Security and the Threat of Terrorism

This chapter interrogates the impact of security measures that have become an essential part of Olympic preparations in the host city. Drawing on historical approaches enacted after the ‘Munich Massacre’ in 1972 that arguably launched a new era of international terrorism and saw the security preparation intensified, and twenty-first century Olympiads where the threat to the Games from terrorism escalated alongside ‘total security’ approaches since the events of 9/11, 2001, the chapter charts the increasing cost and militarization of the security required. Here the International Olympic Committee (IOC) places clear responsibility on host cities to provide a safe environment for the ‘Olympic Family’, while ensuring that such securitization does not get in the way of the sporting activities or spirit of the Games.