ABSTRACT
When I competed at the Sydney Olympics I was deeply struck both by the generosity of spirit and the equality with which everyone was treated, no matter who they were and no matter where they came from. Was this a true reflection of the Olympic movement? Is that what the games are really all about? Simply a universal ‘festival of sport’, in which it is the taking part and not the winning that counts? Through my research for this study I have realized how far my initial impressions were from the truth, and how in many ways it is the case of Latin America that illustrates the more complex reality.
