Olympic Games Research Articles

Analysis of countries' performances in individual Olympic Games using cluster analysis and decision trees: the case of Tokyo 2020

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate and understand the performance of countries in individual Olympic Games, specifically focusing on the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Employing cluster analysis and decision trees, the research aims to categorize countries based on their representation, participation and success.Design/methodology/approachThis research employs a data-driven approach to comprehensively analyze and enhance understanding of countries' performances in individual Olympic Games. The methodology involves a two-stage clustering method and decision tree analysis to categorize countries and identify influential factors shaping their Olympic profiles.FindingsThe study, analyzing countries' performances in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics through cluster analysis and decision trees, identified five clusters with consistent profiles. Notably, China, Great Britain, Japan, Russian Olympic Committee and the United States formed a high-performing group, showcasing superior success, representation and participation. The analysis revealed a correlation between higher representation/participation and success in individual Olympic Games. Decision tree insights underscored the significance of population size, GDP per Capita and HALE index, indicating that countries with larger populations, better economic standing and higher health indices tended to perform better.Research limitations/implicationsThe study has several limitations that should be considered. Firstly, the findings are based on data exclusively from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which may limit the generalizability of the results to other editions.Practical implicationsThe research offers practical implications for policymakers, governments and sports organizations seeking to enhance their country's performance in individual Olympic Games.Social implicationsThe research holds significant social implications by contributing insights that extend beyond the realm of sports.Originality/valueThe originality and value of this research lie in its holistic approach to analyzing countries' performances in individual Olympic Games, particularly using a two-stage clustering method and decision tree analysis.

Editorial

Shortly after the fantastic 2024 Olympics in Paris, we would like to invite you to take a longer peek at the newest issue of the Archives of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, starting with “Dark Side of Personality and Extreme Sports. Case of skydivers” by P. Próchniak and A. Próchniak. And although skydiving is not exactly (yet?) among the Olympic Games, the exploration of personalities of sportspersons proves a compelling snippet in the quest into understanding why it is only some and not others that succeed in a particular discipline, and whether those features that shape them affect their everyday lives, too.

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.

The Double Creation of the International Fencing Federation in 1905 and 1913: A History of the Establishment of a ‘Gentlemen’s Agreement’ in International Fencing from the French Point of View

This paper looks at the genesis of the International Fencing Federation, which was founded in 1905 as the ‘Comité International d‘Escrime’ (CIE). The Franco-Italian rivalry of the 1880s was the starting point for a transnationalism that took off with the trade fairs and the revived Olympic Games. Under the impetus of the Frenchmen of the ‘Société d‘Encouragement à l‘Escrime’ of Hebrard de Villeneuve and with the help of the Belgians, a first attempt to harmonize the rules of the three weapons led to the creation of a committee to federate the major fencing families in the absence of federations in most Western European countries. The CIE was effective, but was soon obsolete because of federal changes in several major countries, including France from 1906. Sweden’s autonomy over the rules of the 1912 Olympic Games forced the Franco-Belgian couple to resume international construction by thinking up the conversion of the CIE into an International Fencing Federation, in a subtle game that consisted of integrating as many national federations as possible while giving decisive weight to the historic nations.

Sports Narratives and Historical Nationalism: Re-Visiting the Context and Use of Field Hockey in Chak De! India

Indian cinema is known for its dramatic narratives that celebrate emotionally elevated visual spectacles through which people from different sociocultural backgrounds come across popular domains of cultural practices, social norms and historical realities that unify them. Field hockey belongs to the popular realm of sports in India which is part of the country’s national identity. India’s participation and success in field hockey at the Olympic Games make it one of the country’s most successful international sports. Indian film narratives about field hockey help to create public discourse about how the sport has historically played a role in shaping national pride and identity in India. Hockey evokes nationalism by symbolizing historical achievements, unity, and cultural identity, inspiring pride and patriotism through the portrayal of heroes, national symbols, and emotional narratives in media and public discourse. The film Chak De! India portrays Indian hockey as a patriotic unifying national narrative and as an empowering discourse that can upend traditional gender stereotypes. It delineates that hockey not only acts as a sports game for entertainment but is an indicator of nationalistic significance and cultural identity that elevates the emotional realm of Indians through the notion of patriotism.

Climate change and the climate reliability of hosts in the second century of the Winter Olympic Games

ABSTRACT In the year the world first surpassed the 1.5°C dangerous global warming threshold set out in the Paris Climate Agreement, the international community celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Olympic Winter Games and considers its future in a warmer world. In the largest study to date, the climate reliability of 93 locations to host Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (OWG and PWG) snow sports is examined. Under a more probable mid-range emission scenario (RCP4.5, SSP2-45), 52 locations remain climate-reliable for the OWG in the 2050s and 46 in the 2080s. The scheduling of the PWG in March put it at higher risk, with only 22 climate-reliable locations in the 2050s and 16 in the 2080s. When a more stringent minimum snow depth requirement was applied, the number of reliable locations declined slightly for both OWG and PWG, signifying the importance of advanced sustainable snowmaking as an adaptation strategy. While it is inevitable that climate change will impact the geography and development of winter sports to some degree, a reassuring finding is that even with a diminished pool of potential host locations, with continued adaptation, the OWG-PWG can endure as a genuinely global celebration of sport.

Les jeux panhelléniques dans les rapports entre les cités grecques d'Europe et d'Asie

This article focuses in a first part on the four main games that brought together the Greeks of Europe and those of Asia. These four major contests were the Olympic Games, Isthmian Games, Pythian Games, and Nemean Games. In addition, it highlights the conclusion of the truces which were considered an essential condition for the organization of these games. In a second part, the study shows that Greeks came from all cities to participate in the games. It also mentions the honor both an athlete and a city derived from a victory during these games. Finally, the study addresses the fact that the games were opportunities to strengthen the bonds of cultural kinship between Greek city-states and occasions for diplomatic negotiations.

Prevalence of therapeutic use exemptions at the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games: an analysis of data from 2016 to 2022

ObjectivesThe objectives of this study are to describe the prevalence of therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs) among athletes competing in four Olympic and four Paralympic games. The secondary objective was to...

Paris air quality monitoring for the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics: focus on air pollutants and pollen

BackgroundExposure to air pollution can affect the health of individuals with respiratory disease, but may also impede the health and performance of athletes. This is potentially relevant for people travelling...

Residents' Support for Major Sporting Events in the Postponement Context: A Case Study of the 31st Summer Universiade

ABSTRACTThe COVID‐19 pandemic forced the postponement of some international events, such as the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, which negatively impacted residents and the local tourism industry. Therefore, it is necessary to understand residents' support for hosting major sporting events. We surveyed 769 residents using a structural equation model and applied social exchange theory (SET) to analyse the 31st Summer Universiade and examine their support for hosting major sporting events. The results revealed a significant relationship between postponement risk perception and the perceived costs and benefits, which affected the residents' support for hosting major events. These findings confirmed perceived benefits and costs as key factors determining residents' support for/opposition to major events. We proposed the residents' postponement risk perception concept, integrated it into the event tourism research model, and expanded the explanatory power of SET in unconventional contexts, providing stakeholders with references for planning and hosting events under special circumstances.

On the Road to the “Manifesto”: The Surrealists’ March Between Blois and Romorantin from May 5 to May 15, 1924

Abstract: This article aims to demonstrate that, in a sense, the 1924 “Manifesto of Surrealism” of André Breton was written by walking as a way to reassess its impact in the light of the recent revival of the “manifesto” form in contemporary art. The “Manifesto Marathon” held on October 18–19, 2008, at the Serpentine Gallery in London on the initiative of Hans-Ulrich Obrist enabled some sixty artists to propose manifestos that were subsequently published. It is interesting to note that the artists hardly mention, and in any case that the catalogue never reproduces, the Surrealist ” Manifesto,” which appears totally absent and invisible alongside the Futurist Manifesto (1909), the Dada, Constructivist, and Situationist manifestos, and so on. This is undoubtedly because the Surrealist “Manifesto" is not sufficiently inscribed in our cultural and visual landscape, in our memory or is considered purely literary. From our point of view, however, it is clearly a performative form. The ten-day journey that Breton, Louis Aragon, Max Morise, and Roger Vitrac made on foot between Blois and Romorantin (Sologne) in the first half of May 1924, just before Breton wrote the Surrealist “Manifesto,” which was published in October 1924, appears as an ironic and distanced response to the Olympic Games, which began in Paris on May 4, 1924. It was a sort of “countermarch,” in the spirit of the nineteenth-century wanderings of Verlaine and Rimbaud, or of the Grand Meaulnes in Alain-Fournier's 1914 novel of the same name. Breton told André Parinaud that it was an "initiatory" journey. Walking has something to do with automatic writing, which in a different way expresses the need for continuous movement, differential speeds and physical and nervous exhaustion. In fact, from March to May 1924, Breton had once again engaged in automatic writing and had even organized it collectively by distributing writing notebooks to the members of the group.

"Olympic Hope": Fucoldian interpretations

The study of literary works devoted to running makes it possible to determine their plot dominant as a conflict between the feeling of freedom generated by running and such properties of professional sports as fierce competition of competitive activities and authoritarian regulation of the training process. Sociocultural tensions of this kind were fruitfully conceptualized in the works of Michel Foucault using the concepts of bio-power as a unity of anatomical and biopolitics; disciplinary practices as methods of normalization of bodies; supervision and panopticism as means of control, as well as technologies of self and subjectivation aimed at dampening the effects of excessive domination. The article uses the fantastic sports novel by Danish writer Knud Lundberg "Olympic Hope: The Story that Happened at the 1996 Olympic Games" published in 1955 and not translated into Russian as an object of application of the Fucoldian means of analyzing the above conflict situation. The research methodology is based on a conceptual analysis of M. Foucault's theoretical legacy and the reception of the French philosopher's ideas by Russian and Western scientists. The study revealed that the novel presents four variants of bio-power: German (genetic eugenics), American (hormonal eugenics), Soviet (crippling practices) and Danish (based on the free development of natural predisposition), used to organize the birth and training of top-level runners. The disciplinary practices of runner training are most pronounced in totalitarian states. The methods of their implementation are specialized closed training spaces; strict daily routine; daily monotonous running exercises; constant differentiation of athletes by rating; exams in the form of competitions; medical experiments. The realization of the technologies of selfhood and subjectivation by runners is carried out in the forms of resistance and transgression. K. Lundberg associates his Olympic hopes in sports running not with cruel professionals who are ready to give up their health (the problem of doping) and even their lives for the sake of personal awards and increasing the prestige of their states, but with educated means of humanistic sports by amateur athletes, for whom running has existential significance as a way of holistic, bodily and spiritual self-realization in the ethically loaded sphere of freedom.

Long-Term Evaluation of Lipid Profile Changes in Olympic Athletes.

Dyslipidemia is a major contributor to the development of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Despite high level of physical activity, athletes are not immune from dyslipidemia, but longitudinal data on the variation of lipids are currently lacking. We sought to assess lipid profile changes over time in Olympic athletes practicing different sports disciplines (power, skills, endurance, and mixed). We enrolled 957 consecutive athletes evaluated from London 2012 to Beijing 2022 Olympic Games. Dyslipidemia was defined as low-density lipoprotein (LDL) ≥115mg/dl, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) <40mg/dl for males, or HDL <50mg/dl for females. Hypertriglyceridemia was defined as triglycerides >150mg/dl. At the follow-up, a variation of ±40mg/dl for LDL, ±6mg/dl for HDL, and ±50mg/dl for triglycerides was considered relevant. Athletes with follow-up <10months or taking lower lipid agents were excluded. Follow-up was completed in 717 athletes (74.9%), with a mean duration of 55.6months. Mean age was 27.2 ± 4.8years old, 54.6% were male (n = 392). Overall, 19.8% (n = 142) athletes were dyslipidemic at both blood tests, being older, practicing nonendurance sports, and predominantly male. In 69.3% (n = 129) of those with elevated LDL at t0, altered values were confirmed at follow-up, while the same occurred in 36.5% (n = 15) with hypo-HDL and 5.3% (n = 1) in those with elevated triglycerides. Weight and fat mass percentage modifications did not affect lipid profile variation. LDL hypercholesterolemia tends to persist over time especially among male, older, and nonendurance athletes. LDL hypercholesterolemia detection in athletes should prompt early preventive intervention to reduce the risk of future development of atherosclerotic disease.

“Carbon Partners” and Collaborative Greenwashing: The Sustainability Partnership Between Dow Chemical and the Olympic Games

The multinational corporation, Dow Chemical, became the first-ever “Official Carbon Partner” of the Olympic Games in 2017, promising to offset the emissions generated by the staging of the Games and associated activities. This article critically analyzes the Partnership's promotional campaign, comprised of rhetorical claims that such “game-changing” collaborations are “redefining the role of business in society” in responding to the climate emergency. This particular campaign built green goodwill for a global sports mega-event and a corporation whose core business is converting fossil fuels into plastics. We highlight that this Partnership's carbon offsetting schemes appear to fail both parties’ additionality standards. We interpret this partnership as a historically significant example in the broader corporate effort to propogate a collaborative eco-capitalist imaginary that redefines corporations as partners fully aligned with state and third-sector projects to mitigate climate change.

Research on Intercontinental Competitive Athletics Characteristics and Evolution Trend of Track and Field in Olympic Games

Track and field were the first event to enter the Olympics and has the largest number of gold medals. Understanding its more than one hundred years of Olympic history is strategically significant for the future sports development of all continents. Using statistical data from 27 Olympic Games between 1896 and 2021, an analysis was conducted using the Boston matrix method from economics. The results indicate that Europe and North America have reached saturation, Africa has made the fastest progress, Asia has rebounded after a 40-year trough, Oceania still has a long way to go, and South America is struggling. Global track and field sports have reached a state of "convergence," characterized by "the strong becoming stronger, the weak remaining weak, and a clear disparity between the strong and weak." In the future, the overall competitive structure is expected to maintain a stable dynamic balance cycle under the dominance of Europe, North America, and Africa.

Psychological status of medical security teams in Winter Olympic Games and Paralympics under COVID-19.

Medical security work for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympics faced enormous challenges under COVID-19. This study aimed to investigate the mental status of those medical team members to provide a reference for scientifically implementing medical security services for large-scale events. In this prospective cohort study, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Self-rating Anxiety Scale, General Self-Efficacy Scale, and Psychological Questionnaire for Emergent Events of Public Health (PQEEPH) were administered to 145 members of the medical team. A generalized mixed linear model was used to analyze the impact of work duration, position, on/off rotation, and gender on psychological status. Work duration significantly impacted depression, anxiety, self-efficacy, and all dimensions of PQEEPH. Women scored higher than men in the PQEEPH dimensions of depression, neurasthenia, fear, and total score. Working status affected the dimensions of depression, neurasthenia, and total score. Deterioration in emotional state became apparent in the fourth week and recovered 1 week after the task concluded, while self-efficacy decreased from beginning to end. All the medical team members experienced emotional deterioration and decreased self-efficacy in medical security tasks. To maintain a medical team's psychological wellbeing during large-scale activities, rotation times should be set reasonably, and adequate mental health services should be provided.

“Telling China’s story well”? Tifa, translation, and discursive power in the Quotidiano del Popolo

ABSTRACT Examining China’s growing efforts to affirm its ‘discoursive power’ (话语权) in the Euro-Mediterranean region, this paper presents a case study of the Communist Party of China’s (CPC) communication of its ‘external publicity’ (对外宣传) via news translation. The study focuses on translation strategies of the Italian version (Quotidiano del Popolo) of the official Party newspaper 人民日报 to investigate the implications and effects of translation shifts involving tifa (提法, political formulations and fixed expressions). A qualitative textual analysis applied the Descriptive Translation three-stage methodology to a corpus of articles on the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Games, with reference to ‘constraint’ and ‘relation’ in translation. Understatement, omission, and indirect translation were identified as translation shifts in the corpus, suggesting ideological tensions behind most such shifts. While the first two modes help downplay China’s geo-political ambition, the last results in ineffective translation that can obstruct the intended political message, hindering the ability to ‘tell China’s story well’ (讲好中国故事). This study seeks to elucidate the complexity and political intricacies of ‘correctly’ receiving and replicating the Chinese political message in a foreign language other than English.

Determinants of supraventricular extra beats in elite athletes practicing different sporting disciplines.

Supraventricular extra beats (SVEB) are frequently observed in athletes but data on significance, prognostic role and correlation with cardiac remodeling are contrasting. It is uncertain whether SVEB may indicate the development of more complex arrhythmias and the need for closer monitoring is undetermined. The aim was to assess the prevalence and clinical significance of BESV in Olympic athletes of different sporting disciplines, evaluating potential correlations with cardiac remodeling and clinical features. We enrolled athletes who participated at 2012-2022 Olympic Games, submitted to physical examination, blood tests, echocardiography and exercise tests, categorized into power, skills, endurance and mixed disciplines. We studied 1492 elite athletes: 56% male individuals, mean age 25.8 ± 5.1 years; 29.5% practiced power, 12.3% skills, 21% endurance and 37.2% mixed disciplines. At exercise-stress tests, 6.2% had SVEB, mostly single beats. SVEB were not influenced by anthropometrics or blood test results. They were more common in male individuals (77.4 vs. 54.6%, P < 0.0001) and older athletes (27.1 ± 5.7 vs. 25.7 ± 5.1, P = 0.01). In male athletes with SVEB, higher left atrial volumes were observed (24.2 ± 7.3 vs. 22.2 ± 7.1 ml/m2, P = 0.03). No differences were found in terms of sporting discipline: despite larger left atrial dimensions in aerobic disciplines, SVEB rates were similar in different sporting disciplines (6.1% endurance, 6.3% mixed, 5.2% power and 8.7% skills; P = 0.435). SVEB were more common in older, male athletes and associated with higher left atrial volume (especially in male individuals) regardless of sport practiced. Athletes with greater left atrial volume and SVEB are supposed to have higher risk, in middle age, of developing more complex arrhythmias.

Application and Evolution of Leg Technique in the Finals and Semi-Finals of Taekwondo Olympic Games from 2008 to 2020

Application and Evolution of Leg Technique in the Finals and Semi-Finals of Taekwondo Olympic Games from 2008 to 2020

A Critical Discourse Analysis of American News Reports on the Opening Ceremony of Beijing Winter Olympics

The opening ceremony of Beijing Winter Olympic Games in 2022 has been extensively covered in international news reports. Although these news reports seem impartial and objective, they carry underlying ideologies that can influence public opinions and judgments. This paper examined the discursive representation of China in American news reports on the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics using Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis model as the theoretical basis. News stories from American media were collected and analysed in terms of headline, collocation, and quotation pattern. The research found that American news reports present mixed and multifaceted views toward the host country. They showed appreciation for the host country’s success in delivering a spectacular opening ceremony, but they tended to frame China negatively, portraying it as an intimidating power and a geopolitical threat. This study can improve our understanding of the discursive practice of news reports and enhance critical awareness in interpreting news texts.