ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the question ‘what does studying Olympism entail?’ For Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Movement, Olympism was a philosophy of social reform that emphasizes the role of sport in world development, international understanding, peaceful co-existence, and social and moral education. The explicit pursuit of social values is what distinguishes the Olympic movement and the Olympic Games from all other international sport events and institutions. Employing the metaphor of landscapes for studying Olympism has a useful analytical value: while ‘land exists without the observer, the landscape does not: the “scape” is the projection of human consciousness, the way the land is perceived and responded to’. The process of institutionalization of Olympic research can be attributed to a number of factors including Games’ popularity and organizational sophistication, the growing demand for evidence-based Olympic policies, and the constant need for improving athletes’ performances.
