ABSTRACT
This chapter unpacks Olympic ideology as a set of ideas related to social needs. It looks at multiculturalism as a complex phenomenon by suggesting that certain types of multiculturalism run counter to the core Olympic values and do not promote international understanding. The chapter examines the relationship between Olympic ideology and practices in promoting multiculturalism. Modern Olympic ideology emerged at the end of the nineteenth century and has been shaped by a number of factors including the ancient Greek ideas of kalos k'agathos and arete, the visions of Enlightenment, English educational system and liberal humanism. Theory and ideology are also dialectically linked through the social needs they try to satisfy. This is true for Olympism as it seeks to address a range of social, political and cultural needs such as equality, education, fitness, respect and excellence.
