‘The old days of amateurism are over’: the Samaranch revolution and the return of Olympic tennis

Tennis featured in every Olympics from 1896 to 1924, after which disagreements between the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF) on matters pertaining to organisational control and the amateur eligibility of players led to tennis being removed from the Olympic Games as a full-medal event until the 1988 Seoul Olympics. This paper traces the steps of the sport’s reinstatement, from when efforts commenced in the 1950s, setting this development in the contexts of: broader political movements, shifting IOC leadership, burgeoning commercialisation of Olympic sport, the concomitant push for professionalisation and the declining influence of amateur ideals within both the Olympic movement and international tennis. Under the leadership of the amateur stalwart Avery Brundage, the IOC stymied attempts to facilitate tennis’s re-entry, challenging both the ILTF on failing to deal with widespread ‘sham-amateur’ practices and the avaricious promoters luring amateur players toward the professional ranks. Brundage and the IOC also strongly condemned the move to ‘open’ tennis and an acceptance of full-blown professionalism. Only a change in leadership, firstly with Lord Killanin and then the progressive reformer Juan Antonio Samaranch, did the IOC recognise the value of tennis within the Olympic movement, which by then had itself become increasingly money-oriented.     

Acute fatigue negatively affects risk factors for injury in trained but not well-trained habitually shod runners when running barefoot

Introduction: Many factors may contribute to running-related injury. These include fatigue and footwear, the combination of which has rarely been studied, in particular with reference to barefoot running, recently advocated as a method to reduce injury risk. Methods: Twenty-two runners (12 well-trained and 10 trained) participated in a 10?km fatiguing trial. Knee and ankle joint kinematics and kinetics and electromyography were assessed during overground running in the barefoot and shod condition. This was performed pre- and post-fatigue using a motion capture system and force platforms. Results: Initial loading rate increased in the trained runners when barefoot but not shod. Shod knee stiffness increased in both groups after fatigue, whereas barefoot knee stiffness decreased only in the trained group. A reduction in barefoot bicep femoris pre-activation was found in both groups. During stance, a reduction in vastus lateralis and biceps femoris and an increase in tibialis anterior activity were found over time in both groups and conditions. Trained runners decreased gluteus medius and increased lateral gastrocnemius median frequency for both conditions after fatigue. Conclusion: When fatigued, gait adjustments in habitually shod runners may increase injury risk when running barefoot. Training status may be a risk factor for injury, as less-trained runners experience muscular fatigue changes that may compromise ground reaction force attenuation. Caution is recommended when transitioning to pure barefoot running.     

Competency and interpersonal ratings of teacher specialties: What teachers think of each other

The perceptions of 135 teachers of elementary, secondary, and mentally retarded students on the competency and interpersonal skill characteristics of teachers within their teacher subgroup and toward the two other subgroups were assessed by a semantic differential instrument. Two-factor (3×3) analysis of variance indicated that teachers of mentally retarded students and teachers of elementary students were rated higher than secondary teachers on the Competency and Interpersonal scales. Teachers of mentally retarded students were rated higher than elementary teachers on the Interpersonal scale. Professional self-esteem of teachers and its implications for school psychologists was discussed in light of these findings, and additional research was urged to determine the generalizability of the results.