Olympic Games

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games were postponed this year making this the fourth time the games were cancelled in recent modern history; the previous cancellations occurred during the First and Second World Wars.

The games are global events, bringing nations and people together, promoting "amilla" (healthy competition in ancient Greek) and contributing to the economy.

This month we are looking at the history of and research into the impact the Olympic Games have on the individual and society.

Reading Recommendations from the Book Display Team

We have provided a list of interesting titles from our Library e-resource collection so you can learn more about the Games from the comfort of your home.

Journal Articles

• Temporary projects, durable outcomes: Urban development through failed Olympic bids?

John Lauermann (2016) Urban Studies, 53(9): 1885–1901

• Unintended outcomes of the London 2012 Olympic Games: local voices of resistance and the challenge for sport participation leverage in England

Christ Mackintosh, Natalie Darko & Hetty May-Wilkins (2016) Leisure Studies, 35(4): 454-469

• When the party is over: developments in Sochi and Russia after the Olympics 2014

Bo Petersson, Karina Vamling & Alexandra Yatsyk (2017) Sport in Society, 20(4): 455-460

• 'Another world is possible': recapturing alternative Olympic histories, imagining different games

Bruce Kidd (2013) Sport in Society, 16(4): 503-514

• Packaging the Games for Viewer Consumption: Gender, Ethnicity, and Nationality in NBC's Coverage of the 2004 Summer Olympics

Andrew Billings & James R. Angelini (2007) Communication Quarterly, 55(1): 95-111

• Evolution of food provision to athletes at the summer Olympic Games

Fiona E. Pelly, Helen T. O'Connor, Gareth S. Denyer & Ian D. Caterson (2011) Nutrition Reviews, 69(6): 321–332

• An Olympic Legacy? Did the Urban Regeneration Associated With the London 2012 Olympic Games Influence Adolescent Mental Health?

Charlotte Clark et al (2018) American Journal of Epidemiology, 187(3): 474–483

• Before the Sunshine: Organising and Promoting the Olympic Games in Stockholm 1912

Therese N. Edvinsson (2014) The International Journal of the History of Sport, 31(5): 570-587

• Tokyo's 1964 Olympic design as a 'realm of [design] memory'

Jilly Traganou (2011) Sport in Society, 14(4): 466-481