The Olympic Games in London 2012 from a Swedish Media Perspective

The purpose of this article is to analyse the cultural information on (Olympic) sports presented in Swedish media coverage of the London Games 2012. A starting point for the analysis is that the media plays an important part in shaping a majority of the viewers' ideas about what sport is, and who is a real sportsman or sportswoman. In that way, the media gives cultural information on sports. The article focuses on a quantitative analysis of media representations, exploring how coverage intersects with gender and nationality, and devotes special attention to a comparison between the ways in which Sweden and Britain are represented in the media. The study demonstrates that there was a higher percentage of articles on Swedish sportswomen participating in the London Olympic Games compared to previous Olympics. A possible explanation is that the Swedish gender equality discourse has permeated the Swedish media, influencing it to cover sportswomen more than before. In addition, the cultural information presented to the Swedish readership about the London Olympic Games is, in short and oversimplified, nationalism rather than internationalism; that women, and especially Swedish women, practise sport; that track and field, swimming, handball, equestrian sports and football are very important and that they are performed by both men and women; and, finally, that in Britain, men play football and women are not involved in many sporting activities.     

The London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics: Editorial Differences and Similarities of Approach in Five Japanese Newspapers

This study analyses the coverage of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games on the front pages of the morning editions of five Japanese newspapers of diverse circulations and political and ideological orientations. It finds similarities among the newspapers in the amount and focus of coverage, and differences in their editorial positions on the Games and their use of Olympic materials in other political and ideological discourses.     

Flags,Feuds and Frictions: North Korea and the London 2012 Olympics

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea participated in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London with 51 athletes. They won a total of six medals and finished 20th in the overall medal table. However, most observers of the London 2012 Olympics will not remember North Korea's athletic successes but the flag blunder that kicked the Games off with a diplomatic row. On the first day, the South Korean flag was accidentally displayed next to the faces of the North Korean women's football team on the stadium's huge screen. Although there have been several flag controversies and blunders in the context of the Olympic Games, this incident must be considered as one of the most embarrassing and high-profile as, technically, North and South Korea are still at war having signed only an armistice at the end of the Korean War in 1953. This paper deals with three interrelated issues: first, it outlines the development of inter-Korean political and sporting relations since the 2008 Beijing Olympics before, second, it focuses on the political significance of the 2012 London Games. Third, it summarises key themes and ideological messages emerging from a qualitative analysis of the state-controlled North Korean media coverage of the 2012 Olympics. The Korean Central News Agency appears to pursue a dual strategy: it aims to increase the popularity of outstanding North Korean athletes and create home-grown stars, and also attempts to encourage an alternative discourse about the country abroad. All these issues need to be analysed in wider context of significant political changes in both Koreas, particularly in the North, where Kim Jong-un, who came to power in December 2011, has started to carve out a distinct identity and forge his own leadership style.     

Twitter,Team GB and the Australian Olympic Team: representations of gender in social media spaces

Twitter is used by athletes, sporting teams and sports media to provide updates on the results of sporting events as they happen. Unlike traditional forms of sports media, online sports media offers the potential for diverse representations of athletes. The current study examined gender in social media coverage of the 2016 Olympic Games using a third wave feminist lens. The analysis focused on the Twitter pages of ‘Team GB’ and the ‘Australian Olympic team’ and the sports stories and images posted during the Rio Olympic Games. Despite a number of traditional differences in the ways that male and females were represented being present, such as the presence of ‘active’ images of male athletes accompanying sports stories and the presence of infantalization in the language used to represent female performers, this analysis demonstrated significant strides forward in terms of the quantity of coverage received by women in online spaces. It further highlights virtual platforms as dynamic spaces for the representation of women athletes.     

London Revisited: South Korea at the Olympics of 1948 and 2012

1948 was South Korea's first ever appearance in the Olympics – a poor country, forced to adjust to division on the peninsula, with a limited athletic presence. But South Korea won its first medals and contributed to the tortuous process of securing its international standing. Sixty-four years later, by the time of its second appearance in a London Olympics South Korea had become a powerful economy with a high international profile and a strong athletic representation – coming 5th in the final medal table. This study compares and contrasts not just the two London Olympics in terms of athletic performances but also the changed roles for South Korea within both the global sporting community and broader international society. Despite the continuing division on the peninsula, the two London Olympics provide symbols and markers of the aspirations, achievements and failures of South Korean policy-makers and their people.     

Public Diplomacy Strategies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2012 London Olympics: A Comparative Study

The various ‘global events’ China has hosted in recent years, most notably the Beijing Olympics, have sparked debate on the country's projection of soft power and invited easy conclusions that China's global public diplomacy has successfully seduced the world via its rich traditional culture and astounding modernisation. A comparison with the London Olympic Games, however, would suggest otherwise. Not only do the two Games differ in relation to the cultural ingredients combined to create overarching themes, they also reveal divergent public diplomacy strategies pursued by the host countries and cities. China's well-orchestrated and nearly infallible debut reveals its adherence to a top-down centre-driven approach that seeks to project the values and messages desirable to the governing authorities. The British approach, in contrast, transcends the elitist tendency by involving a wider set of actors within and without the government for clauses that extend past elites' interests. As a result, although London's Games were less ‘speculator’ than those in Beijing in presentation, the former's public diplomacy legacy may prove more lasting and likely to gain the admiration of the rest of the world.     

对《2012伦敦奥运会和残奥会遗产计划》的解析

运用《奥运举办城市可持续发展计划评估量表》,从战略目标总体规划、设施规划、奥林匹克公园开发、基础设施规划等方面,对《2012伦敦奥运会和残奥会遗产计划》进行分析。认为:《2012伦敦奥运会和残奥会遗产计划》中关于奥林匹克城市建设方面具有较好的可持续性;奥林匹克城市发展与城市长期总体规划及其他地方规划具有较高的一致性。     

The 2012 London Olympics: Commercial Partners,Environmental Sustainability,Corporate Social Responsibility and Outlining the Implications

Historically, the Olympic Games have had a tremendous impact on the economy, tourism industry and social and political aspects of a hosting nation. The Olympic Games are the most globally promoted and commercialised sporting event in the world. This fact has led global firms to mandate significant changes in many aspects of traditional Olympics advertising relating to media content, media channel/placement and the overall budget allocation pattern. In pursuit of desired outcomes, sponsorship-linked promotion and marketing that primarily focuses on communication objectives allows both sport authorities and corporate sponsors to reach a considerable number of markets across the world. The aim of this paper was to explore the content characteristics of commercial partners who participated in the 2012 London Olympic Games on the basis of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) and environmental sustainability (ES). The intention is not to merely verify the marketing communication strategies of commercial partners, but to review historical and theoretical perspectives through a systematic review of the Olympic Partners. This facilitates our understanding of why there have been certain historical changes in their marketing communication strategies with regard to CSR and ES. Implications for mega-event managers and future research are also outlined.     

运动员社会支持量表编制与检验

编制运动员社会支持量表（SSQA）,检验其信效度和科学性,实现社会支持的定量化评定,为运动员成长成才所需社会支持提供科学依据。运用量表编制的理论与方法形成运动员社会支持预调研量表,对460名运动员实施预调研。通过探索性因素分析形成正式测试量表,对1 056名运动员实施调研,采用验证性因素分析和信效度检验形成正式量表。结果：SSQA包含24个题项,分属教练支持、家庭支持、同伴支持、组织支持、政策舆论支持5个维度,累积解释变异量为68.419%;验证性因素分析表明量表拟合指数理想;SSQA内部一致性系数达0.908,重测系数为0.843,各维度Cronbach α系数和重测系数均达0.7以上;SSQA与效标量表相关系数为0.478,每个题项在各自维度中的负荷量均接近或大于0.6,在其他维度中的负荷量皆小于0.4。验证表明：SSQA具有良好的信度和效度,可以作为运动员社会支持测量的规范量表。     

奥运会广告规制研究——兼论北京冬奥会广告规制应对

国际奥委会为保护奥林匹克财产、遏制隐性营销所的奥运会广告规制,在新媒体时代饱受冲击。为平衡奥林匹克财产保护和运动员权利保障之间的价值冲突,国际奥委会在1991年到2015年修订《奥林匹克宪章》中广告规制条款(即"第40条"),虽适用对象范围逐步扩大,新增弹性变通条款,但仍受质疑。因此,国际奥委会2015年制定豁免计划,2019年修订第40条,原则上放开广告限制,但奥运会广告规制有赖于国家奥委会的具体实施和制定细则。为保障运动员权利,基于我国现行法律法规,北京冬奥会应研讨第40条的适用原则,强化国际协调治理,借鉴域外经验制定北京冬奥会广告规制的实施细则。     

运动员社会支持量表编制与检验

编制运动员社会支持量表(SSQA),检验其信效度和科学性,实现社会支持的定量化评定,为运动员成长成才所需社会支持提供科学依据。运用量表编制的理论与方法形成运动员社会支持预调研量表,对460名运动员实施预调研。通过探索性因素分析形成正式测试量表,对1 056名运动员实施调研,采用验证性因素分析和信效度检验形成正式量表。结果:SSQA包含24个题项,分属教练支持、家庭支持、同伴支持、组织支持、政策舆论支持5个维度,累积解释变异量为68.419%;验证性因素分析表明量表拟合指数理想;SSQA内部一致性系数达0.908,重测系数为0.843,各维度Cronbachα系数和重测系数均达0.7以上;SSQA与效标量表相关系数为0.478,每个题项在各自维度中的负荷量均接近或大于0.6,在其他维度中的负荷量皆小于0.4。验证表明:SSQA具有良好的信度和效度,可以作为运动员社会支持测量的规范量表。     

我国现行运动员保障体系的障碍及再构建举措

笔者采用文献资料法、实证分析法、专家访问法,分析了我国现行运动员保障体系的现状及存在的主要问题,认为我国运动员新型保障体系应由三部分构成:社会保障、商业保障、自我保障,在当前形势下,竞技体育行业的自我保障功能必须强化,进而提出了构建自我保障体系的举措。     

Modern Pentathlon at the London 2012 Olympics: Between Traditional Heritage and Modern Changes for Survival

In London, in 2012, the modern pentathlon (fencing, swimming, horse riding, shooting and running) celebrated its centenary. In its 100 years of Olympic history several rule changes have taken place. Directly after its Olympic debut in Stockholm in 1912, the International Olympic Committee headed by Pierre de Coubertin evaluated the event and criticised the shortcomings between the supposed idea behind the sport and its implementation. After Coubertin's death, the sport continued to develop; recently running and shooting have been joined in a so called combined event. In all cases, the presidents of the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM) argued the associated rule changes by referring to the original idea of the modern pentathlon. The sport's insecure future after the Games in Rio in 2016 provides sufficient reason to investigate the discrepancy between the marketing strategy of the UIPM and the ideological origins of the modern pentathlon. It finally allows an analysis of select historical rule changes that fitted the original idea behind the events and those that served purely modern strategies of survival. Thus, the topic also stands as an example of the policies of a contemporary international sports federation that uses (select parts of its) history and (invented) traditions as strong and successful marketing tools.     

Tracking 25 years of judo results from the World Championships and Olympic Games: Age and competitive achievement

ABSTRACT

We quantified the peak age of judokas during the World Championships (WC) and Olympic Games (OG) according to sex, weight category and competitive achievement and determined the relationship between competition year and athlete age. A retrospective study including 12,005 athletes who took part in the last 16 WC and 6 OG. Athletes were divided by sex, weight category and competitive achievement. Overall, females were younger than males, and older athletes competed at the OG compared to the WC. A weight category effect was also observed, with lighter athletes being younger than heavier athletes (p < 0.05). A competitive achievement effect was found for females, with athletes being defeated in the eliminatory phases being younger than those advancing further in the competitions (p < 0.05). Significant associations (p < 0.05) were shown between competition year and age category for males at the WC and for females at both the WC and OG. In general, lighter athletes are younger than heavier ones (p < 0.05). No difference in age was found between males concerning their competitive achievement in WC and OG, whereas younger females are defeated in the eliminatory phases (p < 0.05).     

A qualitative study of the impact of the London 2012 Olympics on families in the East Midlands of England: lessons for sports development policy and practice

The dynamics and culture of families are central to individual and community sport and physical activity participation. This research project examined the lived experiences and day-to-day realities of the London 2012 Olympics from the perspectives of five families in the East Midlands region of England. The aims of the project were to assess the influence the Games had on shaping family sports participation, influencing social and health relationships within the families through sports and reactions to the 2012 Olympics. The study was conducted through the generation of rich qualitative data from pre- and post-Games interviews as well as production of video diary data by the families and young people themselves to gather micro-level information on the realities of ‘legacy’ for families. Findings from this research project illustrate that prior parental socialisation into sport shaped current attitudes to legacy and children and mothers and fathers had mixed reactions to the actual presence of legacy. There are also clear sports development challenges around accessibility, cost, project design, the non-family-friendly nature of some schemes present during the potential consumption of legacy that have consequences for future research in this embryonic area. Implications from the study include the need to locate the family as a more central concern for policy makers in sports development practice. The study has questioned the assumed virtuous legacy of the London 2012 Games from the perspective of families on a day-to-day micro-level. Instead, a far more complex and diverse picture from the perspective of the family has been presented that requires further critical research on this little explored topic of policy and practice in sports development.     

面对2012伦敦奥运会中国女排的困境与出路

运用文献资料法、观察法和数理统计法,对中国女排在2010年世界女排锦标赛上的11场比赛进行了详细统计分析,认为:①中国女排的发球、接发球和防守都存在问题。②中国女排在进攻方面的主要问题,表现在进攻结构不合理、个人和集体战术应用过于单一。③中国女排今后在调整队伍、配备场阵容和训练时,应充分考虑影响进攻能力的3个主要因素:保证进攻点的多样化;合理分配每个进攻点的进攻比重;提高每个进攻点的成功率。     

从过程理论观点探索我国运动员的退役(Ⅱ)——社会支持与退役教育的构想

研究基于运动员退役的过程理论，运用文献综述、实地调查和综合分析等方法，对运动员退役安置的政策变化、退役的有关理论、社会支持，以及退役教育的可行性进行分析讨论。过去有关运动员的退役问题，政府主要是通过政策的倾斜来改善运动员的退役环境，很少从心理调节上去考虑。从社会心理学角度，调查分析运动员的退役心理状态，发现很多问题不容乐观，建议应关注运动员在退役过程中的心理问题，开展运动员退役心理干预教育，以改善运动员退役的心理环境。从退役过程理论的观点看，运动员的退役是一个阶段性发展的结果，心理过程在各个阶段中会直接影响到运动员对退役后的生活评价，引起情绪反应。为了减轻退役过程给运动员带来的负面影响，基于当前的运动员退役理论、社会支持和国外运动员退役教育，建议有关的研究应进一步探讨我国运动员退役服务的教育，开展对运动员退役的深层次问题的探索，为推进我国运动员的退役教育提供更多的理论依据。     

2012伦敦奥运会中外女排接应二传运动员得分手段和效果的研究

采用录像观察、数理统计等方法,对2012伦敦奥运会中外女排接应二传基本情况、得分手段和效果进行分析,结果表明:中国女排接应二传平均年龄正处于竞技排球黄金阶段,身体形态、网上高度及绝对弹跳力方面中国女排接应二传均具有优势。发球上,中外女排接应二传得分均是采用跳飘及上手飘,但得分效果不及交手队;拦网上,得分均是来自拦前排强攻的球;扣球上,快攻是中国女排接应二传得分的主要手段,而交手队主要以前排强攻得分为主,中国女排接应二传的前排强攻得分效果与交手队相比,相对较差。     

Olympics,Media and Politics: The First Olympic Ideas in Brazilian Society During the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries

Abstract

The Olympic Games of the modern era are powerful global mediated events. Olympic cities receive an overwhelming examination by world media. As the 2016 Olympic host, Rio de Janeiro has been given an enormous amount of attention, both by the international media and researchers who looked at the urban spaces of Rio, the struggles over the hegemony of the city and the social meanings the Olympics bring to the host city’s citizens. However, studies over the historical relationship between Rio, sport and media are rare. This paper addresses the historical uses of the term Olympic by Brazilian media during the late nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries. By looking at the main articles in the newspapers of these periods, we examine the extent to which ideologies over sports have changed the way the Olympics were represented in Brazil’s national imaginary. We demonstrate how the use of expressions associated with the Olympics historically generated a closer appreciation of these events by the public. We also show how political authorities appropriated the Olympics for their own benefit. The paper concludes by asking whether or not the historical lessons from the early Olympic ideas in Brazil have been learned by the 2016 Rio Games organizers.     

2012年伦敦奥运会大洋洲和非洲奖牌比较研究

通过对2012年奥运会大洋洲和非洲各代表队获奖数据统计分析,得出大洋洲和非洲地区国家奖牌总数相对上一届有所下降;在非洲获奖代表队比大洋洲多的情况下,大洋洲整体竞技水平比非洲强。基于对奥运会可持续发展存在潜在隐患的考虑,应对大洋洲和非洲两个相对较差的地区竞技水平差异性原因进行分析,进而提升整个奥运会的竞技水平。