The focus of this report is directed to the consideration of the problems related to the difference between commitment of International Olympic Committee to better environmental approach and actual environmental performance of Olympic Games which suppose to follow this commitment since the Games of the year 2002. Mostly qualitative research methodology was utilized in this study. It was based on the interviews with representatives of Greenpeace and World Wildlife Fund, the organizations which are involved in environmental assessment of Olympic Games; exploration of the environmental requirements from International Olympic Committee for carrying out Olympic Games and changes in these requirements through years; evaluation of environmental performance of the past Olympic Games which needed to follow environmental commitment. The research showed that despite continuously improvement in the requirements through years the Host Cities are still managing to fail the preparation of environmental side of the Games. The unsolved problem of still vague requirements was revealed; lack of communication between Non-Government Organizations, which actually give environmental assessment of Olympic Games, and International Olympic Committee was discovered and some political issues were discussed. After the carried work it is recommended to enforce the cooperation between Non-Government Organizations and International Olympic Committee and create common system for evaluation of environmental performance, state more clear requirements for the ecological organization of Olympic Games and change focus from environment to sustainability.

Name: An overview of the performance of men and women in the discipline of the 100 m freestyle at the Olympics from 1924 to 2016. Aim: The first aim of the diploma thesis is to create a historical overview of the course of swimming competitions at the modern Olympics from 1924 to 2016. The second aim is to process personal profiles of male anf female swimmers at the first places in the discipline of the 100 m freestyle from 1924 to 2016. And the third aim is to compile a performanceoverview of all male and female finalists in the discipline of the 100 m freestyle after two always following Olympics from 1924 to 2016. Methods: The historical method was used in the search for sources of historical data in the development of swimming and the processing of individual Olympic Games. It consisted of analyzing historical facts, examining sources and creating an overview of developments. Based on the search and processing of individual performances, graphs were prepared and then the results were compared. Outcome: From the analysis of performance, we found that in the period from 1924 to 2016, men improved by 19%, which represents 11.42 s, and women by 27%, which is 19.70 s. The results of the research show that the development of men's performance slowed down while women's performance is still improving....

Sport plays important role in international politics of states and is becoming one of the most important sources of national branding. The aim of this study was to determine how China tried to change the view of the world on the country and improve its image through the Olympic Games in Beijing 2008. The study applies a qualitative method, it is a case study. Rebranding of China during the Olympics has been studied over several discursive categories through which it is possible to be captured. One of the categories was the human right discourse - which examined the discursive strategies attempting to marginalize traditional criticism in the area of human rights. Next category was the modernization discourse that captured China as a moder, global power built on the old foundations and cultural tradition rather that the discourse of an outdated country and the third was a discourse of environmental protection - category that showed effort to portray the green and healthy China. China tried to send a very loud signal to the world that it is a country that respects human rights, protects the environment, is modern, safe and nonconflicting. However, China was able to use the Olympic Games for the presentation of its culture that is in fact the thing that builds Chinese image external actors over the...

The 2020 Summer Olympicsand the Paralympic Games were scheduledto take placein Tokyo. This sporting mega-event has affected change in the public and social spheres of the host country, Japan, but with regard to athletes’ gender and sexual orientation Japan’s mainstream media seem still considerably biased. Little has been reported on openly LGBTpro athletes from Japan and their involvement in advocating the Olympic values:diversity, inclusiveness and equality.This thesis investigates howLGBTiconsare portrayed by the media, or more specifically,the national newspapers, LGBTcommunity sources and social media, and withregard to the first it questions whetherthere are differences in the portrayalof Shiho Shimoyamada, the first openly homosexual female soccer athlete fromJapan, between Japanese and English language media.In the attempt to interrelate sports studies, queer studies and media studies, this thesis investigates in the main the representationof Shiho ShimoyamadainAsahi Shimbun, Japan’s second largest newspaper, and inthe English-language newspaperThe Japan Times. It also provides an overview of the athlete’s self-representation on Twitter which relates closely to her LGBT activism.Investigation of the media sources is executed by qualitative and quantitative analysis of data collected within 13 months(January 1, 2019 -February 28,2020). Categorizing tweets bygroups, the findingsdemonstrategaps in media representation ofsociallyimportant activism and presents the social media self-promotion strategies used by the athlete.

The purpose of this thesis is to, through media, observe and map the political controversies during the XXII Olympic Winter Games in Sochi and once the games have finished summarize and analyze them in order to close in on a comprehensive understanding of them. In addition to being tinged by the hermeneutics and inductive reasoning the study uses a methodology referred to as a qualitative explanatory case study with an intensive approach. In applying IR-theory, and more specifically the theoretical perspectives of realism, liberalism and social constructivism, the study manage to shy away from mainstream Olympic research. The thesis finds that the political controversies during the Games in Sochi were fewer than anticipated and offers various understandings of why that is, including the realist notion of the triumph of the principle of sovereignty over human rights, the within liberalism found belief of the good nature of mankind, and the social constructivist idea of actions being constrained by social structures.

The Russian Federation’s presence on the global stage of the Olympic Games has been linked with considerable controversy from 2014 onwards. The nation’s use of international sport for promoting its image, state-sponsored doping, and Russia’s illegal occupations of Ukraine staged in close time proximity with the Games are all controversies which have taken their toll on the country’s image, both within and beyond the context of sport. Using a news framing theory and analysis, this thesis examines how RT, a state-sponsored media outlet that operates in alignment with the Russian state, counters these image-affecting controversies through its framings of Russia at the Winter Olympics between 2014 and 2022. This research finds that, while RT has consistently functioned to defend and potentially improve Russia’s image, its framing tactics have shifted substantially over time, and vary significantly depending on the controversy addressed. RT’s articles linked with Russia’s use of sport to promote its image used a wide variety of frames to highlight the impact of Russia’s athletes, justify the funding of the Sochi Olympics, and accuse Western media of “Russia-bashing”. Articles related to Russian doping shifted over time from framing Russian athletes as powerless victims of sport governing body decisions to highlighting supposed Western interference in sport. Articles linked with Russia’s illegal occupation of Ukraine increased substantially in 2022, and most often framed the issue by focusing on the moral values associated with athletes from the two nations. This thesis found that RT’s controversy-linked content increased in publication frequency over time, which along with the above shifts in framing, showcase the increasingly aggressive politicisation of RT’s Olympic sport coverage, which lacks exploration in prior scholarly research.

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The purpose of this qualitative study was to provide a rich description of the experiences of mothering athletes training for and competing in the Olympic Games. Specifically, the study explored the post-partum return to training and competition, the integration of mothering and training responsibilities, the emotional and social experience of being a mother-athlete, and the Olympic experience. A purposive sample of eight athletes was utilized. All participants had competed in either the 2004 Summer or 2006 Winter Olympic Games and was mother to at least one child under the age of six at the time of their Olympic participation. Participants represented six different sports and two North American countries. In-depth interviews were conducted with the participants from September 2007 to April 2008. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed, yielding eight major themes and 26 sub-themes. The themes that emerged included: (1) becoming a mother-athlete, (2) the initial return to training, (3) the effects of motherhood on training and competing, (4) the effects of the elite sport career on motherhood and the family, (5) social support, (6) organizational support, (7) the Olympic experience, and (8) advice and recommendations. In general, participants reported that their children and families enhanced their lives, both in and out of sport. They felt that motherhood gave their lives more balance and gave them a healthier perspective on their sport participation. For most, this resulted in increased enjoyment of sport, less pressure to perform, and in turn, enhanced performance. Participants faced struggles as well. They reported lack of time and energy as barriers to training (especially in the first year of motherhood), and found traveling with children to be logistically and financially difficult. The athletes in this study reported high levels of support, both physical and emotional, from their husbands/partners and immediate families. Within the athletic community, the participants found support from coaches, yet reported varying levels of support from athletic peers and sport organizations. Overall, the athletes reported positive Olympic experiences, with two discussing disappointing experiences. Recommendations for researchers and sport professionals based on the interviews are also discussed. / Kinesiology

The purpose of this thesis is to explain how sports events, in which North and South Korea have in some way worked or competed together, have affected the relationship between the two nations. This is carried out through the investigation of specific events; the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics, the competing of the joint table tennis- and football teams in 1991, the cooperation happening during the “sunshine policy”, from 1998 until 2008, as well as the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. The studied material consists mostly of news reports and scientific works.   The result shows that while cooperation in sports is possible between the two Koreas, they have occurred only under favourable political circumstances. It is also concluded that the sports events have in return affected the inter-Korean relationship, and this cooperation has also generated further discussions between the two Koreas, a so called “spillover effect”. / Syftet med den här uppsatsen är att förklara hur sportevenemang, i vilka Nord- och Sydkorea har på något sätt samarbetat eller tävlat gemensamt, har påverkat relationen mellan de två länderna. Det här genomförs genom en undersökning av specifika evenemang; 1988 års sommar-OS i Seoul, tävlingarna 1991 där de förenade pingis- och fotbollslagen deltog, samarbetet under ”Solskenspolitiken”, från 1998 till 2008, såväl som 2018 års vinter-OS i Pyeongchang. Underlaget består mestadels utav nyhetsreportage och vetenskapliga rapporter.    Resultatet visar att även om samarbete i sport är möjligt mellan de två länderna på den koreanska halvön, har dessa bara inträffat under gynnsamma politiska omständigheter. Det kommer även fram att sportevenemang i sin tur har påverkat den interkoreanska relationen och även genererat fortsatta diskussioner mellan Nord- och Sydkorea, en så kallad ”spridningseffekt".