O esporte contemporâneo tem nos Jogos Olímpicos o seu maior evento e sua evolução na Era Moderna aconteceu quase que completamente durante o Século XX. Os boicotes às edições dos Jogos Olímpicos são manifestações que exemplificam as relações políticas presentes no esporte e seu estudo é bastante esclarecedor. O maior boicote ocorrido foi proposto pelos Estados Unidos em 1980, aos Jogos realizados na extinta União Soviética. Na ocasião houve grande redução no número de participantes e um abalo nas estruturas do Movimento Olímpico. O objetivo deste trabalho é analisar o contexto político do boicote aos Jogos de Moscou, sobretudo no que diz respeito ao posicionamento do Brasil. Para a realização do estudo foi selecionado um dos principais jornais brasileiros (Folha de São Paulo) e dele se retirou os dados que vão o desde a segunda quinzena do mês de dezembro de 1979, com a ocupação soviética do Afeganistão (23/12/1979), até a primeira quinzena do mês de agosto de 1980, encerramento dos Jogos Olímpicos de Moscou (03/08/1980). Embora o Brasil desenvolvesse uma posição de alinhamento à política norte-americana na Guerra Fria, optou por não aderir ao boicote comercial, nem ao olímpico enviando uma grande delegação a Moscou. O governo militar brasileiro agiu de maneira pragmática preferindo lucrar com a ausência de norte-americanos e europeus tanto no campo comercial quanto esportivo / The Olympic Games is the biggest event in contemporary sports and the 20th century was the stage where most of the evolution of the Olympic Games of The Modern Age happened. The boycotts to the Olympic Games are manifestations that exemplify the relationship between sport and politics and studying it brings light to the subject. To this day, the biggest boycott was the one that the United States promoted against the Soviet Union in the 1980 Olympic Games. In that occurrence there were a significant reduction in the number of participants as well as a profound impact to the Olympic Movement structures. The purpose of these research is to analyse the politic context of the Moscow`s Olympic Boycott, with special attention for the brazilian position. The research was made in one of the most important brazilian newspapers (Folha de São Paulo), in the final editions of 1979, period of the sovietic occupation on Afghanistan, until august of 1980, period of the end of Moscow Olympic Games. In spite of the pressure from the United States, Brazil decided not to join the boycott, exposing an internal movement that the country was going through, which was a period of delicate economical issues, and the country was not capable of deny the economical advantages of relation with Soviet Union

Mesmo que seja impossível determinar as origens das práticas atléticas na Grécia antiga, podemos dizer que elas existiam e faziam parte do cotidiano daquele povo naquela época, como nos demonstram as obras de Homero. Por isso, os sacerdotes daqueles antigos rituais decidiram realizar uma competição atlética para determinar quem seria incumbido de concluir o cerimonial. Eles acreditavam que nada de importante acontecia sem a interferência dos deuses, portanto, os vencedores de cada competição venciam, porque assim estava determinado pelo seu destino, tornando-os heróis, e consequentemente, escolhido dos deuses. Por isso, as origens dos principais rituais eram atribuídas aos heróis mitológicos, cuja estrutura cosmogônica de Hesíodo os coloca a um nível superior de existência. Então, além de buscar a re-atualização do gesto sagrado realizado na origem, procurando dar continuidade ao mundo tal como eles o conheciam, os cerimoniais ao mesmo tempo re-atualizavam a ação dos heróis em um momento mítico, que se confundia com a realidade. Dessa maneira, os Jogos foram a materialização desta estrutura mitológica, tendo nos heróis a consolidação desta imagem, ao mesmo tempo em que proporcionava o caráter de humanidade que lhe rendeu toda sua grandiosidade / Even that being impossible to determine the origins of the athletic practices in the ancient Greece, we can say that they exited and were part of the daily of that people at that time, as show us the Homers poetry. Therefore, the priests of those ancient rituals had decided to make an athletic competition to determine who would be charged to conclude the ceremonial. They believed that nothing of important happened without the gods interference, therefore, the winners of each competition were successful, because thus were determined by its destination, becoming heroes, and consequently, chosen by the gods. Therefore, the origins of the main rituals were attributed to the mythological heroes, whose Hesiods cosmogonic structure, place them in a superior level of existence. Then, beyond to search the reactualization of the sacred act realized at the origin, looking for to give continuity to the world as they knew the ceremonials at the same time re-actualize the heroes action at a mythical moment, that it confuse with the reality. In this way, the Games had been the materialization of that mythological structure, having in the heroes the consolidation of that image, at the same time that it provides the humanity character that relieved it all its greatness

Mesmo que seja impossível determinar as origens das práticas atléticas na Grécia antiga, podemos dizer que elas existiam e faziam parte do cotidiano daquele povo naquela época, como nos demonstram as obras de Homero. Por isso, os sacerdotes daqueles antigos rituais decidiram realizar uma competição atlética para determinar quem seria incumbido de concluir o cerimonial. Eles acreditavam que nada de importante acontecia sem a interferência dos deuses, portanto, os vencedores de cada competição venciam, porque assim estava determinado pelo seu destino, tornando-os heróis, e consequentemente, escolhido dos deuses. Por isso, as origens dos principais rituais eram atribuídas aos heróis mitológicos, cuja estrutura cosmogônica de Hesíodo os coloca a um nível superior de existência. Então, além de buscar a re-atualização do gesto sagrado realizado na origem, procurando dar continuidade ao mundo tal como eles o conheciam, os cerimoniais ao mesmo tempo re-atualizavam a ação dos heróis em um momento mítico, que se confundia com a realidade. Dessa maneira, os Jogos foram a materialização desta estrutura mitológica, tendo nos heróis a consolidação desta imagem, ao mesmo tempo em que proporcionava o caráter de humanidade que lhe rendeu toda sua grandiosidade / Even that being impossible to determine the origins of the athletic practices in the ancient Greece, we can say that they exited and were part of the daily of that people at that time, as show us the Homers poetry. Therefore, the priests of those ancient rituals had decided to make an athletic competition to determine who would be charged to conclude the ceremonial. They believed that nothing of important happened without the gods interference, therefore, the winners of each competition were successful, because thus were determined by its destination, becoming heroes, and consequently, chosen by the gods. Therefore, the origins of the main rituals were attributed to the mythological heroes, whose Hesiods cosmogonic structure, place them in a superior level of existence. Then, beyond to search the reactualization of the sacred act realized at the origin, looking for to give continuity to the world as they knew the ceremonials at the same time re-actualize the heroes action at a mythical moment, that it confuse with the reality. In this way, the Games had been the materialization of that mythological structure, having in the heroes the consolidation of that image, at the same time that it provides the humanity character that relieved it all its greatness

O esporte contemporâneo tem nos Jogos Olímpicos o seu maior evento e sua evolução na Era Moderna aconteceu quase que completamente durante o Século XX. Os boicotes às edições dos Jogos Olímpicos são manifestações que exemplificam as relações políticas presentes no esporte e seu estudo é bastante esclarecedor. O maior boicote ocorrido foi proposto pelos Estados Unidos em 1980, aos Jogos realizados na extinta União Soviética. Na ocasião houve grande redução no número de participantes e um abalo nas estruturas do Movimento Olímpico. O objetivo deste trabalho é analisar o contexto político do boicote aos Jogos de Moscou, sobretudo no que diz respeito ao posicionamento do Brasil. Para a realização do estudo foi selecionado um dos principais jornais brasileiros (Folha de São Paulo) e dele se retirou os dados que vão o desde a segunda quinzena do mês de dezembro de 1979, com a ocupação soviética do Afeganistão (23/12/1979), até a primeira quinzena do mês de agosto de 1980, encerramento dos Jogos Olímpicos de Moscou (03/08/1980). Embora o Brasil desenvolvesse uma posição de alinhamento à política norte-americana na Guerra Fria, optou por não aderir ao boicote comercial, nem ao olímpico enviando uma grande delegação a Moscou. O governo militar brasileiro agiu de maneira pragmática preferindo lucrar com a ausência de norte-americanos e europeus tanto no campo comercial quanto esportivo / The Olympic Games is the biggest event in contemporary sports and the 20th century was the stage where most of the evolution of the Olympic Games of The Modern Age happened. The boycotts to the Olympic Games are manifestations that exemplify the relationship between sport and politics and studying it brings light to the subject. To this day, the biggest boycott was the one that the United States promoted against the Soviet Union in the 1980 Olympic Games. In that occurrence there were a significant reduction in the number of participants as well as a profound impact to the Olympic Movement structures. The purpose of these research is to analyse the politic context of the Moscow`s Olympic Boycott, with special attention for the brazilian position. The research was made in one of the most important brazilian newspapers (Folha de São Paulo), in the final editions of 1979, period of the sovietic occupation on Afghanistan, until august of 1980, period of the end of Moscow Olympic Games. In spite of the pressure from the United States, Brazil decided not to join the boycott, exposing an internal movement that the country was going through, which was a period of delicate economical issues, and the country was not capable of deny the economical advantages of relation with Soviet Union

This dissertation focuses on American women and the modern summer Olympic Games. It retraces the history of women's participation in this significant and global sporting event to study the obstacles generated by social, economic, political, and cultural gender patterns while providing a forum for female Olympians to give voice to their journeys and how they dealt with and eventually overcame some of these obstacles. The findings herein support other scholarly works, arguing that despite progress, the Olympic Games, and by extension the institution of sport in general, is and will remain a hegemonic space that allows men to maintain and reinforce their dominant position in society. It does show, however, that even though this global athletic event did not, at the collective level, result in an egalitarian redefinition of gender roles, the benefits of training and participating in the Olympics remain indisputable for the women involved--benefits no different than these enjoyed by male athletes. The Olympic Games, then, empowers women as it simultaneously reinforces their position of subordination.

This research examines the use of volunteering at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games for the creation of human, social and political capital at individual, organisational and societal levels. Despite a long tradition of Olympic volunteering, this has not been investigated so far. The concept of volunteerism at Beijing 2008, in fact, was constructed upon multiple contexts including the Olympic Movement, Chinese society and an international understanding of the ternl (BOCOG, 2005). Hence, volunteerism as an under-investigated concept is firstly studied individually in each of these contexts. The frameworks underpinning this research include Getz's (2005) human resource planning process which explains how specific policies for managing event volunteers are formulated for fulfilling its vision(s); and theories of social, human and political capital as developed by Putnam (2000), Bourdieu (1986; 1991) and Coleman (1988) respectively. Multiple qualitative case study strategy is adopted for this investigation, following a constructivist paradigm. The subjective and interactive epistemology is constructed upon the knowledge and experiences of a total of fifty-seven infoIDlants, most of whom were directly involved in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Volunteer Programme. The research findings illustrate that the Chinese state and BOCOG's interpretation of the concept of volunteerisrn was manifested in organisational visions for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Volunteer Programme. These visions were accomplished through a range of management policies, which in fact placed volunteerism at Beijing 2008 in line with the maturity stage of volunteerism in the Olympic Movement. During the course of the management practices, social, human and political capital were created in varying degrees at all of the three levels. It was also evident that participation and training were the critical processes in the creation of different forms of capital. Moreover, the findings suggest that the created social, human and political capital have both positive and negative effects on those involved, while full possible long-term effects are yet to become apparent. This research makes distinctive contributions to the body of knowledge. It adds six-dimensional conceptual frameworks for both volunteerism in general and Olympic volunteerism in specific. Investigation into how volunteering for the Beijing Games has been used for the creation of social, human and political capital at individual, organisational and societal levels is deemed to be original. Research findings will contribute to the development of volunteerism in the Olympic Movement and future Olympic volunteer programmes. Suggestions for future research are also proposed to investigate on further issues of issue of the use of volunteering for the creation of social, human and political capital at future Olympic Games as well as other mega events.

No description available.

The Olympic Games are a global phenomenon that focus a spotlight onto the hosting city once every two years. While the athletes are judged on their physical abilities, the host city is judged on its architecture, organization and capabilities. It is a chance to showcase your city and country to the world. But while athletes from all over the world are welcome to compete in the games, becoming a host city has only been granted to a few countries, not reaching all seven continents. One must look into what it takes to host the Olympic Games and what factors are creating an exclusionary trend.

This graduation is concerned with the possibility of organizing the Olympic Games in Prague. It finds out positives and negatives presented by the supporters and opponents of the Games planned in terms 2016 or 2020 and regards a traffic impact on the infrastructure and everyday life in Prague before, during and after the Olympic Games. Finally it supports the variants of the efficiency sporting facilities after the end of the Games by the multicriterial optimization depending on the facility location.

Cities and countries increasingly seek mega-events to boost tourism, update local infrastructure, and improve the international standing of the host community. Benefits are actively promoted by the organizing committees, but these large-scale events also create significant economic, environmental and social costs for the host community. Measuring resident support is necessary because their support is required to secure the rights to the event, and to provide the necessary economic and human resources needed for hosting the event. This study utilized existing data on the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games to investigate the impact of a mega-event on the host community, and to measure resident support for the event. Social exchange theory provided the theoretical background for this dissertation. The theory states that the costs and benefits of an exchange are continually re-evaluated by the actors in the exchange relationship. The primary contribution of this study is support for the notion that social exchanges are temporal in nature; residents continually monitored the positive and negative impacts of the event on themselves and on their community. To reach this conclusion, this study utilized four data points in the year leading up to the Olympics to assess the changes in residents’ perceptions of the impacts of the event over time. These changes were evaluated in light of residents’ support for the event. A factor analysis reduced the fifteen impact statements into three factors: Benefits, Local Problems, and External Problems. Residents were segmented according to their assessment of the event impacts, resulting in three clusters: Supporters, Cynics, and Realists. Proximity to the main event location also was evaluated since this variable has had mixed results in previous resident studies. Results showed that resident perceptions varied over time, thus providing support for monitoring residents over multiple time periods. In addition, residents’ support and residents’ plans to attend the event were contributing factors in the assessment of the Benefits and Local Problems. Supporters, Cynics, and Realists demonstrated significant differences over time in their assessment of External Problems, and proximity to the event was found to be a significant factor in residents’ assessment of Local Problems. / Ph. D.