how perceptions of Olympic legacies differed amongst demographic groups.Design/methodology/approachUtilizing a mixed-methods approach, participants were asked to complete a survey questionnaire and answer three open-ended questions. An adapted version of Fredline et al. (2003)'s General Scale to Measure Social Impacts (GSMSI) was selected for this study. In total, 156 useable responses were collected. An exploratory factor analysis was utilized for the survey items while the three open-ended questions were coded abductively as positive, negative or mixed feelings.FindingsThe quantitative results shows that Rio residents believe that hosting the 2016 Olympic Games had a mostly negative impact on their perception of legacies. Through reading open-ended responses, participants expressed disappointment over the legacies left to them. These findings suggest that hosting the Olympic Games may not have been beneficial to the life of Rio de Janeiro residents, and it may have been particularly worse for members of the middle class.Originality/valueDue to the recency of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, a few studies have explored the long-term legacies left to the local population. However, the uniqueness of this study lays on the perceptions of legacies from hosting the Rio 2016 after a full Olympic cycle has passed.

올림픽 유산(Legacy)에 대한 개최지 주민의 인식: 2018평창동계올림픽을 중심으로

올림픽 유산(Legacy)에 대한 개최지 주민의 인식: 2018평창동계올림픽을 중심으로

How has the Olympic legacy transformed the heart of East London? Understanding socio-economic exclusions and disproportionate COVID-19 impact on minoritised communities through a rights-based perspective.

This research paper explores the experience of British-Bangladeshi and Black African Caribbean communities living in the areas surrounding London's Olympic Park, in terms of how they are appropriating the legacy-led socio-spatial changes, applying Lefebvre's right to the city perspective. Highlighting the top-down legacy-led regeneration process, the empirical evidence suggests that the games-led regeneration is contributing to an unjust trade-off between pre-existing minoritised ethnic residents and wealthier gentrifiers, ignoring the real needs of the socially and economically disadvantaged ethnic minority communities in East London. The findings provide a further understanding of factors such as housing and health-related inequalities and sub-standard living conditions, which may have contributed to the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on the Bangladeshi and African Caribbean people living in East London boroughs. Given the scale of the pandemic, the paper argues that a greater understanding of the socio-structural problems and barriers arising out of poverty and deprivation is needed in order to formulate appropriate policy interventions to reduce disproportionate social, economic and health-related impacts on some minoritised communities, which could be achieved through residents' active participation and appropriation at different stages of the legacy-led regeneration process.

Sustainable Planning for the Olympic Legacy

Sustainable Planning for the Olympic Legacy

Pseudo-Olympics in California: From Circus Shows and Local Sports Competitions to a Mass Statewide Event

Since Pierre de Coubertin’s revival of the modern Olympic games, the state of California has hosted the Olympics three times and is currently preparing for the games in Los Angeles in 2028. This paper attempts to add to the history of California’s Olympic legacy by examining the period prior to 1896 and demonstrating that the Olympic idea had been firmly rooted in California long before the revival of the modern Olympic games and the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. Themes alluding to the Olympic idea had been exploited in California as early as the mid-nineteenth century, i.e. the time of the US annexation. In 1893 the Olympic Club in San Francisco organized the Ancient Greco-Roman Games with a statewide impact. The association of those spectacles with ancient Greek art or games attests to Californians’ awareness of ancient athletics and to the significant role of the San Francisco events in a historical perspective. As the years passed the knowledge about sports with Olympic associations increased among Californians, and the 1893 Ancient Greco-Roman Games in San Francisco can be successfully considered the largest pseudo-Olympic sports event before the 1896 Summer Olympics.

Olympic legacy: Analyzing the destination development case factors

Olympic legacy: Analyzing the destination development case factors

Rio 2016 Olympic Legacy for Residents of Favelas: Revisiting the Case of Vila Autódromo Five Years Later

The aim of this research was to explore and describe the long-term social impact the Rio 2016 Olympic gentrification had in Vila Autódromo from the perspective of former and current residents. Vila Autódromo is a small favela located next to the Rio 2016 Olympic Park. It was almost totally removed during the process of preparing the area to host the Games. In this research, I interviewed 13 residents who passed through the process of eviction threats and displacement. Five still live in Vila Autódromo, whilst eight moved to social apartments provided by the city hall. Interviews revealed that the legacy of Rio 2016 for Vila Autódromo residents can be understood from three broad themes: (1) disempowerment of the community, (2) resistance and resilience during the process, and (3) life after the Games. The residents see the city hall as the main culprit of their displacement, as they were denied their right to the city. However, they also mention the catalytic role of the Olympic Games during the process. They conclude that the legacy of Rio 2016 for them is a very sad story.

Sustainable land use and green ecology: A case from the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics venue legacy

According to the Olympic Charter, the construction of new permanent venues or infrastructure for the purposes of the organization of the Olympics shall only be considered on the basis of sustainable legacy plans. However, as time passes, the Olympic legacies grow increasingly unsustainable and create conflicts between humans and nature. This perspective examined the spatial distribution of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics venue legacy. We presented a spatial assessment of Olympic venues’ legacy experience in terms of construction and sustainability. The findings indicate that the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics venues incorporated sustainable land management and green ecology concepts from the Olympic Movement, and that the legacy could serve as an example for future development of Olympic infrastructure, natural sites, and resource management.

“I want to bring this light to those in despair” – the Tokyo 2020 torch relay and the creation of Olympic legacies

ABSTRACT Mega sport events like the Olympic Games leave their marks on hosting nations and often become important lieux de mémoire in the history of a nation. In this article, I will analyze the Tokyo 2020 torch relay as a highly ritualistic and highly choreographed act that creates a space of and for symbolic practices and performances, and I will use it as a case study to show how the torch relay contributes to the creation of an Olympic legacy in Japan. My argument is divided into four sections. In each section, I will focus on a different area of the “microcosm of the torch relay” to shed light on chosen official strategies and efforts of Japanese politics, the IOC, the JOC, and the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee to create a 2020 Olympics narrative and future legacies. At the same time, I will challenge these efforts, strategies, and practices in terms of underlying intentions, hidden agendas, their impact and (failed) success by examining some of the many obstacles, opposing voices, and counter-narratives along the way of the torch relay, as well as how the micro-narratives of individual torch bearers may be the most enduring memories of the Tokyo 2020 torch relay.

A Case Study of the Sustainability Narratives in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics

Abstract: The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics faced many difficulties in the field of sustainable development. These included the reduced attractiveness of the Olympic Games as well as a certain prejudice and misunderstanding that China faces, coming mainly from western society. Encouraged by the Olympic slogan "Together to the Future", Beijing developed new technologies and explored new ideas in order to better integrate sports, economy and culture, and promote the sustainable development of the games. Taking the Winter Olympics as an opportunity, Beijing improved its sports infrastructures and industry and made useful explorations in the management of the Olympic legacy. The contribution made by the Beijing Winter Olympics in the field of sustainable development is the topic if this paper.

Governance of Post-Olympic Games Legacy Organizations: A Comparative Study

This study examines the governance of post-Olympic Games legacy organizations. A cross-case comparative analysis was completed by focusing on post-Games legacy organizations from three Winter Olympics (Salt Lake City 2002, Vancouver 2010, and PyeongChang 2018). Drawing on a governance framework, this research investigates the politics (stakeholder relationships), polity (institutional structures), and policy (the policy content and instruments) dimensions of governance, and explores modes of governance that facilitate collective action taken by these organizations. Data for this study included archival materials and semistructured interviews with key representatives from the relevant organizations. Three different post-Games legacy organization governance modes (public–private, interactive, and self-governance) were identified, and a conceptual model of the governance of post-Games legacy organizations is proposed. The findings have theoretical and practical implications that expand our understanding of the governance of Olympic legacy.

Combining sentiment analysis classifiers to explore multilingual news articles covering London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympics

This study aims to present an approach for the challenges of working with Sentiment Analysis (SA) applied to news articles in a multilingual corpus. It looks at the use and combination of multiple algorithms to explore news articles published in English and Portuguese. It presents a methodology that starts by evaluating and combining four SA algorithms (SenticNet, SentiStrength, Vader and BERT, being BERT trained in two datasets) to improve the quality of outputs. A thorough review of the algorithms’ limitations is conducted using SHAP, an explainable AI tool, resulting in a list of issues that researchers must consider before using SA to interpret texts. We propose a combination of the three best classifiers (Vader, Amazon BERT and Sent140 BERT) to identify contradictory results, improving the quality of the positive, neutral and negative labels assigned to the texts. Challenges with translation are addressed, indicating possible solutions for non-English corpora. As a case study, the method is applied to the study of the media coverage of London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympic legacies. The combination of different classifiers has proved to be efficient, revealing the unbalance between the media coverage of London 2012, much more positive, and Rio 2016, more negative.