We’ve all heard that practice makes perfect, but that isn’t always true. Genetics, cognitive abilities and other traits influence athletic ability.
National Olympic committees may not be good at explaining what the benefits of the Games are – but the Greeks were.
Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games/Flickr
The Olympic Games are a theatre — sometimes farce, sometimes tragedy, reality TV, morality play or soap opera — where geopolitical, social and technological dramas are played out.
Only a better understanding of what drives doping can improve enforcement. To do so, we must break with the perception of doping as an individual or moral problem.
The countries who regularly top the medal table spend millions on training and developing athletes, money that poorer countries simply can’t afford to spend on their sporting stars.
An aerial view of the Christ the Redeemer statue and Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
Ricardo Moraes/Reuters
The entire Russian Olympic team could be banned from competing in the 2016 Rio Olympics. How can the International Olympic Committee ban an entire country?
Changing a centuries-old format will take some big thinking.
vittoriocarvelli/DeviantArt
With the one-city format no longer viable, an Olympics expert proposes a radical new vision for the format of the Olympic Games. It actually makes a lot of sense.
Films about incompetent, inspirational flops are popular at present. These strange heroes embody the mantra of our self-help culture: never give up and embrace willpower over talent.
Paying to watch broadcasts from the Olympics games in Rio this year is a new venture for the Seven Network.
Reuters/Paulo Whitaker
The Seven Network’s decision to offer an additional subscription service for its coverage of the Rio Olympics makes it the first free-to-air broadcaster in Australia to charge for broadcasting sport.
Tennis star Nick Krygios has withdrawn himself from possible selection for the Rio Olympics, citing ‘unfair’ treatment by the AOC.
EPA/Ian Langsdon
Three potential Olympians have been sent “please explain” letters from the Australian Olympic Committee, but there is little ethical justification for this.
Honorary Professor, School of Kinesiology, Western University, London, Canada; Adjunct Fellow, Olympic Scholar and Co-Director of the Olympic and Paralympic Research Centre, Institute for Health and Sport, Victoria University
Clinician Scientist, Canada Research Chair in Injury Prevention and Physical Activity for Health, Sport Medicine Physician, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University