ABSTRACT
Chapter 14 deals with the home advantage at the Olympic Games. Countries that host the Summer and Winter Olympic Games usually win more medals than at previous Games abroad. However, I argue based on previous research I have conducted with Stephen Pettigrew that academic literature largely ignores the importance of participation rates in explaining the home advantage, and the resulting increase in medal opportunities. I conclude that when we account for increased participation by looking at the ratio of medals to athlete, we find that the home advantage decays to almost zero.
