I admit it, I love the Olympic Games. The sport, the over-hyped commentary, the fancy-dress national costumes - it’s two weeks of every four years that I anticipate with excitement. In many ways, the Games…
Articles on 2012 London Olympics
Displaying 61 - 80 of 113 articles
Over the last 100 years there have been countless outstanding athletic performances, such as Ed Moses, Daley Thompson, Michael Johnson, Emil Zatopek, Roger Bannister, Fanny Blankers-Koen and Cathy Freeman…
Introduced into the Sydney Olympics in 2000, triathlon has become one of the most popular Olympic sports. For Australia, it’s one of our most successful, with our women claiming one gold, two silvers and…
To win Olympic gold is a lifelong dream for most swimmers. It is the culmination of years of training and dedication. In Australia, to win Olympic gold is to become a celebrity, a superstar, an Australian…
With track cycling events now underway at the London Olympics, athletes from around the world are pushing themselves to the limit to outperform their rivals and, hopefully, claim gold. Back here in Melbourne…
As the giant bureaucratic beast that is the IOC lumbers through London, locals can be heard saying, “I don’t remember voting for this”. The Olympics is a strangely undemocratic affair: locals of host cities…
One of the biggest criticisms levelled at organisers of the London Olympics so far has been the obvious large number of empty seats at Games venues. So why are so many seats empty? What’s being done about…
It’s often argued that hosting the Olympic Games benefits the host city in many ways, providing an economic boost that lasts when the athletes and spectators leave. But it that actually true? John Madden…
The focus of the Olympic Games is quite rightly on athletes who compete in contests where medals are awarded. However, many obscure events, for which medals were not awarded, have been a feature of the…
One of the delights of watching the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 London Olympic Games was the spontaneous dance routine and joyful celebration of the Independent Olympic Athletes. Images and videos of…
For some female athletes, “counting the days” to their Olympic event may have a double meaning. These Olympians may be worried about “what time of the month” it is going to be when they are expected to…
Nothing is sacred and nothing can’t be bought, sold or sponsored in the modern era of the Olympics. If you can’t afford it, then you won’t win it. Sport in 2012 has become a massive global industry. The…
Steve Georgakis of the University of Sydney traces Australia’s development as a sporting nation from British colonisation, to the low point of the 1976 Montreal Games, to the present day. Further viewing…
From a drug-use control perspective, the 2012 London Olympic Games (LOG) will be the “biggest ever”. Since the Ben Johnson affair at the 1988 Seoul Olympics there has been a concerted effort to secure…
The role of animals in the Olympics — both during the opening ceremony and throughout the wider competition — is rightly generating controversy. When it was first announced that non-human animals would…
Diving is one of the most graceful and spectacular sports in the world, and every four years, at the Olympics, it captures the attention of audiences worldwide. So what goes into the perfect dive? Diving…
Without volunteers, the Olympics would be a disaster. But will the “Games Makers” - the army of 70,000 Olympic and Paralympic volunteers - stimulate a spirit of volunteerism in and beyond London? Volunteering…
Danny Boyle and his army of volunteers are to be commended on a stunning television production for the London 2012 Olympic Games opening ceremony. But if you only watched one screen, you missed a significant…
1977 - the Queen’s Silver Jubilee. A small boat called “The Queen Elizabeth” swayed on the River Thames just outside the Houses of Parliament. The band onboard played on. As the boat docked the police…
On its trip abroad, the Mitt Romney campaign would have done well to heed the advice US presidential candidates are given in a selecting a VP: “First, do no harm.” Upon arrival in the United Kingdom, however…
Top contributors
-
NHMRC Career Development Fellow, The University of Melbourne
-
Adjunct Professor of Sport Studies, UC-RISE, University of Canberra
-
Senior Lecturer of Pedagogy and Sports Studies, University of Sydney
-
Senior Lecturer in Democracy Studies, University of Canberra
-
Professeur des universités, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
-
Senior Lecturer, University of Technology Sydney
-
Professor and Dean School of Management, RMIT University
-
Chair in Global Islamic Politics, Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University
-
Distinguished Fellow, Australia-India Institute, The University of Melbourne
-
Research Leader, Sport, Institute of Sport, Exercise and Active Living, Victoria University
-
Lecturer, Department for Health, University of Bath
-
Visiting Fellow, La Trobe University
-
Emeritus Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University
-
Researcher at Microsoft Research, Cambridge UK. Previously, The University of Queensland
-
Vice-Chancellor Independent Research Fellow, Sport, Business and Society Research Group, Loughborough University