ABSTRACT
Olympic Aspirations: Realised and Unrealised surveys more than a century of the Olympic Movement’s promotion of Olympic ideals internationally. The idea for Olympic Aspirations emerged at the world-renowned annual Beijing Academic Forum just months after the city hosted the impressive 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. One section of the Forum was devoted to the impact of the Olympic Movement on China and on China’s image in the world. The tone at times was too self-congratulatory for some present. The critical discussion that continued into late 2010 inspired this book.
Olympic Aspirations is a companion volume to the well-received Olympic Legacies: Intended and Unintended and draws on expertise from academics in all parts of the world. Both volumes have a similar purpose: to record Olympic ideals achieved but more importantly, to stimulate reflection on those as yet unachieved. Both are constructive in approach, positive in tone and optimistic in attitude. Olympic Aspirations offers original and insightful arguments that address the actions the Olympic Movement has taken to improve the Games. It argues that these actions are as yet incomplete. In concert with Olympic Legacies, it presents two sides of the same coin minted to advance the purity of the Olympic 'coinage'.
This book was originally published as a special issue of the International Journal of the History of Sport.
1. Prologue: Concerns, Confidence, Caveats J.A. Mangan Future Aspirations 2. Olympic Challenges Helmut Digel 3. How Green Will My (Lea) Valley Be? Olympic Aspirations: Rhetoric or Reality Peter Horton and Dwight H. Zakus 4. Manly Displays: Exhibitions and the Revival of the Olympic Games Lia Paradis 5. Planning and Reconversion of Olympic Heritages: The Montreal Olympic Stadium Romain Roult and Sylvain Lefebvre 6. Mexico City 1968: Oscillating Aspirations Keith Brewster 7. Post-Sydney 2000 Australia: A Potential Clash of Aspirations Between Recreational and Elite Sport Kristine Toohey 8. Athens' Post-Olympic Aspirations and the Extent of their Realization Penelope Kissoudi Recent Past Aspirations 9. The Beijing Games, National Identity and Modernization in China Dong Jinxia 10. Olympic Aspirations: Reconstructed Images, National Identity and International Integration Ying Yu 11. Beijing 2008: Volunteerism in Chinese Culture and its Olympic Interpretation and Influence Juan Zhuang 12. The Effect of Beijing 2008 on China's Image in the United States: A Study of US Media and Polls Nafees A. Syed 13. The ‘Black Auxiliaries’ in American Memories: Sport, Race and Politics in the Construction of Modern Legacies John Gleaves and Mark Dyreson 14. Outsiders: Muslim Women and Olympic Games – Barriers and Opportunities Gertrud Pfister Coming Aspirations 15. ‘Team GB’ and London 2012: The Paradox of National and Global Identities Iain MacRury and Gavin Poynter Mega-Event Global Aspirations 16. Olympiads as Mega-events and the Pace of Globalization: Beijing 2008 in Context Paul Close 17. The Geopolitics of Global Aspiration: Sport Mega-events and Emerging Powers Scarlett Cornelissen 18. Perspectives of Sport in a Global World Helmut Digel 19. Epilogue: Showcases for Global Aspirations: Meditations on the Histories of Olympic Games and World's Fairs Mark Dyreson
