The Olympic Games have become one of the world’s largest and most popular sporting events. With its massive scale, the costs that come with hosting the Games are elevating to unprecedented levels, leaving host cities with massive financial debt. So why do cities continue to bid for the rights to host the Games? In this paper I will attempt to answer this question by providing an overview of the bidding process and the economic impact of the Games and I will argue that the costs of hosting the Olympics are often underestimated while the benefits are greatly overestimated. I will then provide an alternative direction for the Olympic movement.

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Studies have concluded that youth sports programs have a bias selection process in identifying player talent. Athletes that are identified as talented are more likely to be born in the first three months after the eligibility cut-off for a program's particular age group. This is referred to as the relative age effect (RAE) and has been identified in many youth sports. However, it is not known if the RAE carries over into elite, adult competition. The purpose of this study was to determine if the RAE exists in Olympic competition and to compare the RAE between genders, team vs individual sports, weight class vs non-weight class sports, and medalists vs non-medalists. Data on Olympians competing in the 2012 London and 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics were gathered from publicly available databases. Lorenz curves were constructed and Gini coefficients calculated to detect unexpected distributions of birth months. In addition, linear regression was used to determine a directional distribution. A negative Gini coefficient and a statistically significant negative slope of the birth month distribution suggested the existence of a RAE. The results showed that there was a RAE in Olympic competition. For all athletes, the Gini coefficient was -0.0324 and the slope of -0.0014 fraction of athletes born per month. Within specific sports, the RAE varies considerably with some showing a positive RAE. Further, the RAE in Olympic athletes does not seem to be influenced by gender, type of team or success of the athlete. / Master of Science / Many children and youth participate in sport programs around the world. Research studies have concluded that youth sports programs have a biased selection process in identifying player talent. Athletes identified as talented are more likely to be born in the first three months after the cut-off date for a program’s age group. This is known as the relative age effect (RAE). As RAE is known in youth sports, it is not known if the RAE carries over into elite, adult competition. The purpose of this study was to determine if a RAE exists in Olympic competition and to compare the RAE between genders, team vs individual sports, weight class vs non-weight class sports and medalists vs non-medalists. Data on Olympians competing in the 2012 London and 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic games were gathered from publicly available databases. From the data, the athletes were sorted based on birthdate, height, weight, gender, sport and medals earned. Sports were then classified as team or individual and as weight class or non-weight class. The expected distribution was 8.3% per month, since this represents an equal number of athletes across all months. Linear regression was used to determine the direction. A negative slope of the birth month distribution suggested the existence of a RAE. A RAE appears to exist within Olympic level competition. Furthermore, RAE gets smaller but still exists as athletes move from the youth to the adult level. Within specific sports, the RAE varies considerably with some not showing a RAE.

A dissertation submitted in partial compliance with the requirements for a Masters Degree in Technology, in the Department of Chiropractic at the Durban University of Technology, 2009. / Introduction: National Olympic Committees (NOCs) select medical personnel to support their athletes at the Olympic Games. To best support athletes the knowledge, perception and utilisation of all medical professions is assumed to be high, however literature seems to indicate that this is not so. Objective: To determine the knowledge, perception and utilisation of Chiropractic by NOCs in order to develop a better relationship so that more athletes can benefit from Chiropractic care. Methods: A questionnaire was emailed to the 205 NOCs worldwide. Respective executive committee and medical commission members were asked to complete the questionnaires. Results: 76 NOCs responded (37%), returning 27 questionnaires. 30% of the respondents were high ranking members. 93% were highly educated with a bachelor’s degree or higher and 33% had represented their country as an athlete. Both committees agreed on the importance of a post-graduate sports qualification and perceived the profession to be one of spinal care specialists. Overall knowledge of Chiropractic was poor. A trend was observed among the medical commissions in their choice of Medical Doctors or Physiotherapists over Chiropractors and other professionals. The executive committees in contrast seemed more open-minded in their choice of professionals. No association was found between the knowledge and perception of Chiropractic and use of Chiropractic Conclusion: There is confusion regarding the role and scope of practice of Chiropractic by NOCs. In order to achieve a greater level of acceptance and utilisation of Chiropractic in international sports medical teams the profession needs to clarify their role, better educate NOC members on the benefits of Chiropractic, and obtain sports specific post-graduate programmes that are recognised internationally.

Global sport competitions such as the Olympics and the World Cup were founded following universal principles of unity and peace and aiming to be celebrations of sportsmanship. Nowadays, however, they go beyond sport, being constructed as global media events in which both politics and media play an essential role. Caught in this triangle, the Olympics and the World Cup have re-emerged in the past years as sites of protests, after decades of relative calmness in this sense. This represents the point of entry into the analysis of global broadcasters, giving the chance to examine the way in which Al Jazeera English, BBC World News and Russia Today represent the protests they put in relation to sport competitions happening in different parts of the world. The chosen case studies are the London Olympics 2012, Sochi Olympics 2014 and Brazil World Cup 2014. The comparative analysis allows the drawing of similarities and differences between both the case studies and the broadcasters overall. The findings show that protests are dealt with differently according to the sport event they are related to, since some of them are legitimized and others are not. A major distinction, therefore, results in the manner in which the broadcasters use the protests in order to depict a certain version of the world. Global broadcasters offer, thus, multiple perspectives on the world as they carry what appears to be a heavy cultural baggage of the societies of origin.

<p><strong>UNIVERSITY OF KALMAR - SWEDEN</strong></p><p>The institution of Social Science</p><p>Project: Master Essay 15points</p><p>Title: Olympic Games – An instrument for Environmental Political Change?</p><p> </p><p><em>-A case study exploring the Environmental Political views of the Olympic Games – with special focus on the 28th Summer Olympic Games in Beijing. </em></p><p> <strong>ABSTRACT                                                               </strong></p><p>The essay´s aim was to explore the complex political environmental opinions and opportunities to use the Olympic Games as an instrument for environmental political changes, with special focus on the 2008 summer Olympics Games in Beijing. </p><p>In the light of two environmental political theories (The Green Business and Critical Ecology Theories)  The International Olympic Committee's (The IOC) third pillar, the environment, the Beijing Olympic Committee 's motto (BOCOG) “Green Olympics” and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO:s) such as Greenpeace and their motto “Green Games” have been reviewed. The aim was to see the organisations aim to use the Beijing Olympics as a tool for environmental political changes.  </p><p>The study involves six qualitative interviews, one group interview, one written questionnaire and participating observations, during an eight week field study, during the Beijing Olympics in 2008.</p><p>The conclusion of the study demonstrates that the Olympic Games can be used as important instrument to address the organisations environmental work toward a “Greening” of Olympic cities with firstly technical measures under political control.  The Olympics are also used as an instrument to raise the environmental awareness of the public in Beijing and China.</p><p>The City of Beijing was seen as a showcase of green standards hopefully to be spread nationally. The “Greening of Olympics” is still though a complex social and scientific matter. Countries and cities have different conditions, knowledge, interests and ambitions. Universal standards are not always universally understood.</p><p> </p>

UNIVERSITY OF KALMAR - SWEDEN The institution of Social Science Project: Master Essay 15points Title: Olympic Games – An instrument for Environmental Political Change?   -A case study exploring the Environmental Political views of the Olympic Games – with special focus on the 28th Summer Olympic Games in Beijing.  ABSTRACT                                                               The essay´s aim was to explore the complex political environmental opinions and opportunities to use the Olympic Games as an instrument for environmental political changes, with special focus on the 2008 summer Olympics Games in Beijing.  In the light of two environmental political theories (The Green Business and Critical Ecology Theories)  The International Olympic Committee's (The IOC) third pillar, the environment, the Beijing Olympic Committee 's motto (BOCOG) “Green Olympics” and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO:s) such as Greenpeace and their motto “Green Games” have been reviewed. The aim was to see the organisations aim to use the Beijing Olympics as a tool for environmental political changes.   The study involves six qualitative interviews, one group interview, one written questionnaire and participating observations, during an eight week field study, during the Beijing Olympics in 2008. The conclusion of the study demonstrates that the Olympic Games can be used as important instrument to address the organisations environmental work toward a “Greening” of Olympic cities with firstly technical measures under political control.  The Olympics are also used as an instrument to raise the environmental awareness of the public in Beijing and China. The City of Beijing was seen as a showcase of green standards hopefully to be spread nationally. The “Greening of Olympics” is still though a complex social and scientific matter. Countries and cities have different conditions, knowledge, interests and ambitions. Universal standards are not always universally understood.

A dissertation submitted in partial compliance with the requirements for a Masters Degree in Technology, in the Department of Chiropractic at the Durban University of Technology, 2009. / Introduction: National Olympic Committees (NOCs) select medical personnel to support their athletes at the Olympic Games. To best support athletes the knowledge, perception and utilisation of all medical professions is assumed to be high, however literature seems to indicate that this is not so. Objective: To determine the knowledge, perception and utilisation of Chiropractic by NOCs in order to develop a better relationship so that more athletes can benefit from Chiropractic care. Methods: A questionnaire was emailed to the 205 NOCs worldwide. Respective executive committee and medical commission members were asked to complete the questionnaires. Results: 76 NOCs responded (37%), returning 27 questionnaires. 30% of the respondents were high ranking members. 93% were highly educated with a bachelor’s degree or higher and 33% had represented their country as an athlete. Both committees agreed on the importance of a post-graduate sports qualification and perceived the profession to be one of spinal care specialists. Overall knowledge of Chiropractic was poor. A trend was observed among the medical commissions in their choice of Medical Doctors or Physiotherapists over Chiropractors and other professionals. The executive committees in contrast seemed more open-minded in their choice of professionals. No association was found between the knowledge and perception of Chiropractic and use of Chiropractic Conclusion: There is confusion regarding the role and scope of practice of Chiropractic by NOCs. In order to achieve a greater level of acceptance and utilisation of Chiropractic in international sports medical teams the profession needs to clarify their role, better educate NOC members on the benefits of Chiropractic, and obtain sports specific post-graduate programmes that are recognised internationally.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1996. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [260]-276).

The purpose of this project is to design, build and implement a web application system for the Olympiad delegation registration. All the pages and user registration information will be stored in a PostgreSQL database and retrieved by JAVA Servlet and JDBC (JAVA Database Connectivity). The main purpose of this project is to provide an easy-to-register and web-base communication evironment for the National Olympic Committes (NOC) and the Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (OCOG).