It would seem obvious athletes are the most important part of the Olympics. But competing issues, from sponsorship rules to politics, means the rights of athletes aren’t always the top priority.
Olympics have often provided the impetus for large-scale broadcasting innovations, such as when TV was introduced in Australia to broadcast the 1956 Games.
The Olympic Games are an ideal venue to showcase new ideas to world. In a world where reducing carbon emissions is a priority, could the Olympics be doing more?
As the Olympics get underway, what would the man who founded the modern Olympic movement think? Pierre de Coubertin’s vision of the Olympics as a tool of peace and faith in youth still resonates.
A recent decision by the International Olympic Committee has cheerleading under consideration for Tokyo 2020. But its very status as a sport has constantly been questioned.
Women are still grossly underrepresented as chairpeople, directors or chief executives of international sporting bodies, to the great detriment of those sports.
Although the Olympics have come to an end, fans will continue to be gripped by the infinite micro-narratives that sports fixtures provide. But are these narratives comparable to literary creativity?
Extensive drug use was reported at the 1952 Helsinki Games, but it was the death of two athletes that finally galvanized international sporting authorities into taking action against doping.