Organising Sport at the Olympic Games: The Case of Sydney 2000

In this paper, the interdependent and fluid organisational networks that form to organise Olympic Games are analysed using Norbert Elias's concept of human figurations. Rather than considering organisational situations and developments in static terms, Eliasian process sociology frames the place of organisations within the broader social and historical contexts in which they operate. From an Eliasian perspective, the organisation of a mega-project, such as the Olympic Games, is not only the result of recent developments but also of countless social and organisational figurations that developed over many years prior to the winning of a bid to stage the event. In this regard, the organisation of the Olympic Games is the result of both planned and unplanned consequences of organising over which no one individual ever has total control.