Olympic Medals Research Articles

올림픽 태권도 메달리스트의 지도자 신뢰 형성과정

The purpose of the present study was to analyze Taekwondo Olympic medalists" trust of coach. Three Taekwondo national representatives athletes who gained Olympic medals participated in the study. An individual participant had an in-depth interview with researchers of the study three times. Each in-depth interviews highlighted how participants have construct trust of coach and what they have experienced products through trust of coach. Collected interview data were analyzed by inductive analysis method and Nvivo 10, qualitative research data analysis program was utilized for categorizing documented interview data. Based on the results, participants began to have trust of coach when they recognized their coach made an effort and have an expertise to improve their athletic performance. As time goes by a participant"s trust of coach was reinforcing after they overcame obstacles and solved problems with their coach. Participants of the study also introduced how they work with coach to be a Korea national team member and top ranker of the world. Participated Taekwondo national representative athletes emphasized that it was impossible to accomplish their objectives as a Taekwondo athlete without their coach"s enthusiasm for educating athletes and creative match strategy.

Cold War on ice? Soviet ice-hockey dominance and foreign policy

Sport has been widely used as a tool of communication (ping-pong diplomacy), penalization (boycotts) and also safe competition during the Cold War. The allegedly apolitical Olympic Games held a prominent place in this system of de facto politicized sport, with both rivalling superpowers trying to prove their fitness through the winning of Olympic medals. In this article, we would like to compare the media coverage of the Olympic hockey contest between the USSR and the US in order to identify how the victory in the match was portrayed and whether in fact sport served as a tool of ideological confrontation between East and West. We would like to test the common narrative of sport being the proxy for a great ideological rivalry of power between the East and the West in the case of Olympic ice-hockey.

An experimental test of two policies to increase donations to public projects

This paper uses lab-in-the-field experiments and theory to explore why people give money to governments. We assume that giving is motivated by outcome–oriented or consequentialist norms, and conditional on (a) others’ behavior and (b) beliefs about how competent the government is. The evidence from a lab experiment in Peru is in line with this. On the other hand, we analyze the potential effects of two policies to increase giving, observing that less people give zero if they are informed about (i) two specific government projects (a subway line and a children’s hospital) or (ii) that some well-known Olympic medalist pays punctually her taxes, according to public information released by the Peruvian tax Agency. Our findings contribute to a burgeoning literature on tax morale and are arguably relevant to understand taxpayers’ non-selfish reasons to pay (or evade) their taxes.

‘We’re All Professionals Now’: Frank Shorter, Deregulation, and the Battle to End ‘Shamateurism,’ in the 1970s

In the 1970s, Olympic Gold medallist marathoner Frank Shorter and other Olympic athletes advocated for reforms to the American amateur athletic system. Their efforts culminated in the passage of the Amateur Sports Act of 1978 and the eventual move to greater professionalization in Olympic sports. Historians of sport have asserted various reasons for the success that amateur athletes had in spurring Congress to enact changes to the amateur system in the 1970s. These explanations include the importance of the Cold War context, the US’s declining Olympic performance, the rise of collective organization by amateur athletes, and the increased monetization of the Olympics and some amateur sports like long-distance running. A close examination of Shorter’s efforts to reform the amateur system adds to the historical dialogue on this issue by showing that part of the success of amateur athletes in the 1970s stemmed from their articulation of the problems of, and solutions to, amateurism in the language of deregulation. Such language in a time period of ascendant conservatism gelled perfectly with Congressional leaders who wanted to make American athletes more competitive but without increasing the power of the federal government or moving it into the area of regulating amateur sport.

On Olympic Victors, Ancient and Modern

During the 2016 Olympic games in Rio, the dialogue between the ancient and modern Olympics was enriched by the comparison between Leonidas of Rhodes (crowned 12 times at Olympia from 164 to 152 bc in the stadion, diaulos, and hoplitodromos) and the internationally acclaimed U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps (winner of 13 individual Olympic gold medals from 2004 to 2016). Decided by medal count, the two most decorated Olympic victors of all time seemed to abridge a cultural distance of 2168 years. After reviewing all extant sources about Leonidas of Rhodes, this paper examines three other exempla of Olympic victors, Diagoras of Rhodes (boxing, crowned 464 bc), Ladas of Argos (dolichos [5 km], crowned 460 bc), and Spiridon Louis (Marathon race, 1896 Athens Olympics), with special emphasis on the reception of their victories. In the cases of Diagoras and Ladas, my analysis identifies the analogies between a death sealed by Olympic glory and the paradigms of Tellos and Kleobis and Biton in Herodotos 1.31. The significance of Spiridon Louis’ victory for the nascent modern Greek state is discussed within the framework of the first Marathon race. By revisiting societal attitudes towards distinguished athletic winners then and now, this paper also engages in a discourse on the relationship between the ancient and modern Olympics.

Proud: My Fight for an Unlikely American Dream

Ibtihaj Muhammad, the US Olympic medalist, shares her story of becoming an athlete in her book titled Proud. This is a memoir about coming of age in America as an African American Muslim Woman. Ibtihaj Muhammad tells her story of the long and rocky journey she has been on to become the first Muslim, person of color, female athlete. Her story is filled with achievements and excitements as well as distresses and disappointments.
 To download full review, click on PDF.

Proud

Ibtihaj Muhammad, the US Olympic medalist, shares her story of becoming an athlete in her book titled Proud. This is a memoir about coming of age in America as an African American Muslim Woman. Ibtihaj Muhammad tells her story of the long and rocky journey she has been on to become the first Muslim, person of color, female athlete. Her story is filled with achievements and excitements as well as distresses and disappointments.
 To download full review, click on PDF.

How an Elite High-performance Weightlifter with Spine Pain Became a Silver and Gold Olympic Winner: A Case Report

Spine pain affects athletes’ performance and is a common reason for missed playing time. Return-to-play is the main concern for patients; for this reason, treatment must be evaluated under these criteria. Nonsurgical treatment and specific physical rehabilitation should be the first option. There are few reports using endoscopic spine surgery in high-performance weightlifters. We report a successful case of a 33-year-old elite high-performance weightlifter with cervical and lumbar intervertebral disc hernias, who, after anterior cervical endoscopic discectom in 2009 and then a transforaminal lumbar endoscopic discetomy and percutaneous interspinours space in 2014, won silver and gold Olympic medals, set an Olympic record, and won a weightlifting world championship after. We concluded that return-to-play after 2 endoscopic spine surgeries was possible for a high-performance weightlifter. Endoscopic spine surgery is an alternative to treat spine pain in elite high-performance athletes. Key words: Intervertebral disc hernia, weightlifter, endoscopic spine surgery, gold medal, silver medal, Olympic games, case report.

The Science Behind Competition and Winning in Athletics: Using World-Level Competition Data to Explore Pacing and Tactics.

The purpose of this study was to examine whether World Championship and Olympic medallist endurance athletes pace similarly to their race opponents, where and when critical differences in intra-race pacing occur, and the tactical strategies employed to optimally manage energy resources. We analyzed pacing and tactics across the 800, 1,500, 5,000, 10,000 m, marathon and racewalk events, providing a broad overview for optimal preparation for racing and pacing. Official electronic splits from men's (n = 275 performances) and women's (n = 232 performances) distance races between 2013 and 2017 were analyzed. Athletes were grouped for the purposes of analysis and comparison. For the 800 m, these groups were the medalists and those finishing 4th to 8th (“Top 8”). For the 1,500 m, the medalists and Top 8 were joined by those finishing 9th to 12th (“Top 12”), whereas for all other races, the Top 15 were analyzed (those finishing 9th to 15th). One-way repeated measures analysis of variance was conducted on the segment speeds (p < 0.05), with effect sizes for differences calculated using Cohen's d. Positive pacing profiles were common to most 800 m athletes, whereas negative pacing was more common over longer distances. In the 1,500 m, male medalists separated from their rivals in the last 100 m, whereas for women it was after 1,200 m. Similarly, over 5,000 m, male medalists separated from the slowest pack members later (4,200 m; 84% of duration) than women (2,500 m; 50% of duration). In the 10,000 m race, the effect was very pronounced with men packing until 8,000 m, with the Top 8 athletes only dropped at 9,600 m (96% of duration). For women, the slowest pack begin to run slower at only 1,700 m, with the Top 8 finishers dropped at 5,300 m (53% of duration). Such profiles and patterns were seen across all events. It is possible the earlier separation in pacing for women between the medalists and the other runners was because of tactical racing factors such as an early realization of being unable to sustain the required speed, or perhaps because of greater variation in performance abilities.

Who are the Champions? Inequality, Institutions and the Olympics

Does a country's level of inequality affect its ability to win Olympic medals? If it does, is it conditional on institutional factors? We argue that the ability of economically free societies to win medals will not be affected by inequality. In these societies, institutions generate incentives to invest in the talent pool of individuals at the bottom of the income distribution (people who are otherwise constrained in the ability to expend resources on athletic training). These effects cancel out those of inequality. In unfree societies, the incentives that promote investments in skills across the income distribution are weaker. Consequently, the effects of inequality on the ability to win are stronger. Using the Olympics of 2012 and 2016 in combination with the Economic Freedom of the World Index, we find that inequality only matters in determining medal numbers for unfree countries. We link these results to the debates on inequality.

Wearable inertial sensors and pressure MAT detect risk factors associated with ACL graft failure that are not possible with traditional return to sport assessments

IntroductionAnterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) is associated with poor return to sport and high graft re-rupture rates. This study explored the use of a wearable inertial sensor (ViMove) that incorporates...

The revoking and returning of Jim Thorpe’s Olympics awards: 70 years of Native-American sports protest?

James Francis Thorpe became the first Native American to win a gold medal for the United States… and the first person in history to be disqualified for professionalism. Considered one of the most versatile athletes of modern sports, he won Olympic gold medals in the 1912 pentathlon and decathlon. He lost his Olympic titles after an investigation by the Amateur Athletic Union showed that he had played semiprofessional baseball in 1909 and 1910, before competing in the Olympics. In 1983, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) restored his Olympic medals. The seven decades that it took for the restoration of Thorpe’s medals were marked by a protean form of protest, drawing on the image of Thorpe as victor, victim, stereotype and symbol. Despite the rehabilitation of Thorpe, he remains in the eyes of Native Americans a powerful symbol of the humiliation of Native American peoples.

Block vs. Traditional Periodization of HIT: Two Different Paths to Success for the World's Best Cross-Country Skier.

In short-term studies, block periodization of high-intensity training (HIT) has been shown to be an effective strategy that enhances performance and related physiological factors. However, long-term studies and detailed investigations of macro, meso, and micro-periodization of HIT blocks in world-class endurance athletes are currently lacking. In a recent study, we showed that the world’s most successful cross-country (XC) skier used two different periodization models with success throughout her career. One including extensive use of HIT blocks, namely BP, and one using a traditional method namely TRAD. In this study, we compare BP with TRAD in two comparable successful seasons and provide a detailed description of the annual use of HIT blocks in BP. The participant is the most-decorated winter Olympian, with 8 Olympic gold medals, 18 world championship titles, and 114 world cup victories. Training data was categorized by training form (endurance, strength, and speed), intensity [low (LIT), moderate (MIT), and HIT], and mode (running, cycling, and skiing/roller skiing). No significant difference was found in the total endurance training load between BP and TRAD. However, training volume in BP was lower compared to TRAD (15 ± 6 vs. 18 ± 7 h/wk, P = 0.001), mainly explained by less LIT (13 ± 5 vs. 15 ± 5 h/wk, P = 0.004). Lower volume of MIT was also performed in BP compared to TRAD (13 vs. 38 sessions/year), whereas the amount of HIT was higher in BP (157 vs. 77 sessions/year). While BP included high amounts of HIT already from the first preparation period, followed by a reduction toward the competition period, TRAD had a progressive increase in HIT toward the competition period. In BP, the athlete performed seven HIT blocks, varying from 7 to 11 days, each including 8–13 HIT sessions. This study provides novel insights into successful utilization of two different periodization models in the worlds best XC skier, and illustrates the macro, meso and micro- periodization of HIT blocks to increase the overall amount of HIT.

JOSÉ ENRIQUE RODRÍGUEZ CAL: PRIMER MEDALLISTA ESPAÑOL DE BOXEO OLÍMPICO

This article is part of the research on the historical reconstruction of the sporting career of Jose Enrique Rodriguez Cal, the first Spanish boxing medalist. The methodology was developed from the documentary analysis of primary sources, interviews and discussion groups with the subsequent process of contrast and triangulation. The result is the recovery of the historical circumstances of the national boxing team of that period and a unique, original and unprecedented rescue of a fragment of life history of Rodriguez Cal, covering one of the many shortcomings of the History of the Spanish sports. The precarious conditions in that period in terms of materials, facilities and training, as well as the origin of disadvantaged socio-economic environments were common aspects among boxers at that time, being a unique precedent the achievement of an Olympic medal in this sport discipline.

Przyczynek barona Pierre’a de Coubertina do organizacji olimpijskich konkursów sztuki

Pierre de Coubertin’s name is recognized with the modern Olympic Games he founded. Most people know little about his artistic abilities. He inherited the talents of the artistic de Coubertin family and he had the wish to integrate art and culture into the Olympic movement. Born the son of painter, he must have been deeply interested in fine arts, which explain his concept of introducing art competitions in the Olympic Games. Brought up on patterns of ancient culture believed that sport and art had common origins. That’s why art had improve spiritually and esthetically olympic games. He begins with the Advisory Conference held in 1906, called by Coubertin in order to examine the extent to wich art. would enrich the Olympic Games. From 1912 to 1948, artists like sportsmen were able to participate in the Olympic Games in the categories of Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, Music and Literature. Just like the athletes, the first three places were awarded Olympic medals. The gold medalists are recorded in the Olympic winner lists as official Olympic champions to this day.

Is the aerobic power a delimitating factor for performance on canoe slalom? An analysis of Olympic Slovak canoe slalom medalists and non-Olympics since Beijing 2008 to Rio 2016

Information regarding the aerobic power on canoe slalom performance is scares. Moreover, the comparison of maximum oxygen uptake (VO2max) via specific and non-specific ergometer for slalom kayakers may improve training prescription and controlling over Olympic cycles. Lastly, it is still unknown to what extent the VO2max delimitate the high performance in this sport. To test this perspective, a highly qualified sample is desired. In overall statistics, Slovakian athletes gathered 14 Olympic medals over the last sixteen years. Therefore, the main aim of this study is to compare the aerobic power of Olympic medallists and Non-Olympic Slovakian kayakers via specific and non-specific evaluations from Beijing 2008 to Rio 2016 Summer Olympic Games. Forty-two male canoe slalom athletes from Slovak national team were evaluated between the years 2006 and 2016. Slovakian athletes were tested for specific (i.e. paddling ergometer) and non-specific (i.e. treadmill) incremental protocols for VO2max determination. Over the last three Summer Olympic Games, the VO2max of Slovakian Olympic medallists was consistently lower than most of the Slovakian team. Moreover, disregarding the medallist characteristic or the moment, Slovakian kayakers presented higher VO2max on treadmill (57.7±6.8 mL.kg-1.min-1) when compared to paddle ergometer (46.9±6.5 mL.kg-1.min-1) (p=0.000; ES=1.6). Based on the collected data over the last ten years, we suggest that although aerobic power may play a relevant and indirect role on performance of slalom kayakers, does not delimitate the high performance in this sport.

Effects of High-Intensity Interval Training on Olympic Combat Sports Athletes' Performance and Physiological Adaptation: A Systematic Review.

Franchini, E, Cormack, S, and Takito, MY. Effects of high-intensity interval training on Olympic combat sports athletes' performance and physiological adaptation: A systematic review. J Strength Cond Res 33(1): 242-252, 2019-Combat sports represent around 25% of all Olympic medals disputed, and the success in these sports are determined by technical-tactical excellence and supported by physiological and psychological development. Although the training in combat sports is intermittent training by nature, some researchers have started to focus their attention on the effects of complementary high-intensity interval training (HIIT)-coupled standard combat sports-specific training on morphological, physiological, and performance adaptations. Thus, in this systematic review, we aimed to verify the effects of this type of training on these variables. A total of 117 articles in the electronic databases Pubmed, Scopus, and Web of Science were retrieved, and 9 studies remained in the present systematic review. A total of 228 athletes (138 judo athletes, 40 taekwondo athletes, 18 boxers, 17 karate athletes, and 15 wrestlers) were investigated in these 9 studies (5 with judo athletes, 1 with boxers, 1 with karate athletes, 1 with wrestlers, and 1 with taekwondo athletes). The HIIT protocols investigated did not generate any change in body fat percentage or body mass but generally resulted in increases in (Equation is included in full-text article.)max or (Equation is included in full-text article.)peak, varying from 4.4 to 23.0%. However, the most observed benefit of HIIT protocols was an increase in anaerobic fitness, represented by improvements in anaerobic power and capacity.

Athletes in boardrooms: Evidence from the world

This study examines the relation between the athletic experience of board directors and corporate outcomes. We predict that athletes’ attributes, such as physical fitness, mental resilience, leadership, and team-working skills, enhance their monitoring role. Using a large sample from 71 countries, we find that athletic experience is associated with better firm performance. The benefits are more pronounced when the experience is of team sports and confrontational sports, and for firms experiencing financial crisis. The results remain consistent when we instrument the athletic experience of directors with the number of Olympic medals won and Olympic sports participated in by the country in question at the previous Olympic Games.

The Story of a Composition: Josef Suk—Olympic Medallist and Sokol Composer

In the new nation of Czechoslovakia that emerged after the First World War, both sport and art served to foster the development of a new Czech identity. In this process, the sokol, a physical culture collective, served as a crucial social organization. Sokols sponsored slets, festivals that celebrated Czech nationalism through cultural activities including sporting contests and artistic showcases. Sokol Slet VII, celebrated in 1920, served as a key event in the evolution of a new Czechoslovak national identity and included both sporting and artistic competitions in its broad promotion of a Czech national culture. The composer Josef Suk (1874–1935) evoked a sense of national identity in his compositions and promoted the sokol slets as important cultural venues. The linkage of sport and art, including national sport and art, also found expression in cultural competitions (particularly music competitions) held at the Olympic Games in the interwar period. One of Suk’s marches won the only medal (a silver) awarded in the 1932 Olympic arts fest in Los Angeles. Suk’s march, however, drew an ambiguous stance from the representatives of the Czechoslovak Sokol Union. Their reception of his music exposes a timeless phenomenon: an attempt by the leadership of a democratic organization to control or even censor widely celebrated artistic work to suit the image of the organization.

Ondina e le ondine Questioni di raffigurazione (verbale e iconografica) della donna sportiva nell’Italia fascista (1933 ca.)

In late 1933, L'Osservatore Romano fuelled an argument against Il Littoriale, mouthpiece of the Fascist sport policy, about women’s sport: the Vatican Italian-speaking newspaper was against the public women’s athletic meetings, and the “immoral” shorts dressed by the young Italian athletes, such as Ondina Valla, going-to-be the first Italian woman to win an Olympic gold medal (1936, Berlin). Which was the situation of Italian female sports, at that time? Which was the influence of new women models coming from US? What was considered “immoral” by conservative people in 1933 Italy watching a women’s athletic or swimming meeting? How Hollywood stars could help Ondina and her mates on the road of female emancipation? These are the questions this essay is going to answer, helped by a lot of historical images, useful to reconstruct a whole collective imagination.