tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/sochi-2014-6682/articlesSochi 2014 – The Conversation2022-02-10T16:13:25Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1767172022-02-10T16:13:25Z2022-02-10T16:13:25ZBeijing 2022: environmental cost of world’s first Winter Olympics without natural snow – expert Q+A<p><em>The 24th Winter Olympic Games are underway in the Chinese capital but winter itself seems far away. To counter the lack of cold weather, the organisers are using vast quantities of water and energy to supply the events with fake snow.</em></p>
<p><em>What are the consequences of maintaining artificial winter conditions on this scale? Madeleine Orr, a sport ecologist in the Institute for Sport Business at Loughborough University, considers the tournament’s environmental scorecard.</em> </p>
<p><em>We spoke to her for <a href="https://theconversation.com/if-russia-invades-ukraine-what-could-happen-to-natural-gas-supplies-to-europe-podcast-176812">The Conversation Weekly podcast</a>.</em></p>
<p><strong>How important is the local climate in Winter Olympic Games?</strong></p>
<p>The first Winter Olympics took place in 1924 in Chamonix – a town in the French Alps. All the events happened outdoors. The Games organisers flooded courses to create natural rinks for ice hockey and tracks for sledding sports. There was plenty of fresh powder snow for skiing, too.</p>
<p>More recent Games have used significant amounts of artificial snow. Olympic snow makers <a href="https://eu.usatoday.com/story/sports/winter-olympics-2018/2018/02/13/fake-snow-skiing-snowboarding/332591002/">have said</a> that Sochi 2014 was about 80% fake and in Pyeongchang 2018, closer to 90%. Now we’re watching a Winter Olympic Games in Beijing with 100% artificial snow, which is unprecedented. There’s a whole range of questions that this raises in terms of the safety and competitiveness for athletes and the environmental cost of the Games.</p>
<p>The last few Olympics were poorly chosen for their natural conditions. Climate change has increased the temperature and shifted precipitation patterns in Beijing, but not so significantly that conditions are substantially different to what they were ten years ago when the bid was advanced. A Winter Olympic Games here was always going to rely on artificial snow because Beijing and Zhangjiakou (the mountain city in Hebei province which will host skiing events) are just not that snowy. And in that case, snowmaking is a great stop-gap solution: you can produce snow, you can’t produce cold temperatures.</p>
<p>Since the 1960s, ski resorts have increasingly relied on artificial snow. To survive, resorts must be able to open about 100 days of the year. That window is getting very tight. In Europe, for example, the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-016-1806-y">found</a> that about 12 days have been lost from the beginning of the season and 26 days from the end since 1970 in the Swiss Alps. In North America, we’re seeing similar numbers.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445652/original/file-20220210-27-xz0iny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A painted poster depicting a bird carrying the French flag over a sled team on a snowy mountain." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445652/original/file-20220210-27-xz0iny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445652/original/file-20220210-27-xz0iny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=830&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445652/original/file-20220210-27-xz0iny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=830&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445652/original/file-20220210-27-xz0iny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=830&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445652/original/file-20220210-27-xz0iny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1044&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445652/original/file-20220210-27-xz0iny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1044&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445652/original/file-20220210-27-xz0iny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1044&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A poster for the 1924 Winter Olympic Games.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1924_Winter_Olympics#/media/File:1924WOlympicPoster.jpg">Auguste Matisse</a></span>
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<p>The northern hemisphere has lost about four million square kilometres of spring snow cover – about a <a href="http://climate.rutgers.edu/snowcover/docs.php?target=pubs">10% decrease</a> over the last four decades. Artificial snowmaking has been the solution. And that’s what we’re seeing in Beijing. But if these trends continue and in 40 years the world loses another 10%, or if winter temperatures continue rising, snowmaking may not be able to make up the difference.</p>
<p><strong>What goes into making fake snow?</strong></p>
<p>At these Olympics, seven machine rooms and pumping stations move water up mountains where it’s pushed through high-pressure pumps, then forced, with air, through a fan and blasted out of <a href="https://www.technoalpin.com/en/about-us/news/100-technoalpin-olympic-snow">more than 350 snow guns</a>. It falls on the ground and typically has chemical additives that help it bind together, but in these Games, snow makers have <a href="https://olympics.com/ioc/news/snow-climate-change-and-the-olympic-winter-games">claimed there are no chemicals</a> involved. A team of groomers spread the snow around.</p>
<p>The Chinese organisers have used reservoirs of water that have been <a href="https://stillmed.olympics.com/media/Documents/Olympic-Games/Beijing-2022/Sustainability/Beijing-2022-Pre-Games-Sustainability-Report.pdf?_ga=2.76097181.90801394.1644399257-1528813230.1638469061">collecting rain and runoff</a> for a long time, and they claim to not be pulling from general sources of drinking water. This was contested by local newspapers which reported on <a href="http://yqb.bjyq.gov.cn/html/2021-10/15/content_16270_14006285.htm">rivers being diverted</a> to accommodate the fake snowmaking, and officials have <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/05/sports/olympics/snow-winter-olympics.html">reportedly shut off irrigation</a> to farmland to conserve groundwater. But for the most part, it seems the event organisers are pulling from predetermined reservoirs. </p>
<p>China has claimed the Games will be 100% powered by green energy, and Beijing organisers have gone to great lengths to secure access to renewables. An analysis by the website <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-how-china-is-powering-the-winter-olympics-2022-beijing">Carbon Brief</a> suggested that Zhangjiakou can generate more green energy than most countries and its pioneering grid system can deliver electricity to Beijing and neighbouring regions. </p>
<p>Still, when the Games end and the cameras leave, how will China continue to power the dozens of ski resorts and skating rinks built across the country to meet its bid promise of bringing 300 million new participants into winter sports?</p>
<p>All told, maintaining a supply of fake snow is a complicated technical solution sustained with a lot of energy and more than <a href="https://time.com/6146039/artificial-snow-2022-olympics-beijing/">49 million gallons of water</a> – enough to fill 800 Olympic swimming pools.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A large yellow machine blasting snow surrounded by mountain terrain during the summer." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445678/original/file-20220210-18418-1xrgze5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445678/original/file-20220210-18418-1xrgze5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445678/original/file-20220210-18418-1xrgze5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445678/original/file-20220210-18418-1xrgze5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445678/original/file-20220210-18418-1xrgze5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445678/original/file-20220210-18418-1xrgze5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445678/original/file-20220210-18418-1xrgze5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Snow guns are working overtime to lengthen snow sport seasons around the world.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/snow-gun-summer-mountain-ski-resort-1729871125">Dark_Side/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p><strong>What will the effect of all that water use be?</strong></p>
<p>If the region has enough warm days and snow melts, water use could really climb. The <a href="https://stillmed.olympics.com/media/Documents/Olympic-Games/Beijing-2022/Sustainability/Beijing-2022-Pre-Games-Sustainability-Report.pdf?_ga=2.76097181.90801394.1644399257-1528813230.1638469061">estimates</a> provided by the Beijing 2022 organising committee suggest that the Games will draw on 4% of available water in Yanqing and 2.6% in Zhangjiakou. It’s a stark number and it’s buried deep in the report. But researchers at the University of Strasbourg and some in China reported that water use could be <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-01-22/beijing-winter-olympics-first-to-rely-on-artificial-snow">higher than that</a>, depending on how the Games go.</p>
<p>The Paralympic Games take place a month later when it’s likely to be a bit warmer and drier anyway. Fake snow production might ramp up at that point. </p>
<p>And then there’s a big question around what happens when that much snow melts.</p>
<p>Roughly <a href="https://www.sportecology.org/_files/ugd/a700be_9aa3ec697a39446eb11b8330aec19e30.pdf">800,000 square metres</a> of typically dry terrain will be covered by fake snow. The water table could accommodate a bit of meltwater, but probably not that much, particularly if it melts quickly. It’s very hard to say exactly what that would look like because most research has considered situations with natural snow and some artificial snow mixed in. Researchers haven’t examined the consequences of 100% fake snow melting rapidly. So this is a bit of a test case. We do know the organisers are planning on recapturing water when the snow melts, but it’s impossible to catch all of it.</p>
<p>Previous research suggests that there will be some sediment erosion and <a href="https://arc.lib.montana.edu/snow-science/objects/issw-2000-468-471.pdf">some loss of plant life</a>, or changes to the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S143383190470061X">arrangement of plant species</a>, which could harm wildlife in the region. But it’s too early to tell what the scope of that will be. </p>
<p><strong>What else can you say about the region’s wildlife?</strong></p>
<p>The Games take place next to the Songshan National Nature Reserve and 20,000 trees were felled to make room for some of the events. The reserve was previously off-limits to visitors by Chinese law, and to accommodate the Games, the boundaries of the reserve were redrawn, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature.2015.18174">causing an uproar</a> among local biologists. I think they replanted close to 80% of those trees elsewhere, but biodiversity loss within the reserve – particularly around alpine meadows and certain rare species that grow there – is undeniable.</p>
<p>It’s been very hard to find any translated information on this emanating from the Chinese government.</p>
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<p><em>Listen to Madeleine Orr speaking about her research on <a href="https://theconversation.com/if-russia-invades-ukraine-what-could-happen-to-natural-gas-supplies-to-europe-podcast-176812">The Conversation Weekly podcast</a>.</em></p>
<p><a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/3XiP6gM8d7L2I7G6Jq5uJE?si=kHlrSFC4Qfuuxe9QyG-W4A&context=spotify%3Ashow%3A14O3EsEGWQ4mK3XpKzsncP&t=1830"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445690/original/file-20220210-45987-1a66g08.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=212&fit=crop&dpr=1" alt="Promotional image for podcast" width="100%"></a>
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<p><strong>What do the athletes make of all this?</strong></p>
<p>Beijing 2022 definitely lacks a winter vibe. Some of the skiing and sledding facilities are surrounded by a lot of brown mountains and industrial space, which is what athletes have been documenting on TikTok and Twitter. There’s a strange atmosphere around this winter event in a decidedly non-wintery environment.</p>
<p>We interviewed <a href="https://www.sportecology.org/_files/ugd/a700be_9aa3ec697a39446eb11b8330aec19e30.pdf">a number of athletes</a> from different winter sports to find out their concerns. A lot of them – particularly downhill sportspeople – were quite excited to be competing on artificial snow, because it’s fast and hard. Biathletes and cross-country skiers were more worried about injuries.</p>
<p>That’s because artificial snow is about 70% ice. Natural snow, by comparison, is about 30% ice. It’s a softer surface to fall on and move through. It’s less gritty on the bottom of your ski or your board. When you fall on a harder surface you risk bigger injuries.</p>
<p>A growing number of outdoor athletes are concerned about the environment. We often think about farmers and fishers being on the frontline of climate change because they work outside. Athletes are outside for several hours every single day training. Winter athletes in particular tend to compete in places that are at a high altitude and see a lot of snow. In some cases, they have a front-row seat to melting glaciers.</p>
<p>The International Biathlon Union just put out <a href="https://www.biathlonworld.com/news/athlete-sustainability-survey-2021/7iYgxK53MQArnu4JXQfpQN">a survey</a> showing a huge majority of their members were either very concerned or extremely concerned about climate change. Most were willing to make changes in order to lead less carbon-intensive lifestyles. We are really starting to see how worried athletes are in the survey data.</p>
<p><strong>How might future Winter Olympic Games change?</strong></p>
<p>The International Olympic Committee <a href="https://olympics.com/ioc/news/sport-sets-pace-for-climate-action-as-ioc-and-other-sports-organisations-join-race-to-zero-campaign">promises</a> to halve its emissions by 2030 and go carbon-neutral by 2040. All future hosts will be contractually obliged to meet these goals, and the Parisian hosts of the 2024 Summer Games have <a href="https://olympics.com/ioc/news/paris-2024-commits-to-staging-climate-positive-olympic-and-paralympic-games">said</a> they will be “climate-positive”.</p>
<p>It’ll be exciting to see how the Committee makes this work, but it’s going to be difficult if they keep holding the Winter Games in places that need to use a lot of water and energy to recreate the traditional winter environment.</p>
<p>I think COVID-19 has stretched the imagination of Olympic Committee members. Two Olympic Games have gone ahead without fans in the stands. That shrinks the need for huge stadiums with every successive tournament. If they were to shrink the number of seating and fan tickets they expect to sell at these kinds of events, we could go to smaller mountain towns with smaller facilities. Athletes would compete in front of their family and friends, and some locals, and the media of course, but there would be no need for huge spectator facilities. </p>
<p>This would reduce international travel around the Games, which is <a href="https://theconversation.com/tokyo-2020-how-did-the-latest-olympics-rank-against-others-for-sustainability-165359">a big contributor</a> to the overall environmental footprint, and would open up opportunities for smaller cities with smaller venues to host.</p>
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<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Madeleine Orr does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>From pioneering green energy grids to mountains of fake snow.Madeleine Orr, Lecturer in Sport Business and Program Director for Sustainable Sport Business, Loughborough UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1192742019-06-25T03:16:38Z2019-06-25T03:16:38ZItaly’s minimal competition to host the 2026 Winter Olympics<p>Italy will <a href="https://www.apnews.com/9c4e1fb8a371491b80f040afa3f95122">host the 2026 Winter Games</a>, the International Olympic Committee announced on June 24. The IOC, which organizes the Winter and Summer Games, chose a bid from Milan and the Alpine ski resort of Cortina d’Ampezzo over a single rival bid from the Swedish capital of Stockholm and the village of Åre. The field had narrowed to two contenders after <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-olympics-2026/ioc-faces-2026-winter-games-conundrum-as-cities-flee-idUSKCN1NL1N6">four others had dropped out</a> due to public pressure.</p>
<p>We are <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=sW3fKzwAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">urban</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=3Ptw1dwAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">planners</a> who lead a Michigan State University research group about big events that <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/ekassens/home/scholarly-community-for-mega-event-planning">transform cities</a> like the <a href="https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/532">Olympics</a> and natural disasters.</p>
<p>In our view, the limited competition among potential host cities for the 2026 Winter Games was only natural given the soaring costs to put on these events and the erosion of public support among leery taxpayers.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281037/original/file-20190624-97789-1hcuxbb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281037/original/file-20190624-97789-1hcuxbb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281037/original/file-20190624-97789-1hcuxbb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281037/original/file-20190624-97789-1hcuxbb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281037/original/file-20190624-97789-1hcuxbb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281037/original/file-20190624-97789-1hcuxbb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281037/original/file-20190624-97789-1hcuxbb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281037/original/file-20190624-97789-1hcuxbb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Team Italy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/APTOPIX-Switzerland-2026-Olympics-Bids/e0afe075bd414f2e8408c5b08c646449/1/0">Philippe Lopez/Pool via AP</a></span>
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<h2>Rising costs</h2>
<p>Advocates for hosting the Olympics say the <a href="http://thesportjournal.org/article/the-benefits-of-bidding-and-hosting-the-olympic-games-are-difficult-to-justify-due-to-the-overall-costs/">events draw such big investments</a> in facilities and infrastructure and boost current and future tourism income enough to be worth it. But most experts agree that these claims don’t hold up because the costs are too high.</p>
<p>Cities <a href="https://www.citylab.com/design/2015/10/can-los-angeles-beat-the-olympics-cost-curse/412375/">generally lose money</a> when they serve as hosts, even though calculating the exact tab in terms of the money spent on infrastructure, transportation, sanitation, security and more is next to impossible. </p>
<p>What is clear is that hosting the <a href="https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/economics-hosting-olympic-games">Winter Games is getting more and more costly</a> for local and national governments that shoulder most of the expense and no one denies that the events almost always <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2804554">exceed their budgets</a>.</p>
<p>For example, local authorities, the state of Utah, the <a href="https://www.gao.gov/new.items/gg00183.pdf">federal government</a>, corporate sponsors and the IOC spent an estimated US$2.5 billion when Salt Lake City hosted the 2002 Winter Games. The 2006 Games in Turin, Italy cost <a href="https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.30.2.201">$4.4 billion</a>, and the 2010 games in Vancouver cost <a href="https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.30.2.201">$7.6 billion</a>. </p>
<p>The 2014 Winter Games in the Russian resort town of Sochi cost the host country and region more than <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15387216.2015.1040432">$50 billion</a> according to many estimates. This record tab subsequently catalyzed opposition around the globe in communities where city officials submit their own bids to host the event. The 2018 Games that took place in the South Korean city of <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/02/02/582790412/south-korea-prepares-to-spend-13-billion-on-winter-olympics-is-it-worth-it">Pyeongchang</a> cost much less at $13 billion. </p>
<h2>Waning interest</h2>
<p>As the expenses rise, the number of cities vying to host the Winter Games is dwindling.</p>
<p>After four of the original <a href="https://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/24953464">six candidates for the 2022 Winter Games</a> bowed out, the <a href="https://www.citylab.com/life/2015/08/why-beijing-is-a-terrible-choice-for-the-2022-olympic-games/400358/">IOC chose Beijing</a> – where it <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2137663/beijing-wakes-light-dusting-snow-weather-bureau-steps">almost never snows</a>. All the skiing events will take place 120 miles away in the city of <a href="http://www.skisprungschanzen.com/EN/Ski+Jumps/CHN-China/Zhangjiakou/1741-Guyangshu+Nordic+Centre/">Zhangjiakou</a> when that event gets underway on Feb. 4, 2022.</p>
<p>Aside from the Swedish and Italian contenders for the 2026 Winter Games, the six cities that met IOC standards included Calgary, Canada; Graz, Austria; Sapporo, Japan; and Sion, Switzerland. The IOC eliminated a fifth, <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2018/10/04/ioc-drops-turkish-city-erzurum-from-2026-olympic-bid-race/38046949/">Erzurum, Turkey</a>, which it said wasn’t eligible.</p>
<p>More than half of the public in <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/calgary-2026-plebiscite-jamie-strashin-1.4904585">Calgary</a> and <a href="https://apnews.com/b0513381a7ec4710be0bf488d2c1b5e6">Sion</a> opposed hosting the Winter Games in those places. Graz withdrew based on <a href="https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1067119/graz-withdraws-from-2026-winter-olympic-and-paralympic-bid-race">expectations that local residents would object</a> and a realization that the provincial government opposed the bid. <a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2018/09/13/olympics/sapporo-set-give-bid-2026-winter-olympics/#.XQ2Xx_57mpo">Sapporo withdrew after a major earthquake</a> shook Japan. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sochi-olympics-have-left-a-trail-of-environmental-destruction-23112">Sochi Olympics have left a trail of environmental destruction</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281032/original/file-20190624-97785-t2wo7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281032/original/file-20190624-97785-t2wo7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281032/original/file-20190624-97785-t2wo7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281032/original/file-20190624-97785-t2wo7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281032/original/file-20190624-97785-t2wo7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281032/original/file-20190624-97785-t2wo7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281032/original/file-20190624-97785-t2wo7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281032/original/file-20190624-97785-t2wo7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Opponents of hosting the Winter Games in Denver objected to the concept at a town hall in 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Winter-Olympics-Denver/2cf16405f49840f09a98bf8f61a97c07/7/0">AP Photo/David Zalubowski</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Climate change</h2>
<p><a href="https://stillmed.olympic.org/media/Document%20Library/OlympicOrg/Games/Winter-Games/Games-2026-Winter-Olympic-Games/Report-of-the-IOC-Evaluation-Commission-2026-LO-RES.pdf">The IOC’s own polling</a> found that a much bigger share of the Italian public favored hosting the Winter Games in 2026 than was the case in Sweden. But hosting in Stockholm and the village of Åre would have been more practical for a simple reason: It’s colder there and the Swedish region gets far more natural snow than Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo. </p>
<p>Looking ahead, we believe that climate change will make it even harder to find willing host cities that are snowy enough to hold this event. A multinational team of researchers led by the University of Waterloo in Canada has predicted that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2018.1436161">by the 2080s as few as four places</a> that have hosted the Games in the past or will soon do so may have climates that are reliably cold enough to do so again: Calgary, Salt Lake City, Albertville, France and Beijing – which gets <a href="https://www.climatestotravel.com/climate/china/beijing">very little precipitation in the wintertime</a>.</p>
<p>Already, the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09523360802438991">Winter Games are harder on the environment</a> than other big events. That’s because they require the construction of venues and other infrastructure, which is often located in protected areas – potentially harming endangered plants and animals. </p>
<p>Due to the risks tied to running out of snow, hosts stockpile natural snow or divert and use a lot of water to make mountains of artificial snow that’s expensive and harder on the environment.</p>
<h2>The future</h2>
<p>What might help contain costs, alleviating the public’s qualms?</p>
<p>The simplest way to reduce expenditures would be for cities to use existing infrastructure instead of building anew. <a href="http://www.timeoutbeijing.com/features/City_Life/165459/Next-stop-Beijing-2022-the-first-city-to-host-Summer-and-Winter-Olympic-Games.html">Hosting the Winter Games and the Summer Games</a> in the same places, as is happening for the first time with Beijing, might for this reason appear to be practical. But it might not be, due to the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/sport/winter-sports/33747313">lack of natural snow</a> in the Chinese capital.</p>
<p>Building Olympic venues at <a href="https://www.ibtimes.com/permanent-olympic-site-would-address-growing-costs-host-issues-advocates-say-2040806">permanent sites</a> in a more appropriate climate than Sochi, Pyeongchang or Beijing would surely cost less over time. But historically the IOC has opposed that solution out of concern that if the Olympics stops rotating between different countries it will no longer be a truly global event or able to operate <a href="https://www.olympic.org/pierre-de-coubertin/the-independence-of-the-ioc">independently</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281035/original/file-20190624-97757-1owugzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281035/original/file-20190624-97757-1owugzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281035/original/file-20190624-97757-1owugzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=905&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281035/original/file-20190624-97757-1owugzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=905&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281035/original/file-20190624-97757-1owugzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=905&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281035/original/file-20190624-97757-1owugzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1137&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281035/original/file-20190624-97757-1owugzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1137&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281035/original/file-20190624-97757-1owugzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1137&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Denver was supposed to host the Winter Games in 1976, before the city backed out of that plan.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Watchf-AP-S-OLY-JPN-APHS249103-Winter-Olympics-1972/a4214955515a46df80b762b94f4ec44d/11/0">AP Photo</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For decades after <a href="https://www.olympic.org/news/relive-the-glories-of-past-olympic-winter-games-chamonix-1924">Chamonix, France</a> hosted the Winter Sports Week in 1924 that served as a template for the Winter Games, many cities eagerly sought a chance to host their own.</p>
<p>Until now, only one city has ever rejected the opportunity. After having won the bid to host the 1976 Winter Olympics, <a href="https://history.denverlibrary.org/news/denver-never-was-1976-winter-olympic-games">Denver held a referendum</a> over whether to borrow $5 billion to cover the costs and its voters rejected that plan.</p>
<p>To be sure, the Winter Games is bound to find willing hosts even if there’s no city on earth where the locals want to do the honors – as long as there are <a href="https://theconversation.com/on-rocky-road-to-rio-the-biggest-loser-may-be-the-glory-of-hosting-olympics-63378">authoritarian governments</a>. We have observed that regimes where freedom of speech and electoral power are limited at best have grown <a href="https://webapp.uibk.ac.at/ojs2/index.php/ciss/article/view/2003">more likely to proceed with bids</a> because the public opposition in those countries is inherently quieter and weaker.</p>
<p>[ <em>Like what you’ve read? Want more?</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=likethis">Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/119274/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As the cost of holding the Winter Games rises, local taxpayers around the globe are losing interest in hosting the event.Mark Wilson, Professor, Urban & Regional Planning, School of Planning, Design and Construction, Michigan State UniversityEva Kassens-Noor, Associate Professor, Urban & Regional Planning Program and Global Urban Studies Program, Michigan State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/910912018-02-19T00:47:03Z2018-02-19T00:47:03ZWhy sport hasn’t made much progress on LGBTI+ rights since the Sochi Olympics<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204597/original/file-20180202-162087-1uoh7kt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">American skiier Gus Kenworthy is one of many openly gay athletes competing in Pyeongchang.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.newnownext.com/gus-kenworthy-head-shoulders-commercial/01/2018/">Head & Shoulders</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Athletes from Western nations have various protections, and many now share equal rights in most aspects of the law. But when they travel to compete in countries with regressive human rights records, these protections can be lost.</p>
<p>Australia competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics and the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup, both of which were held in Russia. It will again send a team to Russia to play in this year’s FIFA World Cup and aims to compete in the 2022 edition in Qatar. Both countries have poor human rights records, particularly on LGBTI+ issues.</p>
<p>Sport is often lauded as a platform to advance human rights. But, for LGBTI+ individuals and athletes, this may not necessarily be true. The continued hosting of mega sporting events in countries with anti-LGBTI+ laws brings the role of sport in campaigns to advance human rights into focus.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-has-finally-achieved-marriage-equality-but-theres-a-lot-more-to-be-done-on-lgbti-rights-88488">Australia has finally achieved marriage equality, but there's a lot more to be done on LGBTI rights</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>LGBTI+ rights and the Winter Olympics</h2>
<p>Sochi became a platform for LGBTI+ rights when Western activists called for a boycott based on several human rights concerns. Their resistance increased in direct response to the implementation of laws in Russia <a href="https://theadvocatespost.org/2014/02/18/russias-gay-propaganda-law-how-u-s-extremists-are-fueling-the-fight-against-lgbti-rights/">outlawing sexual minorities</a>. </p>
<p>Principle 4 of the <a href="https://stillmed.olympic.org/media/Document%20Library/OlympicOrg/General/EN-Olympic-Charter.pdf#_ga=2.133354314.537528641.1517495712-1055478812.1443790906">Fundamental Principles of Olympism</a> was often referred to amid concerns for the safety of LGBTI+ athletes at Sochi: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practising sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Athlete activists have begun to challenge the hosting of mega sporting events in countries like Russia that ignore human rights and reinforce systems of oppression. But what has really changed since Sochi for Olympians?</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sport-sochi-and-the-rising-challenge-of-the-activist-athlete-22491">Sport, Sochi and the rising challenge of the activist athlete</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This year a country with a questionable stance on LGBTI+ rights is again hosting the Winter Olympics. South Korea scores only 13% on the <a href="http://annual.sogilaw.org/rainbowIndex/english.html">Rainbow Index</a>, which measures the impacts of a country’s laws and policies on the lives of LGBTI+ people. This is only a marginally better score than Russia’s 8%.</p>
<p>Although homosexuality is legal in South Korea, LGBTI+ rights remain highly volatile. South Korean President Moon Jae-in has courted controversy with comments <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-26/south-koreas-presidential-frontrunner-angers-lgbt-activists/8474332">opposing homosexuality</a>, and sexual minorities continue to face significant stigma in the region.</p>
<p>Australia is taking 51 athletes to compete in South Korea, with two openly gay women on the team. One, Belle Brockhoff, has criticised the anti-LGBTI+ laws in host countries. She joined 26 other athletes who <a href="http://www.starobserver.com.au/news/national-news/second-openly-gay-winter-olympics-team-member-named/165847">signed a letter</a> opposing Kazakhstan’s bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics due to its anti-LGBTI+ policies.</p>
<p>However, it is not only host nations that can be called to account for their poor LGBTI+ records. Adam Rippon, an openly gay figure skater who has <a href="http://www.espn.com.au/skiing/winter18/story/_/id/22404750/winter-olympics-2018-adam-rippon-helps-united-states-take-home-bronze-team-figure-skating-event">won bronze in Pyeongchang</a>, recently said he did not want to meet Vice President Mike Pence as part of an official reception for the US team. <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/christinebrennan/2018/01/17/gay-olympian-adam-rippon-blasts-selection-mike-pence-lead-u-s-delegation/1040610001/">Rippon argued</a> the Trump administration does not “represent the values that [he] was taught growing up”. </p>
<p>A Fox News executive has criticised the inclusion of “African-Americans, Asians and openly gay athletes” in the US team. He claimed that “<a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/winter-olympics-fox-news-john-moody-us-committee-darker-gayer-different-a8203566.html?amp">Darker, Gayer, Different</a>” was now a more suitable Olympic motto than “Faster, Higher, Stronger”.</p>
<p>Current evidence suggests that anti-LGBTI+ discrimination is rising. Stonewall, the UK’s leading LGBTI+ charity, reports hate crimes toward the LGBTI+ community have increased: <a href="http://www.stonewall.org.uk/comeoutforLGBT/lgbt-in-britain/hate-crime">one in five</a> LGBTI+ people have experienced a hate crime due to their sexual orientation or gender identity in the last year. </p>
<p>In the US, Donald Trump tried to ban transgender people from serving in the military. Several states have attempted to pass laws to restrict access to bathrooms for people who are trans or gender-diverse.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204554/original/file-20180202-162101-7l80fx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204554/original/file-20180202-162101-7l80fx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204554/original/file-20180202-162101-7l80fx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204554/original/file-20180202-162101-7l80fx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204554/original/file-20180202-162101-7l80fx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204554/original/file-20180202-162101-7l80fx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204554/original/file-20180202-162101-7l80fx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Australian snowboarder Belle Brockhoff has publicly criticised the anti-LGBTI+ laws in Olympic host countries.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Robert Cianflone/Getty Images</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>With increased visibility comes increased risk</h2>
<p>An increasing number of athletes now openly <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/olympics/2016/08/10/rio-olympics-feature-the-most-out-lgbtq-athletes-ever/">demonstrate their sexual orientation</a>, but many acknowledge it leaves them open to homophobic abuse – especially on social media platforms. </p>
<p>American Olympic skier <a href="http://www.bbc.com/sport/winter-sports/43015188">Gus Kenworthy</a> referred to social media as a space that serves to reinforce the presence of <a href="http://www.espn.co.uk/olympics/story/_/id/13942305/olympic-freeskier-x-games-star-gus-kenworthy-first-openly-gay-action-sports-athlete">casual and aggressive homophobia</a>. British Olympian Tom Bosworth said he believed fear of <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/social-media-trolls-are-stopping-gay-sports-stars-coming-out-says-olympian-tom-bosworth-a3398236.html">abuse on social media</a> could be preventing athletes from coming out.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"961989267911098368"}"></div></p>
<p>Mega sporting events can be problematic for LGBTI+ athletes as many may not be “out” and there can be serious implications if they were to do so. </p>
<p>The safety and welfare of LGBTI+ athletes made headlines when a journalist went undercover in the athletes’ village at the 2016 Rio Olympics to identify out or closeted athletes. Several athletes who were identified were from countries where being gay is criminalised or even punishable by death.</p>
<p>Sport is responding at a notably slow pace to the advancement of LGBTI+ human rights.</p>
<p>Major sporting codes have shown they are not ready to tackle trans and gender diversity. For example, the Australian Football League recently banned <a href="https://theconversation.com/by-excluding-hannah-mouncey-the-afls-inclusion-policy-has-failed-a-key-test-85900">transgender player Hannah Mouncey</a> from joining its women’s competition.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/by-excluding-hannah-mouncey-the-afls-inclusion-policy-has-failed-a-key-test-85900">By excluding Hannah Mouncey, the AFL's inclusion policy has failed a key test</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>There is still much work to be done around athletes with intersex variations, sex testing in elite-level competition, and transgender and transitioned athletes. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204555/original/file-20180202-162077-vz5xgp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204555/original/file-20180202-162077-vz5xgp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204555/original/file-20180202-162077-vz5xgp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204555/original/file-20180202-162077-vz5xgp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204555/original/file-20180202-162077-vz5xgp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204555/original/file-20180202-162077-vz5xgp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204555/original/file-20180202-162077-vz5xgp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ice skater Adam Rippon said he did want to meet US Vice President Mike Pence due to the Trump administration’s record on LGBTI+ rights.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matthew Stockman/Getty</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Hope for the future?</h2>
<p>One particular social inclusion legacy to come from a mega sporting event is <a href="http://www.pridehouseinternational.org/index.php/history/">Pride House International</a>. This initiative provides a safe space for the LGBTI+ community to engage with a sporting event.</p>
<p>In addition, the <a href="http://www.principle6.org/">Principle 6 campaign</a>, launched in response to Russia’s anti-LGBT laws, led to the expansion of that particular part of the Olympic Charter to include sexual orientation as something sport should be free from discrimination on.</p>
<p>It will be interesting to see whether the 2018 Winter Olympics can contribute to the advancement of LGBTI+ rights within South Korea and beyond. However, more scrutiny must be directed to the human rights records of potential host nations when awarding mega sporting events.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91091/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ryan Storr consults for Proud 2 Play. He is affiliated with the 2018 Gold Coast Pride House. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emma Kavanagh and Keith Parry do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A country with a questionable stance on LGBTI+ rights is again hosting the Winter Olympics.Keith Parry, Senior Lecturer in Sport Management, Western Sydney UniversityEmma Kavanagh, Senior Lecturer in Sports Psychology and Coaching Sciences, Bournemouth UniversityRyan Storr, Lecturer in Sport Development, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/912602018-02-09T11:18:41Z2018-02-09T11:18:41ZWinter Olympics: why it’s wrong that Russian athletes are guilty until proven innocent<p>Just hours before the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, a group of 47 Russian athletes who had hoped to compete in South Korea, were <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-42999126">denied</a> the chance to do so when their appeal was turned down the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). </p>
<p>In December 2017, the International Olympic Committe (IOC) <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/05/sports/olympics/ioc-russia-winter-olympics.html">banned Russian athletes</a> from competing because of alleged systematic manipulation of the anti-doping system in the 2014 Sochi Olympics. </p>
<p>The IOC made provision for individual Russian athletes who could prove their innocence – by providing evidence from independent testing – to participate as an “Olympic Athlete from Russia” (OAR). There will be 169 Russian athletes competing at the Games under this route. However, this leaves the possibility that there might be innocent athletes who cannot compete because they could not prove their innocence.</p>
<p>The IOC’s decision to ban all Russian athletes until they are proven innocent amounts to a collective punishment of an entire national Olympic team, including coaches and top officials. But based on my ongoing research into the case I believe the initial ban was not supported by solid evidence</p>
<h2>Bans and appeals</h2>
<p>The 47 Russian athletes and coaches whose last-minute appeals were overturned by CAS on February 9, included a group of 28 athletes whose lifetime bans for doping had been <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-doping-olympics-russia/cas-overturns-doping-bans-on-28-russian-athletes-idUSKBN1FL4ET">overturned</a> on February 1 by the same court. </p>
<p>After examining 39 cases, and for the first time <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/winter-sports/42674331">cross-examining</a> Grigory Rodchenkov – the former director of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency, whose <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/13/sports/russia-doping-sochi-olympics-2014.html?_r=2">whisteblowing</a> led to the bans – CAS <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-doping-olympics-russia/cas-overturns-doping-bans-on-28-russian-athletes-idUSKBN1FL4ET">overturned 28</a> lifetime bans, saying there was insufficient evidence that they broke the rules. Those whose bans were lifted included Alexander Tretyakov, who won a skeleton gold at Sochi. </p>
<p>But within hours of announcing the decision, both the IOC and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) <a href="https://www.onenewspage.co.uk/n/Sports/75ip924w2/Olympics-CAS-ruling-surprising-and-disappointing-says-Bach.htm">expressed their disappointment</a> with it and <a href="http://www.france24.com/en/20180204-ioc-chief-urges-sports-court-reform-after-russia-bans-lifted">called for</a> reforms to CAS.</p>
<p>A few days later, on February 5, the IOC Invitation Review Panel headed by the former French minister of sport Valerie Fourneyron defied CAS’s ruling and said the IOC <a href="https://www.olympic.org/news/request-to-invite-15-athletes-and-coaches-to-pyeongchang-2018-for-the-olympic-athlete-from-russia-group-declined">still had</a> “suspicions about the integrity of these athletes”. It <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-olympics-2018-russia/olympics-no-pyeongchang-invite-for-cas-cleared-russians-ioc-idUSKBN1FP18O">ruled</a> that 15 of the 28 athletes who’d had their bans overturned and who had requested to compete in South Korea would not be able to.</p>
<h2>No evidence of ‘state manipulation’</h2>
<p>The IOC was careful not to use the word “state-manipulated” system in its December 2017 <a href="https://www.olympic.org/news/ioc-suspends-russian-noc-and-creates-a-path-for-clean-individual-athletes-to-compete-in-pyeongchang-2018-under-the-olympic-flag">announcement</a>. But Russian officials, who deny the charges, have said it has been <a href="http://www.sportsintegrityinitiative.com/kolobkov-interview-shows-russia-cannot-meet-wadas-conditions/">made clear to them</a> that responding to this allegation is a key condition for reinstating the suspended Russian National Olympic Committee.</p>
<p>Following <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/13/sports/russia-doping-sochi-olympics-2014.html?_r=2">allegations</a> of widespread doping practices made by Rodchenkov in early 2016, WADA launched an inquiry led by the Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren, who is also a CAS member. His <a href="https://www.wada-ama.org/sites/default/files/resources/files/20160718_ip_report_newfinal.pdf">findings were published</a> in July 2016. </p>
<p>Despite Russia raising questions over the <a href="https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-putin-olympic-doping-whistle-blower-rodchenkov-a-jerk/29007755.html">credibility</a> of the Rodchenkov as a witness, McLaren found he was a credible person, and concluded that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The surprise result of the Sochi investigation was the revelation of the extent of state oversight and directed control of the Moscow Laboratory in processing, and covering up urine samples of Russian athletes from virtually all sports before and after the Sochi Games.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The political tone of the debate about the report was set several days before its publication in <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-doping-russia-usada-exclusive/exclusive-nados-some-athletes-want-total-russia-ban-if-doping-report-damning-idUSKCN0ZW0XH">a leaked letter </a> drafted by the chief executive of the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), Travis Tygart, and his Canadian counterpart Paul Melia. The letter called for drastic action and to immediately suspend the Russian Olympic and Paralympic Committees from the Olympic Movement. USADA also <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/other-sports/pat-hickey-slams-report-calling-for-outright-russian-olympic-ban-1.2725073">approached several</a> National Olympic Committees to garner support for the call in a serious serious breach of the independent process of investigation. </p>
<p>It would be naïve to decouple this report and the ban that followed from the current geopolitical context where Russia has been subjected to a systematic campaign of discreditation and political and economic <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2017/07/25/europe/russia-sanctions-explainer/index.html">sanctions</a> led by the US.</p>
<p>The word “state” is not used in the <a href="https://www.wada-ama.org/en/resources/doping-control-process/mclaren-independent-investigation-report-part-ii">second part</a> of McLaren’s report, published in December 2016. The allegation of a state-sponsored programme was quietly dropped, replaced by an allegation of an “institutionalised” doping conspiracy. This important change of wording was also noted by a subsequent report commissioned by the IOC into the case by the former president of Switzerland, Samuel Schmid. He <a href="https://stillmed.olympic.org/media/Document%20Library/OlympicOrg/IOC/Who-We-Are/Commissions/Disciplinary-Commission/IOC-DC-Schmid/IOC-Disciplinary-Commission-Schmid-Report.pdf#_ga=2.266293837.337422065.1517832823-1277377352.1517832823">found no evidence</a> in support of McLaren’s initial claims for state involvement.</p>
<p>McLaren had <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/trackandfield/richard-mclaren-russian-doping-wada-1.3314048">admitted this</a> himself in an interview with Canadian CBC Sport in late 2015: “We don’t have any evidence of a systematic, state-wide doping mechanism. If we did, we would have published it, and so we have to go on the inference.” </p>
<h2>A question of integrity</h2>
<p>Integrity is the crux of the matter. But it’s a characteristic not only of individuals and organisations, but of the processes involved in how evidence used to make independent, unbiased judgements is acquired. The ends cannot justify the means. </p>
<p>While it claims to be protecting the integrity of sport, I believe the McLaren report and the IOC’s subsequent decisions to ban Russian athletes have actually contributed to undermining it. </p>
<p>A dangerous precedent has been established in international sport policy. Against the norm of international law and the presumption of innocence until proved guilty, a collective punishment has been issued on the entire sport system of a country and its athletes, who were then charged to prove their innocence. This cannot be right.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91260/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vassil Girginov does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The politics of Russia’s Olympic doping ban.Vassil Girginov, Reader in Sports Management and Development, Brunel University LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/711012017-01-11T07:49:08Z2017-01-11T07:49:08ZRussia’s headlong rush into populism<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152247/original/image-20170110-29000-38wgdu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Vladimir Putin has developed populism across many fields, from his own image to Russian sport and media.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://en.kremlin.ru/press/photo">Kremlin Press office</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s very possible that, in 2017, Donald Trump <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2017/01/09/trump-could-revisit-russia-sanctions-top-aide-says/n8y6zkW3y5UteFVWsjcXhN/story.html">will attempt to bring Russia</a> back into the fold of civilised nations by lifting sanctions. So understanding the populism of Vladimir Putin’s government is more urgent than ever.</p>
<p>In his <a href="http://institut-etudes-slaves.fr/products-page/histoire-des-idees/loccident-vu-de-russie/">remarkable book</a>, How Russia Sees the West: An Anthology of Russian Thought, from Karamzine to Putin, <a href="http://www.fabula.org/actualites/anthologie-de-la-pensee-russe-de-karamzine-poutine-140-auteurs-choix-presentations-et-traductions_76593.php">published last November</a>, Michel Niqueux defined the tenets of the dominant Russian ideology, inspired by Eurasian intellectuals and turned into policies by Putin:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Anti-West, moral and cultural conservatism, vertical power structure, assertion of military power, definition of a multipolar world as opposed to an unipolar power one headed by the USA, prize of Eurasian unity (Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia) after Ukraine’s defection.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Although accurate, this description misses the key element of the ideology that has dominated Russia since 2000: a populism founded on a nihilistic view of the truth, <a href="http://www.lefigaro.fr/international/2016/12/16/01003-20161216ARTFIG00362-viols-meurtres-la-russie-propose-une-telerealite-sans-aucune-limite.php">state propaganda</a> and a kleptocratic approach to power.</p>
<h2>Putin’s neo-imperialism</h2>
<p>Before <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-unaccountable-death-of-boris-nemtsov">he was assassinated</a> just yards from the Kremlin on February 27 2015, Putin’s political opponent, Boris Nemstov, <a href="http://www.putin-itogi.ru/putin-voina/">wrote a report</a> in which he accused the Russian president of pursuing a policy of warlike populism in order to bolster his approval ratings, which were at their <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-putin-approval-idUSBRE9B212G20131203">lowest</a> since 2012. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/russian-federation/2014-04-17/russias-latest-land-grab">annexation of Crimea</a> on March 18 2014 aimed to rekindle Russian pride, as did attempts to incite a <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30131108">pro-Russian uprising</a> in the region referred to as Novorossiya, in May 2014. These met with partial failure: while Russian intelligence forces, led by Colonel Igor Girkin, were able to occupy the Ukrainian cities of Donetsk and Luhansk, Kharkov and Odessa (where Russian is the primary language for a majority of the population) did not join in the revolt.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151761/original/image-20170104-18668-1kge441.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151761/original/image-20170104-18668-1kge441.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=901&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151761/original/image-20170104-18668-1kge441.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=901&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151761/original/image-20170104-18668-1kge441.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=901&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151761/original/image-20170104-18668-1kge441.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1133&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151761/original/image-20170104-18668-1kge441.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1133&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151761/original/image-20170104-18668-1kge441.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1133&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Former soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/unisgeneva/4884765831/in/photolist-ewEtK5-9qDYbG-7KvEft-7hWKh6-gG3XY4-4jPYvF-3qabQw-8rGMzu-8rDGAP-5vnRFk-8rDGCR-8rGMDG-6zy16Q-8rGMyu-9C1C8N-awzCeU-8rGMsw-8rDGGx-8rDGHz-aGA9J-8rDGA4-8rGMCQ-7cQkt3-HVcN2-8rDGBB-F7PtcD-F7PrXp-GjTb1s-FrHQpW-8rDGDT-8rGMrm-cs1D2d-4V1onq-4V1oUm-4UWaGp-5YSAiM-4V1oub-4UWazK-Lh9Zw-yzwQE2">UN/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the 1980s, those in the USSR who still thought they were on top of the world must have felt the scales fall from their eyes following Mikhail Gorbachev’s <a href="http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/perestroika-and-glasnost"><em>perestroika</em> reforms</a>. Suddenly, new media transparency (<a href="http://www.tamupress.com/product/Gorbachevs-Glasnost,4053.aspx"><em>glasnost</em></a>) revealed to a stunned people that they had lived under a regime that, according to historian Stéphane Courtois, was responsible for <a href="http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674076082&content=reviews">more than a hundred million deaths</a> in the 20th century.</p>
<p>Then came the <a href="https://economics.rabobank.com/publications/2013/september/the-russian-crisis-1998/">1998 collapse of the rouble</a>, coupled with high inflation. This second shock led many Russians to believe that a democratic, capitalist system was ill-suited to Russia. Of course, no one explained that the system they were living under in the 1990s was undemocratic, since the state apparatus hadn’t been de-sovietised. Neither was it capitalist in nature, <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261379497831174">especially after the 1995 elections</a>, which gave a majority to the communist party in parliament. </p>
<p>Such was the situation when Boris Yeltsin handed over power to Vladimir Putin, then head of the secret services, in 1999. The majority of the population saw Putin as a lesser evil.</p>
<p>At the same time, the government in Moscow <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S187936651100011X">reaped the rewards</a> of a fivefold rise in petrol prices between 1998 and 2012. Russians could rejoice at the improvement in their standard of living, although it was clearly understood that the main beneficiaries would be <a href="http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2014/12/18/how-he-and-his-cronies-stole-russia/">the new oligarchy serving President Putin</a>.</p>
<h2>New smokescreens</h2>
<p>Since coming to power, Putin has been fanning the flames of resentment in millions of Russians made increasingly desperate by the realisation that the end of communism has not automatically delivered them to a capitalist El Dorado. In 2014, he sold them on the notion that the annexation of Crimea was their way back <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26769481">to glory and international respect</a>. However, as <a href="http://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-politiques-et-geopolitique/le-rapport-nemtsov">Michel Elchaninoff</a> has explained, this tactic was a double-edged sword.</p>
<p>In spite of state censorship, no one in Russia can be ignorant of the fact that an overwhelming majority in the <a href="http://www.un.org/press/en/2014/ga11493.doc.htm">UN</a> and <a href="https://europa.eu/newsroom/highlights/special-coverage/eu_sanctions_en">all EU member states</a> condemn the annexation. The Kremlin feels therefore that it must rush headlong into further action, constantly coming up with smokescreens to assure the population that their <a href="http://www.esprit.presse.fr/article/arjakovsky-antoine/collectif-le-rapport-nemtsov-poutine-et-la-guerre-38889">once humiliated nation is now rising up again and can dictate terms to the world</a>.</p>
<p>This populist spirit can be seen in two seemingly disparate demonstrations on the international stage: the Olympic Games (London in 2012, but chiefly Sochi in February 2014) and the bombing of Aleppo from October to December 2016.</p>
<h2>Soviet-style use of sports</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152309/original/image-20170110-29028-j5w2pi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152309/original/image-20170110-29028-j5w2pi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152309/original/image-20170110-29028-j5w2pi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152309/original/image-20170110-29028-j5w2pi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152309/original/image-20170110-29028-j5w2pi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152309/original/image-20170110-29028-j5w2pi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152309/original/image-20170110-29028-j5w2pi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">President Putin playing ice hockey.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://en.kremlin.ru/press/photo">Kremlin Press Office</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>During the Soviet era, sport was always an effective way of rallying the people. Similarly, the Putin government’s policy of pursuing prestigious Russian sporting victories — by any means necessary — aims to please a people still bristling from the break-up of the USSR and suffering from neoliberal globalisation.</p>
<p>The Winter Olympic Games held in Sochi in February 2014, the most expensive in history, provide a good example. <a href="http://affaires.lapresse.ca/economie/international/201402/21/01-4741348-jo-22-milliards-en-corruption.php">According to the Anticorruption Foundation</a>, an organisation run by opponents of the Putin government and financed by citizens, US$13.5 billion to US$22.5 billion of the US$45 billion bill can be attributed to corruption. Vladimir Ashurkov, the foundation’s executive director, <a href="http://affaires.lapresse.ca/economie/international/201402/21/01-4741348-jo-22-milliards-en-corruption.php">stated</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In Russia, 13 million people do not have access to hot water and 9 million live in unsanitary conditions. Under these circumstances, is it really a good idea to spend $45 billion on the Olympic Games?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Grigory Rochenkov, former head of the Moscow Anti-Doping Agency, told <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/13/sports/russia-doping-sochi-olympics-2014.html?_r=0">The New York Times</a> that Russian athletes benefited from systematic doping, overseen by the Department of Sport during the Sochi games. </p>
<p>These accusations echo <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/60-minutes-russian-doping-at-sochi-winter-olympics-exposed/">those of Vitali Stepanov</a>, former inspector for the Russian Anti-Doping Agency during the London summer Olympics in 2012, which sparked a scandal that <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2015/11/10/sport/russia-doping-report-shocking-things/">rocked Russian athletics</a> in November 2015.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151764/original/image-20170104-18662-da9th0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151764/original/image-20170104-18662-da9th0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151764/original/image-20170104-18662-da9th0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151764/original/image-20170104-18662-da9th0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151764/original/image-20170104-18662-da9th0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151764/original/image-20170104-18662-da9th0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151764/original/image-20170104-18662-da9th0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Sochi, February 2014.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e0/2014_Winter_Olympics_opening_ceremony_%282014-02-07%29_11.jpg/640px-2014_Winter_Olympics_opening_ceremony_%282014-02-07%29_11.jpg">premier.gov.ru/Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren filed <a href="https://www.wada-ama.org/en/resources/doping-control-process/mclaren-independent-investigation-report-part-i">a detailed report</a> for the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) on July 18 2016, regarding the doping system that was in place in Russia from 2001 to 2005. </p>
<p>Following its publication, and on the grounds that this system, organised by Russian secret service “<a href="http://www.lepoint.fr/sport/jo-2016-dopage-en-russie-le-grand-malentendu-05-08-2016-2059313_26.php">magicians</a>”, was still flourishing, <a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/08/more-than-100-russian-athletes-banned-from-olympics.html">118 Russian athletes were banned</a> from the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. </p>
<h2>Headlong into Aleppo</h2>
<p>In September 2015, <a href="https://europa.eu/newsroom/highlights/special-coverage/eu_sanctions_en">held at a stalemate due to sanctions</a> and the Ukrainian army, the Russian government found a new outlet for Russian pride in the country’s military intervention in Syria. </p>
<p>The United States’ 2013 <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/31/syrian-air-strikes-obama-congress%22">refusal to retaliate</a> against the use of chemical weapons by Syrian forces was seen by the Kremlin as permission to set itself up <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/14/world/europe/russia-orthodox-church.html">as the protector of Christians in the East</a>. </p>
<p>Russia’s involvement in Syria was <a href="https://theconversation.com/syrias-war-of-extermination-signals-the-end-of-the-international-community-66708%22">also a way</a> of telling the UN that its founding principles were ill-adapted to 21st century international crises. The same applies to <a href="http://www.euronews.com/2016/12/29/osce-hit-by-cyber-attack-russian-hackers-suspected">the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe</a>, which Russia intends to obstruct in its role as a mediator in European conflicts.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/turkey-turns-closer-to-russia-after-ambassador-assassination-70733">The assassination</a> on December 19 2016 of Andrei Karlov, the Russian Ambassador to Turkey to shouts of “Don’t forget Aleppo” was clearly not part of Russia’s plan. Similarly, a <a href="https://pulsemedia.org/2016/12/15/russia-today-and-the-post-truth-virus/">conspiracy video published on YouTube</a> by Russia Today did not have the intended effect. The video was meant to show that Western criticism of the relentless bombing of civilians in Aleppo was completely unfounded, but its <a href="http://www.businessinsider.fr/us/this-is-how-russia-thinks-about-fake-news-and-media-manipulation-2016-12/">arguments</a> were swiftly discredited.</p>
<p>However, these international setbacks and debates do not affect the Kremlin’s pursuit of its — chiefly domestic — goals. <a href="http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/russia-turkey-iran-to-meet-in-moscow-on-syria.aspx?pageID=238&nID=107467&NewsCatID=510">The meeting</a> of Syrian, Iranian and Turkish diplomats in Moscow on December 20 2016 (from which European diplomats were absent) was given extensive coverage on Russian television. </p>
<p>It served as a demonstration that Russia is now at the vanguard of efforts aimed at rebuilding the geopolitical balance in the Middle East.</p>
<p><em>Translated from the French by Alice Heathwood for <a href="http://www.fastforword.fr/en/">Fast for Word</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/71101/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Antoine Arjakovsky travaille pour Collège des Bernardins</span></em></p>Understanding the populism of the Putin government is more urgent than ever as Russia plays a major geopolitical role in the Middle-Eastern balance.Antoine Arjakovsky, historien, directeur de recherche, Collège des BernardinsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/630212016-08-04T01:27:57Z2016-08-04T01:27:57ZWill social media define the success of the Olympic Games?<p>Long before the opening ceremonies kicked off the 2016 Rio Olympics, the Games had already been playing out in the news for a while – and for all the wrong reasons. Brazil has been criticized for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/dec/09/brazil-turmoil-rio-2016-olympics">political instability</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-poke-the-bear-what-could-russia-do-next-about-drugs-in-sport-62693">doping scandals</a>, <a href="http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/14791849/trash-contamination-continue-pollute-olympic-training-competition-sites-rio-de-janeiro">environmental</a> and <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-olympics-rio-security-idUSKCN0YN50S">safety concerns</a> and the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/health/what-is-zika-virus.html?_r=1">Zika virus</a>.</p>
<p>Although research has shown that <a href="http://olympicstudies.uab.es/lectures/web/pdf/rivenburgh.pdf">the media tend to be negatively biased</a> toward non-Western mega-event hosts, Rio has been left to contend with what is perhaps the most problematic mainstream media coverage of any Olympics so far. In turn, we’d expect the organizers and the International Olympic Committee to be battling to reclaim the Olympic Games’ image. But in an unprecedented move, they’ve done almost the opposite. </p>
<p>In their <a href="http://doc.rero.ch/record/255030">strategic communications plan</a>, drafted as early as 2012, Rio’s Olympic organizers relinquished a surprising amount of storytelling power not only to journalists but to the general public on social media, writing “citizens who publish content on the web are the ones who will ultimately define the success of the Games.” </p>
<p>While social media are a pervasive global force, it’s unclear how they’ll be used at the Rio Games. Which narratives will be told, by whom, and what impact will they have?</p>
<p>Indeed, if we think about <a href="http://doi.org/10.4324/9780203120415">sporting events as spaces for media consumption and evolution</a>, then the battles for Olympic “success” take place as much through various storytelling platforms as they do in the stadium. But what does success for such an event look like? </p>
<h2>Social so far</h2>
<p>According to one official IOC <a href="https://stillmed.olympic.org/media/Document%20Library/OlympicOrg/Games/Summer-Games/Games-Rio-2016-Olympic-Games/Media-Guide-for-Rio-2016/IOC-Marketing-Media-Guide-Rio-2016.pdf">definition</a>, success is measured by media audience engagement. The more of it, the better. From that perspective, the IOC has done rather well in recent years, garnering substantial audiences on its official Olympic social media accounts.</p>
<p>London’s 2012 Summer Olympic Games had an official social media following of 4.7 million users across all platforms. Two years later, Sochi’s had gone up to over 5 million across two platforms alone: Facebook and <a href="http://vincos.it/world-map-of-social-networks/">VKontakte</a>, the most popular Russian social media site. But beyond these official channels, what’s social media’s potential impact on the hames?</p>
<p>We certainly need to be <a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2011-01-19/innovation-revolution">skeptical</a> about statements that exaggerate the role of social media. We know that social media alone <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/10/04/small-change-malcolm-gladwell">does not cause revolutions</a>. And while social media numbers have increased for the Olympic Games, they pale in comparison to its 3.6 billion, and growing, in global television audience. But there are some examples of <a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2010-12-20/political-power-social-media">social media facilitating alternate</a> types of storytelling. </p>
<p>In terms of the Olympics, my own research suggests <a href="http://doi.org/10.1177/2167479515576101">social media served as an important, albeit marginal, channel</a> in reframing NBC’s mainstream coverage of the 2014 Games in Sochi.</p>
<p>Through a mix of automated textual analyses and in-depth readings of hundreds of Tweets, I found that a new story emerges. An international group of Twitter users gathered around the #NBCFail hashtag to point out the network’s gaffes, to figure out how to watch the coverage live and for free and to piece together what was not shown. These Twitter users created their own highly politicized version of the Olympics, which often went against NBC’s <a href="http://www.totalsportek.com/money/olympics-2016-tv-rights-deals-worldwide-increased-52/">highly paid</a> broadcast rights to set the official storyline in the U.S.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"437630227162730498"}"></div></p>
<p>Twitter users publicized a series of important omissions from NBC’s coverage of the Olympic Games. These included the removal of a Soviet era act from the opening ceremony, a missing performance by t.A.T.u (a supposedly gay Russian band), the disappearance of the <a href="http://gawker.com/the-russian-police-choir-sang-get-lucky-at-the-openin-1518475274">Russian police choir singing “Get Lucky”</a> and the editing of IOC President Thomas Bach’s speech, in which he referred to the IOC being committed to human rights. And that’s all just in the opening ceremony. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"434732896595611648"}"></div></p>
<p>To be sure, there were also plenty of tweets dedicated to discussing the cause of <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/02/12/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-bob-costas-s-olympic-pink-eye.html">Bob Costas’ pinkeye</a>. Humor was certainly the social lubricant and common language behind much of the content. One tweeter posted a cartoon and in Russian playfully compared the cutting of a peacock’s wings to NBC’s editing of the Sochi 2014 opening ceremony.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"432813175482748928"}"></div></p>
<p>Still, what #NBCFail revealed was more or less a counternarrative to mainstream media, with its focus on medal counts and heartwarming athlete backstories. </p>
<p>While these are not the first instances of a hashtag being used to <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/06/15/twitterers-protest-cnnfail-on-iran-coverage/">expose what was not shown</a>, they do speak to the role of the citizen social media user as alternate storyteller or <a href="https://danielkreiss.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/kreiss_politicalperformance.pdf">active spectator</a>. </p>
<h2>So what can we expect for Rio?</h2>
<p>In short, look for more content, more clutter and more contracts.</p>
<p>Research on #SochiProblems, which became more popular than the official Sochi handle, shows that the vast majority of those tweeting about the problems at the Winter Olympic Games <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.5783/RIRP-8-2014-09-161-180">were not actually on the ground in Sochi</a> – or even in Russia at the time. And since the majority of the world participates in the Olympics remotely via media, we can expect this summer’s social media narratives will come from far beyond Brazil. Furthermore, despite being a country that’s very active on social media, it’s worth noting that the typical social media user is not the typical Brazilian. With just over <a href="http://wearesocial.com/uk/special-reports/digital-in-2016">half of the population</a> having access to the internet, social media in Brazil remains a medium of privilege. </p>
<p>Similar to Sochi, we can also expect the real social media action in Rio to take place away from official media accounts and hashtags, which have grown in presence.</p>
<p><a href="http://vancouversun.com/opinion/opinion-ioc-sponsors-have-hijacked-social-media">According to Graeme Menzies</a>, communication director for the Vancouver Olympics, the 2010 Olympic Games were the first and last social media Olympics. In his view, social media at the 2010 games was “the people’s media,” with little to no organizational involvement. Not long after, the IOC moved to exert more power over this space, partnering with the likes of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to create official Olympic social media content. Furthermore, social media platforms like Twitter saw the games as an opportunity to attract new users. For instance, Rio 2016 will see <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2016/08/02/twitter-revamps-moments-for-the-olympics-with-weeks-long-tracking-of-sports-and-events/">extensive coordination</a> with Twitter – and the largest launch of emojis to date.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"760555933244203008"}"></div></p>
<p>The IOC also developed <a href="https://stillmed.olympic.org/media/Document%20Library/OlympicOrg/Games/Summer-Games/Games-Rio-2016-Olympic-Games/Social-Media-Blogging-Internet-Guidelines-and-News-Access-Rules/IOC-Social-and-Digital-Media-Guidelines-Rio-2016.pdf#_ga=1.43008870.2142566050.1468331164">explicit sets of guidelines</a> for how athletes and Olympic personnel should use social media. Notably, this comes partly in an effort to attract younger audiences – but it also comes at the expense of a loss of some social authenticity. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"720636463273152517"}"></div></p>
<p>In addition, the IOC <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/how-olympics-new-advertising-rules-will-impact-athletes-and-brands-rio-172372">relaxed its sponsorship rules</a> for the Rio Olympic Games, meaning that the social media space will only become more cluttered with commercial content. Preliminary findings from my upcoming study about the Rio games show that one of the most popular Olympics-related topics on Twitter leading up to the event has been the promotion of Airbnb rentals. While locals are posting to advertise their own apartments, the company does have <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/press/news/airbnb-takes-gold-with-the-rio-2016-olympic-games-providing-the-official-alternative-accommodations-service">an official partnership with the IOC.</a></p>
<p>Still, if we think of the Olympics purely as media content, then part of its communicative power lies in the ability to engage people and spotlight a range of issues beyond sport, whether short-term apartment rentals or failures of major media networks.</p>
<p>We can almost be sure that social media will succeed in attracting bigger audiences this year. Whether it can have a meaningful impact in shaping the Olympic narratives beyond echoing the mainstream media or corporate partnerships remains to be seen. After all, general news coverage of the lead-up to the games has itself been fairly harsh and hardly evocative of the party atmosphere the organizers would like us to feel.</p>
<p>Although increasingly cluttered, the power of the citizens’ social media space in relation to the Olympic Games and media corporations lies precisely in its ability to show something unexpected. As long as there is still a possibility for that to take place, and as long as we are willing to do some more digging for it, we should expect some interesting material from Rio – and probably some entertaining memes, too.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63021/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katerina Girginova does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The mainstream media has knocked Brazil for the Zika virus, doping scandals and safety concerns. But citizen social media users, by revealing an alternate narrative, could even the score for Rio.Katerina Girginova, Doctoral Student in Communication, University of PennsylvaniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/364472015-03-06T06:21:14Z2015-03-06T06:21:14ZWar and Peace takes on different meanings in Russia and the West<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/73928/original/image-20150305-24696-vc9lcc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The cast of BBC Radio 4's adaptation.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">BBC/Des Willie</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Tolstoy’s celebrated novel War and Peace has recently been enjoying some fresh attention thanks to a number of adaptations. BBC Radio 4 broadcast a ten-part <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04wz7q2">adaptation</a> of the novel. Later this year, the BBC will also screen a <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2014/war-and-peace-casting">TV version</a> penned by Andrew Davies, well known for his adaptations of classic literature. </p>
<p>In contrast with these dramatisations, Russia brought War and Peace to the attention of the world thanks to a <a href="http://www.examiner.com/article/leo-tolstoy-s-war-and-peace-highlighted-at-olympics-opening-ceremony">ballet sequence</a> representing one of its key episodes at the Opening Ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. </p>
<p>All this suggests that Tolstoy’s novel about early 19th century Russia is seen as having a contemporary relevance. But how relevant it is differs considerably in each situation.</p>
<h2>War and Peace</h2>
<p>War and Peace, regarded by some as the greatest novel ever written, tells the story of a group of aristocratic Russian families during the Napoleonic Wars. It charts their lives, loves, and experiences of conflict. </p>
<p>But central to the novel is also Tolstoy’s criticism of the historians of his time for presenting a distorted view of life by focusing on those in power – the monarchs, politicians and generals. He argued that their actions and decisions were not the prime cause of historical events and developments. </p>
<p>Instead, he saw human history as progressing thanks to an infinite chain of small, insignificant moments in which all individuals, mighty or humble, were involved. The novel shows this view through the characters and their interactions, but also through essays inserted at various points in the text. </p>
<p>From its first publication in Russia in 1868, this aspect of the novel has proved controversial. This was not so much because of the subject matter (though this provoked plenty of debate) but more because readers struggled with a style of writing that they felt did not belong in a novel. The difficulty over how to approach the historical essays has beset new editions, translations and <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/feb/18/bbc-returns-tolstoy-war-peace">adaptations</a> both in Russia and abroad to this day.</p>
<h2>The Patriotic War</h2>
<p>The period covered in War and Peace plays an important part in Russia’s view of itself, particularly the novel’s climax, the 1812 Battle of Borodino, which proved to be the turning point for Napoleon’s eventual defeat. Russians call the 1812 invasion the “Patriotic War”, and there are numerous works of art, literature and music celebrating the costly defence of the Motherland, which involved terrible loss of life and the temporary sacrifice of Moscow.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/73952/original/image-20150305-3327-1b3jwlb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/73952/original/image-20150305-3327-1b3jwlb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/73952/original/image-20150305-3327-1b3jwlb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/73952/original/image-20150305-3327-1b3jwlb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/73952/original/image-20150305-3327-1b3jwlb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/73952/original/image-20150305-3327-1b3jwlb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/73952/original/image-20150305-3327-1b3jwlb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/73952/original/image-20150305-3327-1b3jwlb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Battle of Moscow, 7th September 1812 (Louis Lejeune, 1822).</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But War and Peace is far from a triumphalist tub-thumper. Tolstoy focuses on the horrors as well as the excitement of battle. He shows the physical and mental traumas suffered by both military and civilians. The historical essays show the ultimate futility of so-called “great men” trying to change the course of history by force of will. Tolstoy went on to be an outspoken advocate of pacifism and a critic of power hierarchies and national patriotism, <a href="http://www.las.illinois.edu/alumni/magazine/articles/2009/tolstoy/">inspiring figures</a> such as Gandhi and Martin Luther King.</p>
<p>So it’s unsurprising that analysts sometimes call on War and Peace as a universally relevant comment on contemporary conflicts. This happened during the <a href="http://www.countercurrents.org/iraq-bagdikian041203.htm">war in Iraq</a>, and around the same time a number of new competing translations were published. And in the light of the current conflict in Ukraine, and Putin’s aggressive stance towards NATO, <a href="http://www.euractiv.com/sections/global-europe/how-tolstoy-might-have-portrayed-legacies-yanukovich-and-putin-310360">Western critics</a> are again using Tolstoy and War and Peace as cautionary examples from Russia’s own culture. </p>
<h2>The Sochi story</h2>
<p>But the inclusion of a War and Peace segment in the Sochi Olympics Opening Ceremony tells a very different story. Here, the novel was used to present and package the image of itself that <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/feb/13/sochi-opening-ceremony-russia-snowflake">Russia wanted the world to see</a>. This is an image that would accord Russia the status of world power, celebrate its history, culture and technological achievements, whilst staying in keeping with the Olympic values of peace, international friendship and inclusivity. </p>
<p>On the surface, it would seem that the scene chosen was appropriate: the War and Peace segment, standing for the grandeur of 19th Century imperial Russia, featured a ball at which the novel’s lively young heroine, Natasha, falls in love with Prince Andrei, observed by rival suitors the good-hearted Pierre and the scheming Anatole. </p>
<p>But why War and Peace specifically, rather than, say, Anna Karenina, another internationally well known Tolstoy novel, featuring an equally important ballroom scene? Was it to acknowledge Tolstoy as a messenger of peace and universal human values? </p>
<p>Russian viewers would associate the novel with the idea of nationalistic patriotism to which 1812 contributes. The older Russian generation also might well remember Stalin’s popularisation of War and Peace during Hitler’s invasion to stir up patriotism and national morale. </p>
<p>These messages are evidently at cross-purposes. The annexation of Crimea and the subsequent bitter conflict in Ukraine following so swiftly after the Sochi Olympics would suggest that Putin has learned no lessons from Tolstoy about the mistaken belief in the will of “great men”.</p>
<p>Whatever the reasons for the choice of War and Peace at Sochi, it is clear that Tolstoy’s novel can be interpreted in different ways for different purposes. That said, its message is especially relevant in the context of Russia’s involvement in global politics today. The example of War and Peace shows that Putin’s administration is skilled in manipulating Russian culture to serve its own agenda, both at home and abroad.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/36447/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah Hudspith does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Tolstoy’s celebrated novel War and Peace has recently been enjoying some fresh attention thanks to a number of adaptations. BBC Radio 4 broadcast a ten-part adaptation of the novel. Later this year, the…Sarah Hudspith, Associate professor in Russian, University of LeedsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/323082014-10-03T05:25:57Z2014-10-03T05:25:57ZIOC failing on human rights as democracies drop Olympic bids<p>Oslo has <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/winter-olympics/29455789">pulled out of the bidding</a> for the 2022 Winter Olympics, leaving only two cities in the running: the Chinese capital, Beijing, and Almaty, the largest city in Kazakhstan. </p>
<p>This virtually guarantees that the 2022 Games will be staged in an authoritarian country with a poor human rights record – and comes after the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi witnessed <a href="http://www.lawinsport.com/articles/intellectual-property-law/item/the-missing-link-the-coming-out-of-ambush-marketing">a high-profile campaign</a> against the <a href="http://jurist.org/paperchase/2014/09/russia-high-court-upholds-ban-on-homosexual-propaganda.php">Russian law</a> that bans “propaganda” for “non-traditional sexual relations”. </p>
<p>Coming together under the banner of <a href="http://www.principle6.org/">Principle 6</a>, organisations including All Out, Athlete Ally and Human Rights Watch sought to highlight that this law contravened the International Olympic Committee (IOC)‘s stance on anti-discrimination as defined in the <a href="http://www.olympic.org/Documents/olympic_charter_en.pdf">6th Fundamental Principle of Olympism</a>. </p>
<p>The principle states that any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement.</p>
<p>The repercussions from Sochi have had a major impact on the IOC’s attitude to dealing with discrimination in host countries. After <a href="http://www.insidethegames.biz/olympics/1022841-ioc-add-anti-discrimation-clause-for-host-cities-after-sochi-gay-rights-row">a long campaign</a> and a petition that attracted more than 80,000 signatures, it has been <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/sep/25/olympic-anti-discrimination-clause-sochi-gay-rights-row">widely reported</a> that the IOC will expect future organisers of editions of the Olympic Games to adhere closely to the requirements of Principle 6. </p>
<p>This positive step has been almost universally acclaimed – but the actual revised version of the host city contract under which the 2022 Games will be held tells a different story.</p>
<h2>Hands-off policy</h2>
<p>The latest <a href="http://www.insidethegames.biz/files/Host_City_Contract_2022_Intended_Final_Draft_IOC20140916.pdf">draft of the host city contract</a> for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games is split into two main parts. The first part, the “preamble”, contains a number of scene-setting clauses that provide the context in which the contract is to be performed. The second part, divided into 12 sections, contains 87 specific clauses that define the responsibilities of the host city and its National Olympic Committee. </p>
<p>The section concerned with the promotion of the IOC’s anti-discrimination agenda is found in Clause L of the preamble, and states:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The City and the NOC acknowledge and accept the importance of the Games and the value of the Olympic image, and agree to conduct all activities in a manner which promotes and enhances the fundamental principles and values of Olympism, in particular the prohibition of any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The IOC is obviously to be applauded for responding to the need to take a proactive stand against all forms of discrimination (sexuality falling within the catch-all: “or otherwise”) – but this clause is not the straightforward victory that many have claimed.</p>
<h2>Fingers crossed</h2>
<p>Only the host city and National Olympic Committee, not the host state or its government, will be subject to Clause L. Although another clause of the preamble calls on the host government “to respect the Olympic Charter and host city contract”, it does not go as far as to demand that legislative amendments or repeals are required to equate respect with compliance.</p>
<p>The wording simply requires that the host city and National Olympic Committee conduct their activities in a manner that promotes and enhances Olympism. This is a far cry from some interpretations of the clause, which read it as a requirement that the host nation actually change its laws to comply with Principle 6.</p>
<p>Moving even further away from requiring legislative change, Clause L merely reiterates the requirement that all signatories of the Olympic Charter, which includes host city organising committees and all National Olympic Committees, adhere to the Charter in its entirety. As a result, Clause L appears to be a simple public reaffirmation of the need for all members of the Olympic Family to comply with the Olympic Charter.</p>
<p>So far, so dispiriting. But what makes this vague approach to anti-discrimination appear particularly toothless is the contrast with the IOC’s demands for the protection of intellectual property rights – where it has no compunction about using real political muscle. </p>
<h2>Oh no you don’t</h2>
<p>In Clause 41b of the main body of its contract, the IOC explicitly demands that the host state enact appropriate legislation and other means of enforcement to protect the IOC’s intellectual property rights and interests. </p>
<p>Such legislation and enforcement measures must include protections against unauthorised uses of the Olympic Properties, as defined in Rules 7-14 of the Olympic Charter and Clause 41a of the draft host city cntract, as well as ambush marketing.</p>
<p>In contrast to the weak anti-discrimination clauses, at all Games held since Sydney 2000, these requirements have resulted in the host legislature actually passing specific legislation, and granting protections above and beyond those provided by traditional intellectual property law. </p>
<p>They have successfully prevented unauthorised associations with the Olympics and have enabled the venues to be completely “clean”, or free from all advertising – and their immediate environment to be free from all non-official advertisements (at London 2012, for example, these protections were enacted in the <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/12/contents">London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act 2006</a>).</p>
<p>The contrast with the approach to the promotion of anti-discrimination is marked. The IOC knows it is powerful enough to force changes on a host state’s domestic law when its commercial rights are threatened, yet it has chosen not to take a similarly robust approach to the protection of its athletes’ human rights. </p>
<p>With only China and Kazakhstan vying for the 2022 Games, some are wondering if democracies in general are <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/10/what-if-democracies-refuse-to-pay-for-the-olympics/381018/">backing away</a> from the extravagant costs of hosting Olympic events. </p>
<p>The current candidature process should push the IOC to take a more proactive stance against discrimination, human rights abuses, and Olympic human values in general – but Clause L does not make the desired breakthrough.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/32308/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark James does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Oslo has pulled out of the bidding for the 2022 Winter Olympics, leaving only two cities in the running: the Chinese capital, Beijing, and Almaty, the largest city in Kazakhstan. This virtually guarantees…Mark James, Professor of Law specialising in sports law and Olympic Law, Northumbria University, NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/244212014-03-17T06:37:21Z2014-03-17T06:37:21ZAussie Winter Paralympians in Sochi: a world away from 1976<p>Over the weekend, Australian Winter Paralympians broke their medal drought at Sochi to end the Games with <a href="http://www.paralympic.org.au/news/back-back-bronze-gallagher">two skiing bronze medals</a> – one won by Toby Kane in Super Combined and the other by Jessica Gallagher and her guide Christian Geiger in the Giant Slalom – bringing our <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_at_the_Winter_Paralympics#Australian_Summary">total medal tally</a> over the years to 30.</p>
<p>This year’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/games-on-preparing-body-and-mind-for-the-winter-paralympics-22744">Australian Paralympic squad</a> comprised nine athletes, two guides and loads of <a href="https://theconversation.com/chill-out-cool-down-athlete-anxiety-at-the-winter-games-23964">support</a> – but this has not always been the case.</p>
<h2>Australia’s one-man show</h2>
<p>In 1976, Australian skier <a href="http://www.sahof.org.au/hall-of-fame/member-profile/?memberID=490&memberType=general">Ron Finneran</a> heard about the “Winter Olympic Games for the Disabled” being held at <a href="http://www.paralympic.org/ornskoldsvik-1976">Örnsköldsvik</a>, Sweden.</p>
<p>As there was no organisation in Australia to select competitors, he asked the only other two active skiers with a disability whether they were interested in a “ski off” to go to Sweden. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/44073/original/qpqgk9nw-1395030188.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/44073/original/qpqgk9nw-1395030188.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/44073/original/qpqgk9nw-1395030188.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/44073/original/qpqgk9nw-1395030188.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/44073/original/qpqgk9nw-1395030188.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/44073/original/qpqgk9nw-1395030188.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/44073/original/qpqgk9nw-1395030188.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/44073/original/qpqgk9nw-1395030188.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ron Finneran at the 1984 Innsbruck Winter Games.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dd0184_-_Innsbruck_Winter_Games,_R._Finneran_-_3b_-_scanned_photo.jpg">Australian Paralympic Committee/Sport The Library</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>They declined, citing family and work reasons, and Finneran, who was endorsed by the Australian Ski Federation and partially funded by the Cabramatta Rotary Club, left for Europe six weeks before the Games. </p>
<p>In Örnsköldsvik, the Games Organising Committee offered lodgings in a spare projection room at the local cinema. Finneran worked during the day at a restaurant, waiting tables and washing dishes, to pay for his accommodation at the cinema, and he trained at night on a well-lit slalom course with the locals who helped hone his skills.</p>
<p>The first Paralympic Winter Games provided competition for only amputee and vision impaired athletes, a disaster for Finneran, who had mobility limitations in his legs and arms as the result of childhood polio. </p>
<p>After a heated argument with the founder of the Paralympic movement, <a href="http://www.paralympics.org.uk/games/ludwig-guttmann">Dr Ludwig Guttmann</a>, Finneran was informed that he could not compete. Instead, he carried the Australian flag at the modest opening ceremony and acted as a forerunner to events to ensure the quality and safety of the course. </p>
<h2>How times change</h2>
<p>Some 38 years later, the Sochi Paralympic Winter Games were far removed from Finneran’s experiences:</p>
<ul>
<li>the first Paralympic Winter Games involved 198 competitors from 16 nations </li>
<li>in Sochi, 550 athletes from 45 nations qualified under a competitive quota system to compete in five sports. </li>
</ul>
<p>While there were discussions of <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-07/paralympians-focus-on-sport-amid-govt-sochi-boycott-talk/5304992">boycotts</a> in Sochi in response to the Russian incursion into Crimea, all nominated nations participated. </p>
<p>At the Sochi Paralympic Games, there were events for athletes with spinal cord or nerve damage, cerebral palsy, limb loss or deficiency and vision impairments. Ron Finneran would have been eligible to compete in multiple events at Sochi.</p>
<p>What the Australian athletes experienced at the Sochi Paralympic Games was more complexity and diversity than any previous Winter Games. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dpAsccLdtyo?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Ice-sledge hockey was introduced at the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Paralympics.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 1976, there were only two medal sports – alpine skiing and Nordic skiing – with 25 events for male and female athletes, but athletes in Sochi contested 75 medal events in alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country skiing, ice-sledge hockey and wheelchair curling. For the first time, snowboarding was added to the Games as part of the alpine skiing program.</p>
<h2>Aussies at Sochi</h2>
<p>Only 35 athletes have ever represented Australia at the Winter Paralympics, with all but four competing in alpine skiing, and the remainder in Nordic skiing events. </p>
<p>It is in the alpine events that Australia had won all its 28 medals prior to Sochi, with its first gold medal won by Michael Milton in the slalom at the <a href="http://www.paralympic.org/tignes-albertville-1992">Tignes-Albertville Games</a> in 1992. </p>
<p>In Sochi, hopes were high for further medal success after world cup wins to Mitchell Gourley, Melissa Perrine and Toby Kane during the lead-up to the Games and a number one ranking in slalom for Jessica Gallagher. </p>
<p>But the lead-up to the Games took a tragic turn, when snowboarder Matthew Robinson <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-22/para-snowboarder-matthew-robinson-dies/5277028">died after a crash</a> in a world cup race. The tight-knit Australian winter team was devastated. </p>
<p>Australia’s hopes received another set-back when Vancouver medallist Cameron Rahles-Rahbula <a href="http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2014/03/07/aussie-skiers-set-downhill-mayhem">crashed in training</a> and was ruled out of the Games.</p>
<p>Rahles-Rahbula carried the flag in the opening ceremony, and his teammates wore black armbands in memory of Matthew Robinson. </p>
<p>Australia’s run of misfortune continued when Melissa Perrine was disqualified for wearing a visor on her helmet during the slalom leg of the super combined event and Joany Badenhorst crashed out of the Games in her warm-up for the snowboard event.</p>
<p>By Games’ end, Toby Kane had won a bronze medal in the men’s standing super combined event and Jessica Gallagher won her second bronze medal in two Games, in the giant slalom, placing Australia <a href="http://fansided.com/2014/03/16/sochi-paralympics-medal-count-2014-final-standings/#!z6XiI">19th on the medal tally</a>.</p>
<p>The training, opportunities and experiences in contemporary Paralympic sport are a world away from 1976. Australia’s athletes at Sochi went through rigorous selection and qualification trials, as well as extensive training and competitive opportunities in domestic and international settings. </p>
<p>Furthermore, they competed at the same facilities and stayed in the same accommodation as Winter Olympians, something that began at the Tignes-Albertville Games in 1992. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gCp5HBjSOX0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">14-year-old Ben Tudhope was Australia’s flag-bearer during the closing ceremony.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Winter Paralympics wrap-up</h2>
<p>Despite fears about the snow conditions and temperatures that rose above 10C on the mountain during the first week of the Games, Sochi was an unparallelled success. </p>
<p>Some <a href="http://www.paralympic.org/news/sir-philip-hails-sochi-2014-spectacular-showcase-sport">316,200 tickets</a> were sold, exceeding Vancouver’s record attendance by almost 40%, as Russian crowds embraced the Paralympics. </p>
<p>The Sochi Paralympic Games were also an international media event. Unlike in the first Winter Games in 1976 when there was only limited print coverage in Sweden, in 2014 Channel 4 (UK), NBC (US), CBC (Canada) and the ABC (Australia) broadcast a mixture of live and packaged television. </p>
<p>NBC, which has previously largely ignored the Paralympics, responded with 27 hours of live coverage, including the <a href="http://www.teamusa.org/US-Paralympics/Features/2014/March/14/NBC-to-air-sled-hockey-gold-medal-game-live-on-March-15">ice-sledge hockey final</a> in which the US defeated Russia. </p>
<p>In Australia, overall media coverage of the Games was more than four times greater than in 2010. This extensive media attention and associated social media has enabled Australians to follow the trials, tribulations and successes of athletes and engage with the Winter Paralympics as a global spectacle. </p>
<p>It’s a world away from 1976.</p>
<p><br>
<em>This article was co-authored with Tony Naar, General Manager of Knowledge Services at the Australian Paralympic Committee.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/24421/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Murray Phillips receives funding from the Australian Research Council for a Linkage Project with the Australian Paralympic Committee.</span></em></p>Over the weekend, Australian Winter Paralympians broke their medal drought at Sochi to end the Games with two skiing bronze medals – one won by Toby Kane in Super Combined and the other by Jessica Gallagher…Murray Phillips, Associate Professor of Human Movement Studies, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/243892014-03-16T18:05:41Z2014-03-16T18:05:41ZTerror threat highlights the need for risk management in sport
<p>What we anticipated might happen in Sochi, in the end did not. Following bomb attacks in the Russian city of Volgograd a couple of months prior to the Winter Olympic Games, several governments issued grave warnings about terrorist threats.</p>
<p>Such was the seriousness of security concerns, that the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-22/shadow-of-terrorism-hangs-over-sochi-games/5211586">Australian government advised its citizens not to travel to Sochi</a>. Meanwhile, the British government warned terrorist attacks were “very likely” at the Games, while the US Homeland Security Department <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2014/02/05/world/europe/sochi-security-toothpaste/">predicted toothpaste bombs on aeroplanes</a>.</p>
<p>One can speculate on the geopolitical, strategic and security reasons why such an attack did not take place but the furore about terrorism suitably illustrates the growing importance of risk management in sport.</p>
<p>Further up the Black Sea coast, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/crimea-an-armed-camp-as-referendum-tensions-rise-24426">fast-emerging confrontation in Crimea</a> has created some equally pressing challenges for Ukraine’s football authorities.</p>
<p>Given the stand-off between pro-European west Ukranians and their pro-Russian counterparts in the east of the country, the nation’s Premier League was suddenly thrust centre-stage. With potentially explosive games ahead – such as Arsenal Kiev against Metalurh Donetsk (in essence, west versus east) – <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/news/ukrainian-premier-league-season-resume-162300524--sow.html">the league was temporarily suspended</a> although it tentatively recommenced at the weekend.</p>
<p>It is not difficult to understand why the league took such a decision under the circumstances: large groups of football fans moving around the country, some of whom have a reputation for violent behaviour, many motivated by regional loyalties, and at a time that is era-defining for the Ukrainian nation.</p>
<h2>Gazprom</h2>
<p>The ongoing conflict in Ukraine is likely to have ramifications for sport that run much broader and deeper than this. One of the issues fundamental to relations between Western Europe and Russia is gas. Among those at the heart of the matter is Gazprom, the largest extractor of natural gas in the world and also shirt sponsor of the German football club FC Schalke 04.</p>
<p>Schalke games have <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2440400/Protesters-abseil-stadium-roof-Basle-v-Schalke.html">already been targeted by Greenpeace activists</a> in protest at Gazprom’s exploration for gas in the Arctic Circle. But some have suggested that the club could become the focus for further action, not just from environmental pressure groups but next time also from groups opposed to what is happening in Crimea.</p>
<p>Whether the management of Schalke realise it or not, they are rapidly ascending into the eye of a geopolitical storm and will need to consider very carefully what risks their association with Gazprom poses for the club, and how to manage these risks.</p>
<h2>World cup of terror</h2>
<p>And there is still more to come; in simple terms: Brazil 2014. As if any further proof of risk was required, one need only think of last summer’s FIFA Confederations Cup competition, which Brazil also hosted.</p>
<p>Whether or not local organisers and FIFA could or should have foreseen <a href="https://theconversation.com/fare-game-buses-and-football-fuel-protest-in-unequal-brazil-15325">what happened in 2013</a> is an issue in itself, but the toxic mix of tax breaks for FIFA, domestic bus fare increases, a spluttering economy and a population with a predisposition towards social media activism created the conditions for what ultimately took place.</p>
<p>There is little doubt, Brazil will again be a flashpoint this year and we should anticipate more mass protests. The level of risk will be heightened by the start of Brazil’s 2014 presidential election campaign, which is scheduled to begin mid-tournament.</p>
<p>Also, people are unhappy with the continuing economic burden that hosting the World Cup is imposing upon Brazil and many are dissatisfied with the way in which FIFA organises and runs its tournaments. Trouble seems inevitable</p>
<p>At the same time, a São Paulo crime gang - the Comando da Capital (PCC) - has promised a “<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2462885/Brazils-biggest-drug-cartel-promises-World-Cup-terror.html">World Cup of terror</a>”. With over 6,000 members in jail and 3,000 members on the street, the PCC is a potent force that constitutes a tournament threat both in terms of its drug-related activities, and also its organised and cyber-crimes.</p>
<p>Factor in Rio de Janeiro’s major criminal gangs – Comando Vermelho, the Terceiro Comando and the Amigos dos Amigos – and there is clearly a notable degree of risk surrounding football’s premier international event this summer.</p>
<p>Brazil has already implemented one part of its risk mitigation strategy in the form of “Operation Pacification” (OP). This strategy has been enacted almost to the point of industrial efficiency, targeting organised crime gangs in Rio’s favelas. For instance, in a recent intervention the <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2014/feb/04/world/la-fg-wn-brazil-police-shootout-20140204">Brazilian police killed six people</a> during a pacification raid.</p>
<p>Notwithstanding the very serious moral issues around use of such force and the deaths associated with it, OP nevertheless highlights how seriously risk is being taken by the organisers of sport events, by teams and clubs, and by event owners and governing bodies. </p>
<h2>Keeping up standards</h2>
<p>While the general nature of event risk might seem obvious, the ramifications of it may be less apparent. Clearly there are security risks and as we witnessed at the FA Cup game at Hillsborough in 1989, failure to identify and manage them can have catastrophic human consequences.</p>
<p>But there are economic and technological risks too: for example, the PCC’s apparent threat to Brazil raises the spectre of impending cyber-crime, which could potentially lead to anything from ticket sites being hacked and brought down, through to online fan forums being infected with damaging viruses.</p>
<p>There are also geo-political and image risks too; one recent commentary identified sporting mega-events as being “coming-out parties” for emerging nations. Part of the logic for such nations to host the likes of the World Cup is for them to demonstrate their competence in delivering major projects in a timely and appropriate fashion.</p>
<p>Failure to do this can result in reputational damage, a nation’s power being undermined and the creation of an image that highlights a country as being ill-equipped to be a global player (in sport at least).</p>
<p>A poor image can also impact upon the benefits of hosting a sporting event; many studies show that tourism often accounts for the largest proportion of expenditure in host cities and nations. When there is talk of aeroplane toothpaste bombers and drugs cartels wandering the streets, this inevitable threatens travellers and such expenditures.</p>
<p>For those wanting to understand the nature of risk, there is an international standard that defines it: <a href="http://www.iso.org/iso/iso31000">ISO 3100</a>. It is important to note that the standard is set in the context of good management practice and safeguarding the well-being of stakeholders. In sport, this means people, groups and organisations such as fans, the media and commercial partners.</p>
<p>But good management practice is significantly different to protecting a population’s civil liberties, allowing people the democratic right to protest and affording groups their online privacy. As such, this summer’s events in Brazil are likely to provide us with some interesting insights into the effective, and indeed appropriate, management of risk.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/24389/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
What we anticipated might happen in Sochi, in the end did not. Following bomb attacks in the Russian city of Volgograd a couple of months prior to the Winter Olympic Games, several governments issued grave…Simon Chadwick, Professor of Sport Business Strategy, Coventry UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/242502014-03-14T10:27:57Z2014-03-14T10:27:57ZThe incredible tech behind Paralympian daredevil stunts<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43620/original/m6mhk5hd-1394561632.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Austria's Roman Rabl makes light work of the Sochi slopes.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Vassil Donev</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Watching the Paralympics makes us forget about the term “disability” and the idea that sport with a disability is about limitations. The athletes on the slopes and rinks at Sochi are showing us that theirs is a ruthless, competitive environment.</p>
<p>Alongside the athlete, technology has long been a part of sport. Every event, whether it’s cycling, sailing or skiing requires uniquely designed technology. Over in Sochi right now, athletes are showcasing the greatest of innovations being pushed to the limits of their design.</p>
<h2>Bluetoothing to victory</h2>
<p>Visually impaired skiing at Sochi has attracted a lot of interest, with Great Britain’s gold medallist <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/disability-sport/26504413">Kelly Gallagher</a> and her guide Charlotte Evans taking gold with the help of bluetooth wireless headsets that enable them to communicate all the way down the slope. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43622/original/bgkcw7jd-1394562201.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43622/original/bgkcw7jd-1394562201.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=342&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43622/original/bgkcw7jd-1394562201.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=342&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43622/original/bgkcw7jd-1394562201.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=342&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43622/original/bgkcw7jd-1394562201.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43622/original/bgkcw7jd-1394562201.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43622/original/bgkcw7jd-1394562201.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Kelly Gallagher and Charlotte Evans stay connected on the slope.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Vassil Donev</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the visually impaired categories, the guide helps the athlete by skiing in front of them and telling them about the course and conditions through the headset. That is no mean feat when you consider the speeds involved and the degree of trust required between the two athletes when one of them is relying on the vision of the other.</p>
<h2>60mph on a chair</h2>
<p>Many Paralympians make use of a sit ski when they take to the slopes. This is essentially a seat mounted to a single ski. To help maintain control, the skier uses a pole in each hand which has a smaller ski mounted on the end.</p>
<p>The skiers might seem to start relatively sedately but by the time they are halfway down the slope, they are already moving at 60 miles an hour and still accelerating.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43621/original/yrhwrcxb-1394561791.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43621/original/yrhwrcxb-1394561791.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43621/original/yrhwrcxb-1394561791.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43621/original/yrhwrcxb-1394561791.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43621/original/yrhwrcxb-1394561791.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43621/original/yrhwrcxb-1394561791.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43621/original/yrhwrcxb-1394561791.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Switzerland’s Christoph Kunz competes in the men’s super-G sitting race.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Ennio Leanza</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Since many of the athletes do not have lower limbs, they often have no easy means of absorbing the huge impacts, vibrations and shocks that able-bodied skiers would typically absorb using their legs when hurtling down hill at these speeds. Instead they use a sprung suspension system mounted below the chair, attached to the composite ski. The speeds are high, the crashes often severe and the technology has to help to maximise the former while not contributing to the latter.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, if outright speed isn’t your thing, consider biathlon. It combines the exhausting demands of cross-country skiing with the ability to periodically stop suddenly, compose yourself and then accurately fire a rifle at a series of targets. Visually impaired para-biathletes take a unique approach to the shooting side of the event, using electro-acoustic headphones to effectively “aim” by listening to a tone that varies in pitch as they move their gun on target.</p>
<h2>You vs me and my metal cage</h2>
<p>Over in team sports, sledge hockey players are putting their equipment under serious stress. The sport is played in the same way as conventional ice hockey and that includes all the high impact collisions. Players sit on metal sledge frames, which provide a protective cage for the lower part of their torso and limbs. These sledges have to survive the continual battering of players constantly charging into each with all their might throughout a 45 minute match.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43619/original/q8byxsbm-1394561172.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43619/original/q8byxsbm-1394561172.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43619/original/q8byxsbm-1394561172.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43619/original/q8byxsbm-1394561172.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43619/original/q8byxsbm-1394561172.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43619/original/q8byxsbm-1394561172.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43619/original/q8byxsbm-1394561172.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43619/original/q8byxsbm-1394561172.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Paralympic ice hockey players double up on blades.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">PA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>That means bodily impact and impact from the from the formidable, multi-purpose sticks players wield in each hand. The engineers behind Paralympic ice hockey have designed the equipment with multiple needs in mind so these have a curved blade at one end to strike the puck an a metal pick at the other which gives the player the means to obtain traction and push forwards when they need to move.</p>
<h2>Sochi debut</h2>
<p>One of the newest additions to this year’s Winter Paralympics is snowboarding, where prostheses are at the fore. Some of the athletes with a lower-limb amputation are using specialised prostheses that are vastly different to those you see in other sports, such as the <a href="http://www.ossur.com/prosthetic-solutions/products/feet">Cheetah Flex Foot</a> often used in athletics.</p>
<p>Some of the designs use linkages and pneumatic springs to help absorb the landing forces that snowboarders are often subjected to after extreme jumps. The design of these is challenging because the leg needs to maximise the athletes’ ability to absorb any impact yet perform manoeuvres without being restricted by weight and mobility. It also needs to be comfortable for the athlete as it attaches to their residual limb, which can be very sensitive.</p>
<p>The Paralympic Games showcases novel sports that require innovative solutions to get the best from athletes, be it through engineering, wireless technology or adaptation of traditional equipment. Years of training and preparation go into these sports but the outcome of each event can often be decided in just a few seconds of effort.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/24250/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bryce Dyer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Watching the Paralympics makes us forget about the term “disability” and the idea that sport with a disability is about limitations. The athletes on the slopes and rinks at Sochi are showing us that theirs…Bryce Dyer, Senior Lecturer in Product Design, Bournemouth UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/239642014-03-09T19:29:00Z2014-03-09T19:29:00ZChill out, cool down … athlete anxiety at the Winter Games<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43167/original/tncgxwnp-1393997975.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">It's natural for athletes to experience some anxiety in the lead up to an event, but sports psychology can prevent it affecting their performance.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/porsche-linn/5052951442/sizes/l/">porschelinn/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Whether an athlete is competing at the Olympics or Paralympics, anxiety management is one of the <a href="http://www.athleticinsight.com/Vol9Iss4/NewZealand.htm">most common</a> psychological issues experienced. </p>
<p>Anxiety is an unpleasant emotion with distinctive features. If uncontrolled, it can result in muscle tightness (and therefore a potential change in technique and/or efficiency), reduced focus, and the onset of worry and self-doubt. Each of these symptoms has the potential to destroy an athlete’s confidence and performance. </p>
<p>Anxiety is one of a range of psychological factors that, if identified and addressed, can make the difference between an athlete watching the final from the stands, or him or her actually contesting the event. </p>
<p>For these reasons, it is important to address this issue if present, in order to optimise athlete performance.</p>
<p>Pressure can come from unlikely sources. Athletes may think themselves anxious (“What if I fail on national TV?”), have other things occurring in their lives that are influencing their psychological state (such as relationship issues or job-related stress), or may be responding to real or perceived pressure from family members, coaches, teammates and/or the media. </p>
<p>Paralympic and Olympic winter sport athletes have been found to use <a href="http://journals.humankinetics.com/apaq-back-issues/apaqvolume16issue3july/motivationalfactorsandcopingstrategiesofnorwegianparalympicandolympicwintersportathletes">very similar coping strategies</a> when faced with stressful situations. In saying this, how each athlete achieves his or her own sense of readiness both leading up to and on competition day varies with each person.</p>
<h2>Roles of sport psychologists</h2>
<p>An important role of a sport psychologist when travelling with a team to a high-profile sporting event is to assist athletes should anxiety arise. The psychologist might help athletes to get a clear picture of their perceived pressures, and work with them to put in place some coping strategies that they can use to effectively deal with such influences. </p>
<p>Such strategies may include assisting the athletes to establish as much of a daily routine as they can as early as possible. This might include arranging the team schedule so that the athletes train, eat, and sleep at essentially the same times each day. This can help them to settle in to their new environment, to block out distractions and to refocus their attention on their preparation. </p>
<p>As the event draws closer, athletes’ anxiety can increase. This can sometimes see them start to shift their goals and to lose focus on what they need to do to perform at their best. Taking the time to reaffirm athletes’ short term goals, particularly those that they have direct control over (such as their race plan, what they eat, their hydration, their recovery plan), can be of benefit. </p>
<p>Encouraging them to trust in the goals they have set, and to review all the positives of these goals (“I have had an ideal preparation”), can help to combat any self-doubt (“Have I prepared well enough?”) that might have started to creep in since arriving at the Village. </p>
<p>Centering is another simple yet effective technique that athletes might be taught to help control both the physical and mental symptoms of anxiety. The process of <a href="http://www.thewinningmind.com/press/articles/miller-center_of_attention.PDF">centering</a> can help athletes to stay focused, control stress, to get to sleep, and avoid distractions, among other things. </p>
<p>Many athletes also use it as part of their pre-competition routines to help them to mentally prepare for a race or match, to help them to refocus following an error, or to help them to relax following a high-intensity training session. Based on abdominal breathing and mindful attentional focus, centering is a technique that is easy and quick to teach, and one which can help athletes to feel more in control, as well as revitalised and refreshed. </p>
<p>The best strategy, however, to assist athletes to prepare for a Paralympic campaign is one that cannot be bought or trained. The number of experienced athletes in the team, such as veteran skier Cameron Rahles-Rahbula, who have been, seen and achieved at a number of Paralympic games, is priceless. </p>
<p>Such individuals may provide rookie Paralympians, such as the young Ben Tudhope, with their knowledge and their reassurance. But the most valuable thing that an experienced practitioner such as Rahles-Rahbula can offer the team is his mere presence.</p>
<p><em>This article was co-authored with Caron Jander, a consultant occupational physician affiliated with the Australian Paralympic Swim Team.</em></p>
<p><br>
<em><strong>Related reading: <a href="https://theconversation.com/games-on-preparing-body-and-mind-for-the-winter-paralympics-22744">Games on: preparing body and mind for the Winter Paralympics</a></strong></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/23964/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lisa Martin is affiliated with Swimming Australia and is the psychologist who travels with the Australian Paralympic Swim Team. This article was co-authored with Caron Jander, a consultant occupational physician affiliated with the Australian Paralympic Swim Team.</span></em></p>Whether an athlete is competing at the Olympics or Paralympics, anxiety management is one of the most common psychological issues experienced. Anxiety is an unpleasant emotion with distinctive features…Lisa Martin, Lecturer in Sport Psychology, University of the Sunshine CoastLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/240932014-03-07T14:22:28Z2014-03-07T14:22:28ZRussian confidence dealt a blow by Sochi Paralympics boycotts<p>The founding fathers of the Paralympics must be turning in their graves. The Sochi Paralympics is the latest in a long list of sporting events to be <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/02/british-ministers-boycott-sochi-paralympics-russia-ukraine">marred by politics</a>. The <a href="http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/02/carter-olympic-boycott-1980-103308.html">1980 Olympics</a> in the then USSR are best remembered for boycotts by the United States and 64 other teams in protest against the invasion of Afghanistan; the Moscow Paralympics were <a href="http://www.dw.de/sochi-paralympic-games-highlight-russian-discrimination/a-17479262">moved to the Netherlands</a> because, as a Soviet official put it, “we do not have anyone with impairments here”. </p>
<p>So when the new International Paralympic Committee President, Sir Philip Craven, stated this week – in reference to Russia’s de facto military take-over of the Crimea – that he would “<a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/athletics/international-paralympic-committe-eager-to-leave-global-politics-to-the-politicians-ahead-of-sochi-paralympic-winter-games-9167852.html">leave global politics to the politicians</a>”, this was simply a variant of the tired refrain: “Sport and politics do not mix.” </p>
<p>There are some parallels between the 1980 Olympics and Sochi. David Cameron has <a href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/03/02/uk-ukraine-crisis-britain-paralympics-idUKBREA210L120140302">ordered a boycott</a> of the Paralympics by British Ministers and Prince Edward, patron of the British Paralympic Association, is staying away.</p>
<p>Far from sport not mixing with politics, it would appear that sports mega-events in particular have become increasingly politicised in recent years, with governments of all political hues, based in a wide range of regime types (from advanced capitalist to dictatorship), falling over themselves to play host. The answer as to why this is the case is not as simple as one would imagine: motives range from “showcasing the nation” to “coming-out parties” to “domestic nation-building”. </p>
<p>Trends suggest that states with historical pasts and international images that need burnishing are flocking to host sports mega-events, especially after the spectacular success of Germany’s 2006 FIFA World Cup (in terms of image improvement). There is an inherent danger to this strategy: hosting is a double-edged sword. Intense media scrutiny is simply one of the by-products of hosting and the longed-for recognition may not be quite what was intended. </p>
<p>Since winning the <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/shock-as-qatar-win-vote-for-2022-world-cup-2149429.html">bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup</a>, Qatar has learnt this the hard way by having its <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-24980013">treatment of construction and domestic workers</a> examined closely. This could be a case of accidental democratisation: the decision to award Qatar the event was political, made by an undemocratic and unelected organisation. But it might lead to an improvement in conditions for workers in Qatar.</p>
<p>This kind of outcome does not appear to be the case in Russia. Shortly before the Sochi Games, Russia announced its controversial anti-gay laws; shortly after, it mobilised troops in response to the growing crises in the Ukraine, let off <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/04/ukraine-russia-warning-shots-military">warning shots</a> and provocatively <a href="http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/world-news/missile-is-test-fired-by-russia-amid-crisis-in-crimea.23608270">tested a ballistic missile</a> amid the tension. </p>
<p>The Sochi Winter Olympics and the 2018 FIFA World Cup are more than just showcasing events for Russia. Hosting the most expensive Olympics of all time (including summer events) is part of the growing confidence of a state which sees itself returning to its former glory after two decades of difficult economic and social transition. </p>
<p>Mega-sporting events can be used as a show of strength by the host to the international community; internally they can aid the process of binding the nation’s citizens around a common cause. </p>
<p>Russia appears to be testing the boundaries of global opinion and the Sochi Olympics and Paralympics has ensured everyone is paying attention. In the run up to the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the showcase event of the world’s most popular sport, it is likely that Russia, as a (re-)emerging state, will once again be at the forefront of debates on the changing face of global power.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/24093/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jonathan Grix does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The founding fathers of the Paralympics must be turning in their graves. The Sochi Paralympics is the latest in a long list of sporting events to be marred by politics. The 1980 Olympics in the then USSR…Jonathan Grix, Reader (Associate Professor) in Sport Policy and Politics, University of BirminghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/227442014-03-06T19:38:51Z2014-03-06T19:38:51ZGames on: preparing body and mind for the Winter Paralympics<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/sochi-2014">Winter Olympic Games</a> has finished up in Sochi, but our Paralympic athletes are preparing themselves to compete in two of the six disciplines scheduled at the Winter Paralympic Games. So who are they? And what will they have focused on in the run up to the Games?</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.paralympic.org.au/">Australian team</a> has a total of 11 athletes, including six alpine skiers, two sighted guides and, for the first time, three snowboarders.</p>
<p>The experience level of the alpine skiing component of the squad is strong, with all but one of the athletes having competed previously at a Paralympic Games, and all athletes having won medals over the two most recent World Cup seasons.</p>
<p>Victoria (Tori) Pendergast, Australia’s first female sit-skier, will make her Paralympic debut, while Cameron Rahles-Rahbula has come out of retirement to compete in his fourth Games at 30 years of age. </p>
<p>Rahles-Rahbula, a leg amputee, picked up two bronze medals in the slalom and super-combined events four years ago at the <a href="http://www.paralympic.org/vancouver-2010">Vancouver Games</a>, and will be no doubt be focused on pushing himself to his limits once again in his final Paralympic Games despite an <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/sport/winter-olympics/cameron-rahlesrahbula-will-remain-australian-flagbearer-despite-injury-at-sochi-paralympics-20140306-hvgaz.html">injury yesterday</a> while training on the downhill course.</p>
<p>As the Para-snowboard discipline makes its <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-04/australia-names-winter-paralympics-team-for-sochi/5236974">debut</a> on the Paralympic program in Sochi, so too will Australian snowboarder Ben Tudhope.</p>
<p>Tudhope, who was born with cerebral palsy and partial paralysis of his left side, will become the youngest athlete to compete for Australia at a Winter Paralympic Games when he lines up in the new discipline at just 14 years of age.</p>
<p>As expected, there is a lot that is involved in preparing an athlete for such an event. Of course, there are the endless hours of training that have to be put in to ensure that each of the athletes is fit and ready to perform at their peak – but there is also a long list of other, more obscure, factors that need to be taken into account. </p>
<h2>Common challenges</h2>
<p>Preparation for the Olympics for athletes, whether or not they have a disability, is a huge ordeal. </p>
<p>There is a long list of potential stressors that can have a detrimental impact on athletes’ stress and confidence levels leading up to the event. These include, and are not limited to: </p>
<ul>
<li>the physical and psychological effects of long-haul flights</li>
<li>adjusting to new foods</li>
<li>sharing a room with others for long periods of time</li>
<li>poor sleep quality</li>
<li>abiding by team rules</li>
<li>home-sickness</li>
<li>fatigue and stress that may come with travelling to and from competition venues</li>
<li>always being in the company of others. </li>
</ul>
<h2>Unique challenges</h2>
<p>Athletes with disabilities face all of these same issues when preparing for the Paralympic Games – but they can also be faced with a unique set of physiological and psychological challenges which have the potential to disrupt their preparation. </p>
<p>In order to combat this, it is essential that the medical and sport science support staff are fully familiar with each individual athlete’s inherent disability and related medical conditions. </p>
<p>Further to this, athletes with an intellectual or visual impairment may require additional care and assistance to provide them with the best opportunity to experience a smooth transition into competition. </p>
<p>From a psychological perspective, for some athletes, merely entering a plane or finding their way around the team accommodation or competition venue can be a source of additional stress. </p>
<p>Visually-impaired athletes may require assistance to help them orient to their new environment. When on a long-haul flight, for instance, finding the way to the bathroom facilities and back in a darkened cabin can present them with a challenge that others may not encounter. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43138/original/qyrb2ykb-1393988446.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43138/original/qyrb2ykb-1393988446.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43138/original/qyrb2ykb-1393988446.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43138/original/qyrb2ykb-1393988446.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43138/original/qyrb2ykb-1393988446.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43138/original/qyrb2ykb-1393988446.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43138/original/qyrb2ykb-1393988446.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43138/original/qyrb2ykb-1393988446.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">AIrport crowds don’t help either.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lunchtimemama/110765169/sizes/l/">lunchtimemama/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Due to the increased amount of cognitive effort that can be required, such experiences may impact upon the athlete’s overall stress and/or energy levels, which can impair performance. </p>
<p>Support staff can relieve some of this pressure by checking in with relevant athletes to see if they have any questions, or by simply ensuring that they feel comfortable in their surroundings.</p>
<p>From a physiological perspective, for athletes who are missing limbs and/or wearing prosthetic limbs, good stump care is a key part of the preparation process. </p>
<p>It can help to avoid possible infection and the impact this can have upon performance. The overall aim while travelling, as well as prior to competition, is to not place any unnecessary stress on their stumps. </p>
<p>Athletes are advised to wear compression garments on their stumps to prevent unwanted swelling during long haul flights, particularly if they remove their prosthesis during the flights. </p>
<p>They should also be reminded to try to avoid excessive walking in the days leading up to their event to prevent unnecessary fatigue, as well as the risk of breaking down the protective outer layer of the skin.</p>
<p>The one universal, whatever the discipline, whatever the circumstances of the athlete, is the desire to achieve Paralympic glory – and for us, the desire to see top-level competition.</p>
<p><em>This article was co-authored with Caron Jander, a consultant occupational physician affiliated with the Australian Paralympic Swim Team.</em></p>
<p><em><strong>Related reading: <a href="https://theconversation.com/chill-out-cool-down-athlete-anxiety-at-the-winter-games-23964">Chill out, cool down … athlete anxiety at the Winter Games</a></strong></em></p>
<hr>
<h2>The Australian Sochi 2014 Paralympics team</h2>
<p><strong>Alpine skiing</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.paralympic.org.au/team/jessica-gallagher-0">Jessica Gallagher</a> – Geelong, VIC<br>
<a href="http://www.paralympic.org.au/team/christian-geiger">Christian Geiger</a> (guide for Jessica Gallagher) – Bright, VIC<br>
<a href="http://www.paralympic.org.au/team/mitchell-gourley">Mitchell Gourley</a> – Geelong, VIC<br>
<a href="http://www.paralympic.org.au/team/toby-kane">Toby Kane</a> – South Melbourne, VIC<br>
<a href="http://www.paralympic.org.au/team/victoria-pendergast">Victoria Pendergast</a> – Gosford, NSW<br>
<a href="http://www.paralympic.org.au/team/melissa-perrine">Melissa Perrine</a> – Welby, NSW<br>
<a href="http://www.paralympic.org.au/team/andrew-bor">Andrew Bor</a> (guide for Melissa Perrine) – Tugun, QLD<br>
<a href="http://www.paralympic.org.au/team/cameron-rahles-rahbula">Cameron Rahles-Rahbula</a> – Geelong, VIC</p>
<p><strong>Snowboard cross</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.paralympic.org.au/team/joany-badenhorst-0">Joany Badenhorst</a> – Griffith, NSW<br>
<a href="http://www.paralympic.org.au/team/trent-milton">Trent Milton</a> – Bonny Hills, NSW<br>
<a href="http://www.paralympic.org.au/team/ben-tudhope">Ben Tudhope</a> – Seaforth, NSW<br></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/22744/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lisa Martin is affiliated with Swimming Australia. Lisa is the psychologist who travels with the Australian Paralympic Swim Team.
This article was co-authored with Caron Jander, a consultant occupational physician affiliated with the Australian Paralympic Swim Team.</span></em></p>The Winter Olympic Games has finished up in Sochi, but our Paralympic athletes are preparing themselves to compete in two of the six disciplines scheduled at the Winter Paralympic Games. So who are they…Lisa Martin, Lecturer in Sport Psychology, University of the Sunshine CoastLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/235222014-02-25T00:23:44Z2014-02-25T00:23:44ZSochi’s closing ceremony: the art, the circus and the spectacle<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/42323/original/p8vx3t7y-1393215403.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A nod to the failed opening of the fifth ring in the opening ceremony featured in the closing ceremony ... but the underlying cultural aspects are fascinating.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ifindkarma/12728433773/sizes/l/">ifindkarma/Flickr (cropped)</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Tasked with winding down the over-exuberance of the build-up, Olympics closing ceremonies always have an anti-climactic tone. Terrorists from the Caucasus failed to disrupt the Sochi event, and the most visibly violent outbreak appears to have been the <a href="https://theconversation.com/pussy-riot-members-get-whipped-again-exposing-putins-heavy-hand-23465">Cossack attack</a> on Pussy Riot.</p>
<p>In Sochi to shoot their latest video, <a href="http://pussy-riot.info/blog/2014/2/20/putin-nauchit-tebya-lubi">Putin Will Teach You to Love the Motherland</a>, the women were set upon, sprayed with pepper and horsewhipped by a group of Cossacks, the self-organised militias, providing security around the Olympic site.</p>
<p>Watching <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/video-1084155/Pussy-Riot-whipped-Cossacks.html">one version</a> of the attack, the footage – like the group itself – seems highly ambiguous, in the way that its recording imposes a duration that could almost be staged for the video (where some of it is used). </p>
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<p>It is easy to recall Chris Marker’s analysis of a short extract in the 1957 documentary <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050633/">Letter from Siberia</a> that manages to describe the same footage in three different ways, depending on your ideological point of view.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Letter From Siberia (1957) extract.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>The European view</h2>
<p>The <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0259712/">Konstantin Ernst</a> opening ceremony of the Sochi Winter Olympics featured, among other historical figures, all the “queer” Russians (Gogol, Tchaikovsky, Nijinsky, Diaghilev, Eisenstein), in a nod to Russia’s much criticised anti-gay policy.</p>
<p>By contrast, the closing ceremony, directed by Ernst’s friend, <a href="http://www.danielefinzipasca.com/">Daniele Finzi Pasca</a>, presented a “European view” of Russia as a fantasy children’s playground, devoid of any of the unpleasantness of history. This is seemingly in keeping with Putin’s pronouncements that gay people would not be subjected to harassment at the Olympics as long as they stayed away from children. And to make this truly effective, everyone had to be infantilised – to see reality through the eyes of children.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/42357/original/mw5gd4y5-1393232463.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/42357/original/mw5gd4y5-1393232463.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/42357/original/mw5gd4y5-1393232463.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=755&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42357/original/mw5gd4y5-1393232463.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=755&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42357/original/mw5gd4y5-1393232463.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=755&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42357/original/mw5gd4y5-1393232463.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=949&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42357/original/mw5gd4y5-1393232463.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=949&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42357/original/mw5gd4y5-1393232463.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=949&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Chagall’s ‘I and the Village’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chagall_IandTheVillage.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
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<p>Three children – the opening ceremony’s Lyubov (“love” in Russian), Yuri (after <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/sts1/gagarin_anniversary.html">Gagarin</a>) and Valentina (after <a href="http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/whos_who_level2/tereshkova.html">Tereshkova</a>, the first woman cosmonaut) – wander through an LED forest, a wonderland. A tribute ostensibly to Russian avant-garde masters Malevich, Kandinsky and Chagall mostly focuses on the upside-down houses of (“shtetl modernist”) Chagall’s 1911 painting, “I and the Village”, with a flying boat and wire-working “messengers of light” floating overhead.</p>
<p>Perhaps Malevich’s degree zero painting is registered abstractly in the assumed suprematism of some vague aspiration for “new horizons” and Kandinsky exists somehow in the colour shifts of the LEDs. (I’m trying hard here to enter into the spirit of it.)</p>
<p>A Music chapter features <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006245/bio">Rachmaninov</a>’s 1901 Piano Concerto No 2, and 62 fake pianos circling soloist <a href="http://matsuev.com/">Denis Matsuev</a>, followed by a Theatre chapter “dance-off” between arch-rivals, the Moscow-based Bolshoi Ballet and the St Petersburg-based Mariinsky Company, with Ballet Russes riffs.</p>
<p>Like de Custine (“the European”) who refuses to enter the 20th century in Sokurov’s 2002 film <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0318034/">Russian Ark</a>, Finzi Pasca’s 19th century classical culture fantasy notably doesn’t dwell upon post-revolutionary culture – except in image flashes in the Literature section, where writers labour over desks that rarely contain typewriters. </p>
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">marcus_and_sue/Flickr</span></span>
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<p>Chekhov appears to be the only modernist in this regard, and if you were especially observant you will have seen Pushkin, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Gogol, Turgenev, and then into the 20th century, Chekhov, Mayakovsky, Akhmatova, Tsvetaeva, Brodsky, Bulgakov and Solzhenitsyn, before they disappear underground.</p>
<h2>The circus</h2>
<p>It seems completely fitting that the Russian culture section concludes with the circus. A tent is hastily erected on stage – and in fact the whole games have been an enormous circus that has been erected in haste but now remains a lasting monument to Putin, and the revival of tourism on the Black Sea, in the very city where Stalin had his dacha.</p>
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<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcusandsue/12729151643/sizes/l/">marcus_and_sue/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
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<p>The threat from the immediately neighbouring Caucasus recedes at exactly the moment that, just north-west across the water, the Ukraine appears to have shifted towards the West in the <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/world/ukraine-parliament-removes-yanukovich-who-flees-kiev-in-coup-20140223-hvdia.html">overthrow</a> of President Viktor Yanukovich on the last day of the Sochi Olympics.</p>
<p>All that remains is to hand the flag on to South Korea, where the 23rd Winter Games will be held in 2018. A sage takes the stage, performing on the 12-stringed gayageum a supplication to the gods for a new beginning. </p>
<p>Three singers – the classical singer Sumi Jo, the jazz singer Nah Youn-sun and the ageing K-Pop star Lee Seung-chul – perform versions of the folk song “Arirang”, an alternative “national anthem”, popular since the Korean War, when it was adopted as the official marching song of the US 7th Infantry Division.</p>
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<h2>The bottom line</h2>
<p>Was it all worth it?</p>
<p>The Russian Winter Olympics reportedly cost A$56.8 billion to stage – which is more than the 2013-14 Australian <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-09/new-report-predicts-2410-billion-deficit-blowout/5080820">current budget deficit</a>.</p>
<p>Russia’s booming resources industries (oil and gas) have given them quarter after quarter of huge surpluses since 1998 (a bumper A$44 billion surplus in Q1, 2012 and A$28 billion in Q1, 2013; its Q3, 2013 surplus – a mere A$701 million – was, as a <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-31/russian-posts-smallest-current-account-surplus-since-1998.html">Bloomberg report</a> notes, its smallest surplus since 1998!</p>
<p>I’m still trying to figure out why exactly it is that after the largest resources boom in Australian history, we still have deficits, rather than surpluses. Is it really government profligacy, private kleptocracy or a mix of both? Or is just a matter of accounting? Economics is a far greater mystery than Russian culture, a far greater children’s fantasy than Finzi Pasca’s closing ceremony imagines Russia to be.</p>
<p>To bring all this home, Australia didn’t score gold at Sochi. Could this be because all our gold is gone?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/23522/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Helen Grace receives funding from the Hong Kong Research Grants Council.</span></em></p>Tasked with winding down the over-exuberance of the build-up, Olympics closing ceremonies always have an anti-climactic tone. Terrorists from the Caucasus failed to disrupt the Sochi event, and the most…Helen Grace, Associate, Dept of Gender and Cultural Studies & Research Affiliate, Sydney College of the Arts,, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/235192014-02-24T05:53:20Z2014-02-24T05:53:20ZThe curtain drops on Sochi – and Fisht stadium is protest-free<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/42322/original/wshctfbc-1393215396.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C998%2C646&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sochi's bear mascot sheds a tear as the most expensive Winter Olympic Games come to a close.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcusandsue/12728811603/sizes/l/">marcus_and_sue/Flickr (cropped)</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Closing Ceremony for the <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/sochi-2014">2014 Sochi Olympics</a> went off without a hitch last night. Again the theatrical extravaganza was mesmerising and some of the dazzle matched the <a href="https://theconversation.com/looking-through-the-spectacle-olympic-opening-ceremonies-can-rewrite-history-22754">earlier ceremony</a>, but the finale is always a bit different to the Opening moment.</p>
<p>After a fortnight of watching winter sports that many of us will not see again until we tune in for the 2018 Games in South Korea (well, apart from the Winter Paralympics), there is a new intimacy and comfort attached to viewing the closing ceremony that perhaps did not exist with the Opening Ceremony.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">… and a pretty decent fireworks display.</span></figcaption>
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<p>When the Games opened, die-hard national sports fans may have known the names of a good number of the competitors from their own country and a few from other nations, but I imagine that for the majority of television viewers the names of the British curling teams and the top Japanese skiers and skaters were not familiar before we started our viewing fest.</p>
<p>But by day 15, after long nights of watching the screen or greedily scanning summaries of a previous day’s highlights every morning, we know the ins and outs of the sports and the athletes who took part. More than this in the media coverage of the games viewers are encouraged to “feel” with and for the athletes. Performances are presented in terms of four years of hard work and hope, and then either triumph or tears. </p>
<p>So, as Australians we get the back story on Lydia Lassila as a person and are with her every step of the way as she attempts to win gold with a <a href="http://www.3news.co.nz/Lassila-lands-quad-twisting-triple-somersault/tabid/415/articleID/332036/Default.aspx">quadruple–twisting triple somersault</a>.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Here she is nailing a triple-twisting triple somersault.</span></figcaption>
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<p>So when the athletes flood into the stadium <em>en masse</em> for the Closing Ceremony following the national flag bearers, who no longer lead neatly divided national groups, it fits with the Olympic narrative of one big happy “family”.</p>
<h2>Skating around politics</h2>
<p>Of course there are political moments throughout the Games, but these tend to be staged as athletic battles between national competitors. </p>
<p>Sports are combat without weapons. This is the type of politics the Olympics encourages. Inside the ring, the half-pipe, or on the slopes “wars” for national supremacy take place. </p>
<p>The hockey matches between the United States and Russia play out long standing <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/15/sports/olympics/cold-war-shifts-from-politics-to-the-ice.html">Cold War antagonisms</a>. Other rivalries based more on proximity (such as the <a href="http://sports.nationalpost.com/2014/02/21/canada-vs-united-states-live-olympics-2014-hockey/">US versus Canada</a>) also take place.</p>
<p>However, this is all contained politics and once the event is over the battle is seen as done. More importantly these condoned political moments are <em>not</em> about individuals or teams challenging the host nation. This is the type of politics the Olympic family does not condone.</p>
<p>In this environment it makes it hard to sustain or think about activist politics – the <a href="https://theconversation.com/mixing-politics-and-play-russian-protests-and-sporting-boycotts-17300">gay rights issues</a> that dominated pre-games media, drifted away. </p>
<p>The small, though important, moments of resistance or protest that took place around the different venues are swamped by the millions of dollars spent on producing these closing scenes of beauty – circuses, ballets, pianos. In this environment the political is reduced to a short phrase from the International Olympic Committee (<a href="http://www.olympic.org/">IOC</a>) president <a href="http://www.olympic.org/about-ioc-institution?tab=presidents">Thomas Bach</a> about “peace, tolerance and respect”.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">A slideshow of moments from the Closing Ceremony.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>A happy ending</h2>
<p>As with most Olympics the power of the story of the propensity of sport to overcome differences, the narrative about the indomitable spirit of the individual, or sentimental pieces about comebacks come to be what we see and hear.</p>
<p>The Closing Ceremony is the distillation of this approach. It would be hard to be an individual athlete who chose to make a stand. The surveillance of athletes by chaperones, and the rhetoric of good behaviour and making your country proud would be overwhelming.</p>
<p>And for most people the experience they have had at Sochi is one of camaraderie, of helpful volunteers, and friendly locals. As the local dogs were <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/olympics/sochi-plans-mass-killing-stray-dogs-olympics-article-1.1600417">swept off the streets</a>, so were the protests and messy moments. This was best demonstrated by the members of Pussy Riot whose <a href="https://theconversation.com/pussy-riot-members-get-whipped-again-exposing-putins-heavy-hand-23465">whipping by local guards</a> was quickly replaced with news about gold medals. </p>
<p>The same thing happened in Sydney in 2000 when the turbulent weeks leading up to the Games and “<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/16/sports/sydney-2000-protests-anger-doesn-t-catch-on.html">fears</a>” of Indigenous protests were replaced with delirious crowds and protest spaces well away from the action.</p>
<p>I imagine it will be the same for South Korea in 2018. Many locals will use the time leading up to the Games, when the “eyes of the world” are upon them, to get leverage around issues of contention. </p>
<p>Other nations can use boycott or more <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/sochi/2014/02/07/winter-games-putin-obama-boitano-gay-propaganda/5275387/">subtle means</a> to send messages to other nations. But the power of the IOC in combination with the local/national government means that unsettling the 15 days will again be hard work.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/23519/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Catriona Elder receives funding from the ARC.</span></em></p>The Closing Ceremony for the 2014 Sochi Olympics went off without a hitch last night. Again the theatrical extravaganza was mesmerising and some of the dazzle matched the earlier ceremony, but the finale…Catriona Elder, Visiting Professor in Australian Studies University of Tokyo, Associate Professor in Sociology, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/228202014-02-23T19:33:51Z2014-02-23T19:33:51ZEveryone’s a winner with new events at the Winter Games<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/42161/original/xnjpjxnn-1392959057.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In April 2011, men's and women's ski halfpipe events were approved to be included in the Sochi Winter Games.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/couloir/4536752346/sizes/l/">couloir/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/sochi-2014">Sochi Winter Games</a> have now come to a close, it is possible to reflect on the unprecedented addition of <a href="http://olympic.org/news/what-s-new-for-sochi/218742">12 new winter sports events</a> to the program.</p>
<p>These new events – all of which have been added to existing Winter Olympic disciplines – can be grouped into three classifications: mixed, men’s and women’s events:</p>
<ul>
<li>there are three new mixed events: biathlon mixed relay, figure skating mixed team event and a luge team mixed relay</li>
<li>four men’s events were added: ski halfpipe, ski slopestyle, snowboard slopestyle and snowboard parallel slalom</li>
<li>there were also women’s events in each of those four and the addition of women’s ski jumping (which was almost added to the 2010 Vancouver Games), giving women five totally new events on their own.</li>
</ul>
<h2>The demise of demo sports</h2>
<p>Not that long ago adding new sports was a different and somewhat drawn out process. In most cases, they had to be “demonstration sports” first and if popular, they would then be assessed by the International Olympic Committee (<a href="http://www.olympic.org/">IOC</a>) and possibly upgraded to a permanent fixture.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.vu.edu.au/contact-us/rob-hess">Rob Hess</a> at Victoria University and <a href="http://www.latrobe.edu.au/health/about/staff/profile?uname=RWinterton">Rachel Winterton</a> at La Trobe University documented the topic of demo sports in a new book <a href="http://www.wallawallapress.com/on_the_periphery.php">On the Periphery: New Perspective on the Olympic Movement</a>.</p>
<p>Besides looking at the history of demo sports, these researchers outlined how the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne had baseball and Aussie Rules as demo sports, but as we know, the Australian game never made it in the Olympics.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fG_nfFZWtVw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">And let’s not forget ‘ski ballet’ demonstrated in 1988 in Calgary and again in 1992 in Albertville.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This process is now outdated and sports are sometimes dropped or added to the Winter and Summer Games as deemed appropriate by the IOC, which is influenced by sport federation lobbying, television “friendliness”, the public appeal of events and political and social factors.</p>
<h2>More medals, please</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/42150/original/smy33c4w-1392956301.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/42150/original/smy33c4w-1392956301.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/42150/original/smy33c4w-1392956301.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=768&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42150/original/smy33c4w-1392956301.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=768&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42150/original/smy33c4w-1392956301.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=768&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42150/original/smy33c4w-1392956301.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=965&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42150/original/smy33c4w-1392956301.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=965&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42150/original/smy33c4w-1392956301.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=965&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">At Sochi, Carina Vogt from Germany won the first ever gold medal for women’s ski jumping.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Carina_Vogt_2013.JPG">Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At the first Winter Games in 1924, there were only 16 events and 49 medals awarded. By the time the 1988 Calgary Games rolled around, it had grown to 138 medals, and the 2014 Sochi Games had 2,800 athletes competing in 15 sports, comprising 98 events and awarding 294 medals. </p>
<p>This rapid growth, most of which has come in the past 30 years, led Eric Chemi in a recent Bloomsberg Businessweek <a href="http://www.businessweek.comprinter/articles/184447%5D(http://www.businessweek.comprinter/articles/184447)%20to%20refer%20to%20this%20as%20%22medal%20inflation%22%20characterised%20by%20(obviously">article</a> a lot more medals on offer, with more countries winning medals (<a href="http://sochi2014.olympics.com.au/schedule/results/schedule-and-results/medal-tally">26 in Sochi</a>) and the average take-home per country growing to ten.</p>
<p>The total number of Winter Games medals is expected to exceed 300 very soon. In comparison to the Summer Games, which in London had 10,800 athletes competing in 26 sports (302 events) for 962 medals, there is still a large discrepancy – but the gap is closing quickly. </p>
<p>Essentially, there are four reasons for the Winter Games’ growth spurt.</p>
<h2>1. The new Olympic cycle</h2>
<p>When the IOC made its decision to put the Winter and Summer Games on off-setting schedules, going in even years starting in 1992 in Lillehammer, it was a major boost for winter sports. </p>
<p>Not having to share the same year, being able to attract more sponsorship and gaining expanded television coverage were all outcomes of the schedule change and the Winter Games have never looked back.</p>
<h2>2. Gender balance</h2>
<p>The history of the Modern Olympics has been one reflecting changes in our society over the past 75 years, and a good example is in the area of gender balance and an overall fairer shake for women. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/42156/original/9m2w8y7t-1392957598.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/42156/original/9m2w8y7t-1392957598.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/42156/original/9m2w8y7t-1392957598.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42156/original/9m2w8y7t-1392957598.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42156/original/9m2w8y7t-1392957598.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42156/original/9m2w8y7t-1392957598.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42156/original/9m2w8y7t-1392957598.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42156/original/9m2w8y7t-1392957598.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Torah Bright won silver for Australia in the snowboard halfpipe.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/andymiah/12515132943/sizes/l/">Andy Miah/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Women’s events (and now more mixed events) are getting us closer to a state of equilibrium. While slow to initially react in the 20th century, the IOC has been pressured to keep up with the times, and the number of female athletes in the Games has grown dramatically. </p>
<p>In Sochi, the 60-strong Australian Winter Games team was our largest ever and comprised 31 females and 29 males. Of the 12 medals we’ve won in the Winter Games to date, women have won seven (three gold) with five (one gold) to the men.</p>
<h2>3. Television appeal</h2>
<p>Many of the new winter sports events have very obviously been added due to their television appeal. And if there are more events of interest to viewers, advertising revenue goes up and the Winter Games get an increasingly higher profile. In the case of figure skating – always one of the premier winter sports – the addition of a team event was a no brainer. </p>
<p>Likewise, a host of new freestyle and snowboarding events – many of which resemble roller derby on ice – have added a new excitement element due to their “extreme” status, the luck factor and their unpredictability. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, Alex “Chumpy” Pullin’s <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/feb/19/sochi-2014-alex-chumpy-pullin-snowboard-cross">disappointing performance</a> in Sochi is a case in point where he was a strong medal favourite going into the event, but hopes were dashed when he crashed.</p>
<h2>4. Pressure from the X Games</h2>
<p>The IOC has also been forced to react due to the recent growth and success of the annual extreme sports event <a href="http://xgames.espn.go.com/">X Games</a> – both the summer and winter versions. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/23nhtctEwUo?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Men’s Ski Slopestyle Final at the X Games, Aspen in January 2014.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many of the new snow events have been added due to this factor as the Olympic movement tries to maintain a connection to the younger generation. </p>
<p>It is also quite refreshing to view the special camaraderie, and, in some cases, an anti-establishment attitude of some of the freestyle and snowboard fraternity who tend to look at their events as an art form where they attach a strong importance to having fun as well as competing.</p>
<p>But not everyone likes these new events. The US Olympic network NBC’s main host for Sochi, Bob Costas, <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2014/jan/08/sports/la-sp-sn-bob-costas-slopestyle-20140108">referred</a> to events such as slopestyle as “Jackass stuff they invented and called Olympic sports”. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ogg4UkvAzrM?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">… and he means it kindest possible sense.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, the well-respected American publication Sports Illustrated devoted significant attention in its Sochi Olympic Preview edition with a major story on the new sports entitled “<a href="http://insidesportsillustrated.com/2014/01/29/amping-up-the-x-factor/">Amping up the X Factor</a>” where it predicted a rosy future for the newest events.</p>
<p>Have the new sports added in Sochi been a success? It is still a bit early to conclusively say yes, but many of the new events have been very popular. Most have been television winners, so it is doubtful that any of these disciplines will be dropped. </p>
<p>If anything, there could be more new events added in time for the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games in South Korea, giving the Winter Games an even higher profile.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/22820/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Baka does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As the Sochi Winter Games have now come to a close, it is possible to reflect on the unprecedented addition of 12 new winter sports events to the program. These new events – all of which have been added…Richard Baka, Senior Lecturer, College of Sport and Exercise Science and member of Institute of Sport, Exercise and Active Living (ISEAL), Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/235552014-02-21T16:47:34Z2014-02-21T16:47:34ZIOC rules at Sochi go too far with ban on black armbands<p>During the Sochi Games, much has been written about “<a href="https://theconversation.com/models-messi-and-wacky-races-the-art-of-ambush-marketing-22622">ambush marketing</a>”, and its applications at, and around, the Olympics. At Sochi2014, there have already been many examples of non-sponsors exploiting the worldwide interest in the Games, from <a href="http://mashable.com/2014/02/10/sochi-audi-ad/">Audi’s</a> (or an Audi fan’s) use of the misfiring rings at the opening ceremony to <a href="http://www.insidethegames.biz/olympics/winter-olympics/2014/1016390-zippo-drop-cheeky-olympic-torch-facebook-campaign-after-accused-of-ambush-marketing">Zippo’s</a> claim to have “saved the Olympics” during the torch relay. </p>
<p>These spontaneous responses to real-time events have demonstrated how the commercial rights associated with the Games are being protected. The official sponsors are paying huge sums of money to be linked with the Olympics; they do not want their association with the “greatest show on earth” to be “ambushed” or devalued, nor to see their own campaigns ridiculed or undermined. To that end, the specialist legislation introduced by states hosting the Olympics (for example, the relevant sections of the <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/12/contents">London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act 2006</a>) is designed to protect the value of the Olympic brand – and therefore, the value of being associated with the Olympic Games. </p>
<p>These associations are, after all, highly lucrative; it was announced last week that <a href="http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/SB-Blogs/On-The-Ground/2014/02/SochiSiteTOPprice.aspx">Samsung</a> is the first of the IOC’s Olympic Partner sponsors to renew their association with the organisation, at a cost of $200m for the eight years from 2016-2024.</p>
<p>These arrangements are necessary because of the IOC’s requirement in Rule 50 of the <a href="http://www.olympic.org/olympic-charter/documents-reports-studies-publications">Olympic Charter</a> that all Olympic venues are “clean” and free from advertising, and that athletes do not endorse non-sponsors’ products during the games period of 30 January to 23 February 2014, under Rule 40. Rule 40 provides that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Except as permitted by the IOC executive board, no competitor, coach, trainer or official who participates in the Olympic Games may allow his person, name, picture or sports performances to be used for advertising purposes during the Olympic Games.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This rule has led to some strange activities, likened to the airbrushing of Soviet propaganda, where some websites of manufacturers of equipment for Olympic athletes have had to resort to “<a href="http://bolle.com.au/athletes/athletes.html">digitally blurring</a>” pictures of athletes for fear of falling foul of these regulations.</p>
<p>What is less well-known is that the prohibition on non-official endorsements extends to preventing any of “demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda … in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas”, and that any athlete breaking Rule 50(3) is subject to disqualification. </p>
<p>Despite the widespread disquiet about Russia’s so-called “anti-gay law”, the threat of disqualification from the Games has ensured that there have been <a href="http://www.rferl.org/content/olympics-athletes-protest-homosexual-russia-sochi/25256287.html">few overt protests</a> and few uses of the pro-LGBT rainbow colours by athletes during competition. Rule 50, however, goes far beyond preventing clearly political statements – and it has had some surprising and bizarre results.</p>
<h2>By the book</h2>
<p>The request from the Ukrainian Olympic Committee that their athletes be allowed to wear <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/19/ioc-bans-ukraine-black-armbands-sochi-olympics">black armbands</a> as a mark of respect to those who have died during the current violence in the country was refused by the IOC. Such a demonstration was always likely to be perceived as overtly political, as it could be used by either side to claim support from the nation’s athletes for their cause.</p>
<p>Unless it could be stated unequivocally that this was a mark of respect for all of the dead from both sides during the <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/russia-trades-blame-with-eu-and-us-over-bloodshed-in-ukraine-as-death-toll-mounts/article16955387/">Olympic Truce</a>, it could be all too easily misinterpreted and misused for political ends back in Ukraine.</p>
<p>But it is not just those killed during political battles that cannot be honoured at the Olympics. It would appear that even athletes who have died whilst trying to reach the Games cannot be publicly mourned by their friends and teammates. <a href="http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/thesochinetwork/heartless-ioc-bans-memorial-sticker-tributes-skier-sarah-111618164.html">Sarah Burke</a> was killed just over two years ago whilst training for the ski half-pipe. She was a pioneer of her sport, and her contemporaries considered her instrumental in ensuring that their discipline was recognised as an Olympic event. </p>
<p>Some of her friends, both within the Canadian team and across the skiing world, would normally wear stickers on their helmets to commemorate Sarah and her role in gaining acceptance for her sport. The IOC, however, regard even this as a breach of Rule 50; the only badges that can be displayed on your body, your kit or your equipment are those of your manufacturer, your National Olympic Committee, and the Games themselves.</p>
<p>Whereas there is a clear (albeit contested) justification for the restrictions placed on ambush marketing, and the IOC does not want their Games to be hijacked by political posturing (except perhaps by the hosts themselves?), forbidding reference to an athlete who would almost undoubtedly have been a medal contender were it not for her tragic death is surely a stretch of Rule 50’s intended remit. </p>
<p>In combination, Rule 50, the terms of the athletes’ participation agreement, and the anti-ambush marketing laws in place at each edition of the Olympic Games amount to a powerful set of restrictions on athletes’ freedom of speech. The IOC has said it will revisit its rules on athlete endorsement in the future; perhaps it should also revisit the restrictions placed on non-commercial endorsement at the same time.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/23555/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>During the Sochi Games, much has been written about “ambush marketing”, and its applications at, and around, the Olympics. At Sochi2014, there have already been many examples of non-sponsors exploiting…Mark James, Professor of Law specialising in sports law and Olympic Law, Northumbria University, NewcastleGuy Osborn, Professor of Law, University of WestminsterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/234652014-02-20T01:14:47Z2014-02-20T01:14:47ZPussy Riot members get whipped, again exposing Putin’s heavy hand<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/42022/original/q37ghwgr-1392858562.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pussy Riot.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons.</span></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/42022/original/q37ghwgr-1392858562.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/42022/original/q37ghwgr-1392858562.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/42022/original/q37ghwgr-1392858562.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42022/original/q37ghwgr-1392858562.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42022/original/q37ghwgr-1392858562.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42022/original/q37ghwgr-1392858562.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42022/original/q37ghwgr-1392858562.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42022/original/q37ghwgr-1392858562.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pussy Riot.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The latest shocking footage from Sochi shows members of the Pussy Riot collective <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivT-I-yxtdY">being whipped</a>, apparently for protesting at the Olympics. The incident occurred yesterday, Wednesday February 19, as they tried to perform under a sign for the Sochi Olympics.</p>
<p>I was going to introduce this disturbing footage by talking about how musicians annoying governments is absolutely <a href="https://theconversation.com/pussy-riot-arrest-at-sochi-reinforces-their-cult-status-23277">nothing new</a>. But, my son’s reaction was more interesting: “Is it a dressing up party?” he asked before toddling off. The point that Pussy Riot make is of course very important, yet the protest itself was anything but threatening to security.</p>
<p>But once again the heavy-handed reaction from Russian security means every news website (including this one) and TV station will be showing this awful footage, and Putin’s reputation for intolerance is once again front and centre on the world stage:</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ivT-I-yxtdY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Disturbing footage from Sochi.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Your reactions are welcome below. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/23465/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
The latest shocking footage from Sochi shows members of the Pussy Riot collective being whipped, apparently for protesting at the Olympics. The incident occurred yesterday, Wednesday February 19, as they…Adrian North, Head of School of Psychology and Speech Pathology, Curtin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/232772014-02-19T05:49:53Z2014-02-19T05:49:53ZPussy Riot arrest at Sochi reinforces their cult status<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/41840/original/427np4pc-1392739690.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The lesser known 'faces' of Pussy Riot.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Igor Mukhin at ru.wikipedia</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It wasn’t long between spells in jail for two members of Russian punk band Pussy Riot. Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26240794">were briefly arrested</a> at the Sochi Olympics, having only been released from a much lengthier term at the end of 2013.</p>
<p>The pair were arrested with two other group members while “just walking around” the city, outside of Putin’s officially sanctioned zone for protests at the Olympics. Cameras immediately swarmed them as they sang “Putin will teach you how to love the motherland.” </p>
<p>It is perhaps ironic that this has occurred at the Olympics because last time Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova were released under Vladimir Putin’s amnesty to prisoners, the pair declaimed the move as a pre-games publicity stunt. So what do these most recent skirmishes with police in Sochi mean in publicity terms? </p>
<p>As of late, these two members have been catapulted to the upper echelon of fame. Every performance and statement associated with the group’s identity, whether publicly authored by them or not, is documented by the papers, posted on Facebook, and chattered about endlessly on Twitter. This is because they are seen to represent the Russian backlash against corruption and repression, and are therefore championed.</p>
<p>Pussy Riot has a variable membership, and one that is also entirely approximate. This only adds fuel to the fire of media speculation. </p>
<p>The stunt that landed Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova in jail two years ago, a “punk prayer” performed by five masked members in Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour on February 21 2012, unmasked the pair, and turned them into overnight celebrities.</p>
<p>And so two years later, on February 6 2014, Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina stepped <a href="http://entertainment.time.com/2014/02/06/pussy-riot-and-madonna-perform-at-brooklyn-amnesty-international-concert/">onstage</a> with Madonna for Amnesty International’s Bringing Human Rights Home concert at the Barclays Center. The duo’s US tour also included spots on Colbert, National Public Radio and press with The Times – all to campaign for prisoner’s rights. They didn’t however, visit actual prisoners.</p>
<p>Members of Pussy Riot actually view this rising celebrity status as potentially harmful to their artistic freedom. And some, including the third arrested member, Yekaterina Samutsevich, have accused Tolokonnikova’s husband, Pyotr Verzilov, of using their name for personal profit. </p>
<p>In an early <a href="http://www.guernicamag.com/interviews/a-rioters-prayer/">interview</a> Samutsevich spoke out against these ownership disputes: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The problem contradicts the idea behind our group. We are against commercialisation, and we don’t want Pussy Riot to become a brand … we are still a group with no commercial goal. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>In publicity around their art, Pussy Riot’s brightly-coloured balaclavas have become an international symbol loaded with contradictory meanings.</p>
<p>For most Western audiences Pussy Riot evokes heroic 20th century tales of Eastern dissidents criticising an oppressive regime. This is perhaps a central reason for the level of publicity they have received. Tolokonnikova herself recently alluded to these older stereotypes in jest, <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/pussy-riot-members-receive-offers-for-movie-like-star-wars-9119507.html">reporting</a> that she has received several offers from Hollywood studios eager to create a feature-length film, and that the movie would be “just like Star Wars”. </p>
<p>But joking aside, there are deep political stakes in the way these women are represented, especially considering that Pussy Riot is very much still an evolving public performance. Members’ discomfort with commodification is understandable, given their views on art, they see profiting from social activism as distorting their message. </p>
<p>The ideas Pussy Riot stand for in the news and in their own words cannot easily be mapped onto a grid depicting state vs society or easily boiled down into a Hollywood ending. The group has provided inspiration for a global outpouring of creativity, much of which speaks to their ostensibly less glamorous roles as public intellectuals.</p>
<p>Anonymity offers powerful leverage. In an <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26067971">open letter</a> posted to Pussy Riot’s blog the day after the Brooklyn concert, six anonymous members put forth an ideological split with Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The mixing of the rebel feminist punk image with the image of institutionalised defenders of prisoners’ rights is harmful for us as a collective … We cover our heads, because we oppose the very idea of using the female face as a trademark for promoting any sort of goods or services.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>On February 11, Tolokonnikova and Alykohina <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/feb/11/nadezhda-tolokonnikova-maria-alyokhina-never-left-pussy-riot">denied</a> the split and called the letter a fake on the basis that “Pussy Riot can be anyone … Pussy Riot can only grow.” </p>
<p>The guise prevents authorities from taking retaliatory actions in response to unmasked members’ human rights campaigning. Both the letter and the reply are part of a media performance that preserves anonymity — the mask — at the centre of Pussy Riot. </p>
<p>The fact remains that on February 18 2014 in the Russian town of Sochi, four members of the group were briefly arrested together, and six were attacked the following day. Two are known, the rest are masked, but all stand together against Putin, even if some think the group should stick more closely to its radical feminist agenda. </p>
<p>There could be eight members of Pussy Riot, or there could be thousands, indeed as many as oppose Putin’s regime. </p>
<p><br></p>
<hr>
<p><br>
<em><strong>AUTHOR UPDATE FEB 20:</strong> Six members of Pussy Riot were whipped by Cossack militia today. The group had started performing 21 miles from the site of the Winter Olympics in Sochi when they were attacked. The scene (see below) could have taken place in the 15th century when Cossack calvary once served the Tsar by enforcing order in an expanding Russian Empire. At Sochi, the guards are functioning as reinforcements for the Krasnodar regional units.</em></p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ivT-I-yxtdY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/23277/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jessica Zychowicz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It wasn’t long between spells in jail for two members of Russian punk band Pussy Riot. Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova were briefly arrested at the Sochi Olympics, having only been released…Jessica Zychowicz, PhD Candidate, University of MichiganLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/233932014-02-19T05:49:17Z2014-02-19T05:49:17ZOlympic Committee must ban lead shot in shooting events<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/41853/original/p5vvk2z8-1392749141.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How many times can lead shot kill?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LeadPlombs_contenu_1_cartouche.jpg">Lamiot</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Despite the environment being, according to the Olympic Charter, the “third dimension of Olympism”, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has yet to act on the enormous tonnage of lead shot scattered around by Olympic clay pigeon shooters. I have personally warned the IOC Executive of this problem repeatedly during the past 20 years, to no avail.</p>
<p>While this doesn’t apply to the Winter and Summer Olympic Games directly, where spent bullets are trapped directly behind the targets, many tonnes of shot accumulate over the years of practice by Olympic hopefuls and contenders from all nations supporting these events. This shot is rarely recovered: it is ingested by wildlife, contaminates soils, and pollutes groundwater. The harmful effects of lead poisoning have been <a href="http://www.iucn.org/about/union/commissions/sustainable_use_and_livelihoods_specialist_group/sulinews/issue_3/sn3_lead/">known for centuries</a>.</p>
<p>There is much documented evidence of lead shot <a href="http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120206100416/http://food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2009/mar/lead">poisoning livestock</a> where shooting fall-out zones extend over agricultural lands. Scientific analyses of the toxic effects of lead exposure on wildlife appear in many respected scientific journals. A recent study revealed banning lead shot in Spain had <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412013002663">reduced cases of lead poisoning by 50%</a>.</p>
<p>Yet there is widespread denial of this problem. Sceptics denigrate the quality of the scientific information. The International Shooting Sports Federation (<a href="https://www.issf-sports.org/">ISSF</a>) which regulates all Olympic shooting contends: “the whole topic of lead and other heavy metals is one where emotion rules and logic does not apply.” Similarly, the European Shooting Confederation (ESC) <a href="http://www.esc-shooting.org/news/read/shotgun_shooting___steel_versus_lead_shots-10/">states</a>: “Several countries have banned or will prohibit the use of lead shots for all purposes, however without any scientifically good reason.”</p>
<p>It is argued, incorrectly, that suitable lead-free ammunition is too expensive and ineffective against clay targets. Regrettably, the effects of lead exposure and toxicity are rarely seen by those who cause it. In papers published last year in the journals AMBIO and Environmental Policy and Law I showed that there are <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs13280-012-0361-7#page-1">no such barriers</a> to the <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23529514">use of steel shot in Olympic shooting</a>, and laid out the steps the IOC could take to address the problem, consistent with its charter obligations.</p>
<p>In fact, it is an awareness of the toxicity of ingested lead shot to wildlife that has led a growing number of jurisdictions in North American, Australia and Europe to require the use of lead-free shot. For example, it has been banned for wetland shooting in the US <a href="http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/lead_poisoning/">since 1991</a>, and in Canada since 1999.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/41983/original/s7x9mf2y-1392837636.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/41983/original/s7x9mf2y-1392837636.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41983/original/s7x9mf2y-1392837636.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41983/original/s7x9mf2y-1392837636.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41983/original/s7x9mf2y-1392837636.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41983/original/s7x9mf2y-1392837636.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41983/original/s7x9mf2y-1392837636.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Discarded lead shot (left) and cartridge casings (right).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Raimon Guitart</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But still clay target shooting evades regulation. This is due to the piecemeal manner in which governments have addressed the issue, and the vociferous opposition from the shooting lobby. Even in the Netherlands and Denmark, countries with total bans on lead shot, Olympic shooters are required to practice and qualify with lead shot cartridges, in specially-designated shooting grounds. Such are the regulations of the ISSF which require lead shot.</p>
<p>But Olympic rules take precedence over national rules for all sanctioned events, including shooting. A decision from the IOC to mandate lead-free shot for all Olympic events and qualifications would be an important precedent and could promote efforts to reduce lead shot use in other sporting events.</p>
<p>No statistics are kept on the number of athletes who engage in Olympic shooting in each nation, nor are records kept of the amount of ammunition used. An Olympic qualifier could easily fire around 1,000 cartridges a week to maintain the proficiency required to be a contender for the medal-winner’s podium. This corresponds to about 1.3 tonnes of lead shot per shooter each year – an enormous quantity of a known neurotoxin deposited worldwide, not to mention the shot still distributed throughout the environment from previous years. Only between four and six pieces of lead shot ingested at once are sufficient to fatally poison a duck, pheasant, or similar bird.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/41854/original/7bdj4v58-1392749554.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/41854/original/7bdj4v58-1392749554.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41854/original/7bdj4v58-1392749554.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41854/original/7bdj4v58-1392749554.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41854/original/7bdj4v58-1392749554.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41854/original/7bdj4v58-1392749554.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41854/original/7bdj4v58-1392749554.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Here the lead shot is collected. But what about the years of shooting practice to get here?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Biathlon-Weltcup_2006_Antholz_1.jpg">Götz A. Primke</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In North America and Europe, the number of people engaged in Olympic trap and skeet shooting is small compared to the total number engaged in the World Championships, European Championships, National Championships, local events, and recreational practice shooting. All of these activities use lead shot, and regardless of the event’s level, lead shot is still released into the environment. It is not ammunition manufacturers that are the main source of this impasse – they have already developed and marketed internationally approved lead-free substitutes. It is the sporting organisations that have resisted change, hence my calls to the IOC.</p>
<p>International campaigns have been successful in banning lead from petrol, paints, solders, glass, glazes, and other products for good reason – its effects on health are well known. Then why has lead ammunition resisted regulation for so long? Society demanded prompt changes when human health was at risk, but seems less concerned when it is wildlife health at stake. But we know that lead shot used in hunting does enter the <a href="http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/get_the_lead_out/">human food chain</a>.</p>
<p>Simply put, the toxicity of lead shot is a problem wherever it is used and for whatever purpose. The IOC should live up to its environmental and humanitarian founding charter and ban lead shot from its events, firing a shot that would reverberate throughout the shooting world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/23393/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vernon Thomas does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Despite the environment being, according to the Olympic Charter, the “third dimension of Olympism”, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has yet to act on the enormous tonnage of lead shot scattered…Vernon Thomas, Professor Emeritus, Department of Integrative Biology, University of GuelphLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/230402014-02-18T14:27:26Z2014-02-18T14:27:26ZFashion at Sochi: who wears it best?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/41812/original/6t76wnk9-1392719711.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Jazzy trousers.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wong Maye-E/AP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>So, your country is one of 88 participating in the Winter Olympics in Sochi 2014. How do you get noticed? The winter games may not get as much coverage as the those in the summer, so fashion is used as a marketing ploy, blinding us all with patriotic peacocking. It has certainly proved tempting to throw an experimental mix of colours against the backdrop of the snow.</p>
<p>This year we have Mexico’s Alpine skier, Hubertus von Hohenlohe, with his <a href="http://olympictalk.nbcsports.com/2014/01/27/mexican-alpine-skier-going-for-mariachi-olympic-prince-look-in-sochi/">Mariachi inspired body suit</a>. Then there are the zany suits of the Norwegian Curling team which cause them to resemble a troupe of clowns. And the <a href="http://www.thestar.com/sports/sochi2014/figureskating/2014/02/17/fashion_crimes_galore_at_sochi_olympics_in_figure_skating_dimanno.html">figure skating</a> always throws up a few corkers. </p>
<p>The media has abounded with <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/photos/wacky-olympics-fashion-22209560/image-22414206">Sochi fashion faux pas</a> stories. The many bizarre fashion statements we’ve seen over the past couple of weeks could make the games the worst–dressed sports event in history. </p>
<p>Although not quite as blatant as <a href="http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/15974/1/anti-thatcher-moments">Katharine Hamnett’s political T-shirts</a> of the 1980s, Germany is in a burst of sunshine colours. With the addition of a whistle, they would fit it pretty well at any gay pride rally. This has attracted its <a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/german-olympic-uniform-for-sochi-seen-as-pro-gay-protest-a-925756.html">fair bit of commentary</a>, adding a flair to the stories that surround the Sochi games about Russian corruption and anti-gay laws.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/41814/original/fx9tx3tc-1392721162.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/41814/original/fx9tx3tc-1392721162.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41814/original/fx9tx3tc-1392721162.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41814/original/fx9tx3tc-1392721162.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41814/original/fx9tx3tc-1392721162.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41814/original/fx9tx3tc-1392721162.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41814/original/fx9tx3tc-1392721162.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Colour proud.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">David Davies/PA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Of course, designing the official uniform comes with various considerations. National pride and how best to represent your country are of course central here, but maintaining this is often difficult when you go to major brands for your designs, who also want to promote themselves. Maximising the opportunity for official merchandise sales is also a factor. </p>
<p>The responsibility of achieving all these things has been given to home grown designers. And in many cases, they have come up with some pretty special results. </p>
<p>Some have chosen to ramp up their design handwriting, for example Ralph Lauren’s chunky intarsia knit of red, white and blue emblems <a href="http://teamusa.ralphlauren.com/">for the USA</a>. Others have chosen to remain sedate – erring on the side of boring – like Armani, with Italy’s <a href="http://www.fashiontimes.com/articles/1277/20131031/giorgio-armani-unveiled-sports-kit-2014-sochi-winter-olympics-photo.htm">all-in-blue outfits</a>. Although I guess they have some hint of the Italian flag (in the seams), unlike their <a href="http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/article/TMG9258090/Giorgio-Armani-unveils-the-Italian-Olympic-Games-2012-kit.html">2012 Olympics designs</a>. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.fashionmagazine.com/society/2014/01/22/sochi-2014-uniforms/">Lacoste</a> have ensured brand prominence with their oversized alligator look. Some countries, perhaps trying to play it safe, have gone slightly off piste – Ireland’s mushy pea-like green on green on green is one unfortunate example of this. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/41816/original/nct67t34-1392722511.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/41816/original/nct67t34-1392722511.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41816/original/nct67t34-1392722511.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41816/original/nct67t34-1392722511.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41816/original/nct67t34-1392722511.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41816/original/nct67t34-1392722511.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41816/original/nct67t34-1392722511.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Green on green on green …</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">David Davies/PA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But the best of the bunch, I think, is <a href="http://in.finance.yahoo.com/photos/humpback-whales-at-the-uramba-bahia-malaga-natural-park-slideshow/sweden-39-athletes-march-during-athletes-39-parade-photo-183253607.html">Sweden, designed by H&M</a>. They have managed to tick all the boxes, both using the flag colours effectively and designing something somewhat stylish – I wouldn’t say no to their asymmetric zip coat, or the leggings. </p>
<p>If I think of Sochi as one big fashion mall, I would buy the <a href="http://azh.kz/en/news/view/3162">Kazakhstani embroidered boots</a> worn by their flag bearer, the Swedish leggings, and the <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/lookit/2014/2/7/5390140/tonga-winter-olympics-outfits-photo">jacket from Tonga</a> for its ridiculous print. Oh, and I like the look of the <a href="http://www.ulsterweavers.com/teamgb-apparel/index.cfm/product/1951/ck/384/team-gb-winter-hat-womens-%20**pre-order**.html">Team GB’s winter hats</a>. After all, as we have seen, style at Sochi has no rules.</p>
<p>This is probably apt, as it is mainly an opportunity for the real sportswear brands to show their worth. Performance is really what is key here. The specialist functional needs for each game would have been analysed in depth, the garments extensively tested for safety, strength, support and protection. </p>
<p>This is where good design truly comes in to play. In the speed sports such as the luge and speed skating team colours and prints take on a more serious look, with limited room for embellishment: no fur trims here. And seam strengths are really put to the test. </p>
<p>Input from the competing Olympian here rarely goes beyond the functional needs. Unless of course you are a Prince – enter again Mexico’s solo Olympic athlete, who worked with Kappa to see his personality expressed through his attire.</p>
<p>The outlandish fashion of these Olympics has added a bit of spice and flair to the proceedings. And it’s apt that we see this flaunted at an event that, compared to the summer Olympics, is seen as a little bit of a joke. </p>
<p>But I will be certainly be testing my H&M Swedish team leggings, feeling empowered to “Go Gold”, as the label tells me, whilst walking along the corridors of London College of Fashion.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/23040/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Claudine Rousseau does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>So, your country is one of 88 participating in the Winter Olympics in Sochi 2014. How do you get noticed? The winter games may not get as much coverage as the those in the summer, so fashion is used as…Claudine Rousseau, Course Director, Fashion Sportswear, University of the Arts LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/231442014-02-18T14:07:50Z2014-02-18T14:07:50ZLutz or flutz? The tricky physics of figure skating<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/41693/original/htjpym8t-1392631843.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How do they do it?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">David Davies/PA Archive</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Figure skating is always the highlight of the Winter Olympics. With the introduction of a team competition this year, there are five figure skating events. And we’ve already seen much drama with records broken and the retirement of veteran showman Evgeni Plushenko. He <a href="http://www.thestar.com/sports/sochi2014/figureskating/2014/02/13/russian_figure_skater_plushenko_bows_out_of_sochi_with_melodrama_dimanno.html">pulled out</a> after badly landing a triple Axel – one of the sport’s signature jumps. </p>
<p>Spectators often take the grace and beauty of figure skating for granted. But many don’t realise the speed, power and strength needed to complete the jumps and spins. Gliding across the ice and then springing into the air to rotate three or four times before landing lightly on a single tiny blade and gliding off again is an exact science. There are many types of jumps and each jump may be done in combination with another, but two fan favourites are the Axel and Lutz.</p>
<h2>The Axel</h2>
<p>This is my favourite jump. The Axel is the only jump where the skater faces forward as they take off the ice. They start by gliding backward, but then step forward and jump into the air, driving forward and upward with their arms and leg. It is a powerful jump where athletes gain great heights.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/41576/original/dd6njcz2-1392380254.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/41576/original/dd6njcz2-1392380254.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=177&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41576/original/dd6njcz2-1392380254.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=177&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41576/original/dd6njcz2-1392380254.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=177&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41576/original/dd6njcz2-1392380254.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=222&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41576/original/dd6njcz2-1392380254.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=222&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41576/original/dd6njcz2-1392380254.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=222&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The axel jump.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Axel_Paulsen_jump_without_text.svg#filelinks">ErikHK</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Because they are facing forward at take-off, the skaters have an extra half revolution to do before they land (all figure skating jumps land backward). So a triple Axel is really three and a half revolutions in the air. To turn so many times it is critical that skaters pull their arms and legs into a tight pencil like position. Crossing their ankles, pressing their legs tightly together and holding their elbows and hands tight against their chest, this minimises the resistance they create with the air. </p>
<p>The tighter a skater is, the faster they can rotate. If an arm or foot is sticking out, the mass of the arm or foot is too far from their axis of rotation and slows down the spin. Easy in principle, in reality they have to fight to keep their arms and legs in tight. Skaters must use their muscles to create centripetal force, which pulls objects towards the axis of rotation, keeping them on a circular path. If they relax, their arms and feet will want to keep moving straight and will get flung outward.</p>
<p>Men tend to perform triple Axels, women normally doubles. But look out for a triple Axel from Japan’s <a href="http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2014/02/14/2014021401885.html">Mao Asada</a>. She was the first woman to land a triple Axel in competition and plans to nail it again this year in pursuit of gold in the women’s free program.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">David Jenkins does a triple Axel for the cameras in 1957.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The Lutz</h2>
<p>You will see triple and quadruple Lutzes. A feature of the Lutz that makes it challenging from a scientific standpoint is the entry. Skaters must do a long backward glide on the outside edge of one foot as they approach the jump, causing them to arc clockwise if they are on their left foot and anticlockwise if they are on their right. Then, they reach back with the other foot, tap the toe-pick into the ice and vault off it, turning in the opposite direction to the arc in the air. </p>
<p>This initial “counter rotation” helps skaters gain angular momentum for the jump. This is the rotational momentum of the skater about their axis of rotation – the imaginary line that runs up and down the centre of the body, which skaters spin around while in the air. Skaters get angular momentum from a twisting push off the ice as they rotate their body and arms when they jump. </p>
<p>In a Lutz, the counter rotation can increase the range of motion the skater turns through helping create more angular momentum for the jump. While this sounds advantageous, there is the added difficulty of staying on the outside edge as they start the counterclockwise rotation. A common problem is a “flutz”. If the skater falls or rolls onto the inside edge, it is not a true Lutz and points will be deducted.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">A quadruple Lutz.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As you watch the games, listen to the announcers and see if you can identify the Axel and Lutz. Look for the arm and leg drive in forward take-off Axel that helps create power and jump height. Look for the long backward glide of the Lutz and the skater using the arms and rotation of the body to create angular momentum and rotation speed while staying on the outside edge leaning away from the rotation of the jump.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/23144/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Deborah King has received funding from United State Figure Skating and the United States Olympic Committee.</span></em></p>Figure skating is always the highlight of the Winter Olympics. With the introduction of a team competition this year, there are five figure skating events. And we’ve already seen much drama with records…Deborah King, Associate Professor, Department of Exercise and Sport Sciences , Ithaca CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/228332014-02-17T02:00:18Z2014-02-17T02:00:18ZSochi on screen: how Russia is being sold to Russians<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/41513/original/ssy295r8-1392339008.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sochi as a media spectacle has epitomised Vladimir Putin's aspirations for his Russia.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Yuri Kochetkov</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>All modern Olympics employ directors who stage-manage the huge spectacle of the Games – and <a href="http://theconversation.com/au/sochi-2014">Sochi 2014</a> is no different. So what does this stage management tell us, internationally, and what is it intended to communicate to a Russian domestic audience?</p>
<p>The popular Russian commentator <a href="http://m.famousfix.com/p6100177/victor-shenderovich/">Victor Shenderovich</a> astutely <a href="http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/united-russia-slams-ekho-moskvy-over-blog-post/494302.html">observed</a> that the Sochi Olympics and other events in “the incessant hysterical line of patriotic festivals accompanying Putin’s illegitimate rule” resembled the 1936 Berlin Olympics – famously documented by <a href="http://www.leni-riefenstahl.de/eng/bio.html">Leni Riefenstahl</a> in her film <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xmgsxk_olympia-part-one-festival-of-the-nations-by-leni-riefenstahl-1936-berlin-olympic-games_shortfilms">Olympia</a> – because they were intended to legitimise what he sees as the regime’s crimes. </p>
<p>Shenderovich was <a href="http://english.pravda.ru/russia/politics/11-02-2014/126812-russian_journalist_olympic-0/">instantly labelled</a> a “fascist” – but the ideas underlying his observation deserve some consideration. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/looking-through-the-spectacle-olympic-opening-ceremonies-can-rewrite-history-22754">Sochi Opening Ceremony</a> – was masterminded by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0259712/">Konstantin Ernst</a>, Russia’s most powerful producer and head of Channel One, Russia’s largest state-controlled television network. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">A section from Olympia, by Leni Riefenstahl, 1938.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The opening was at once predictably spectacular in presenting Russia’s aspirational symbolic understanding of its own history – but also surprisingly (perhaps for Putin) <a href="http://www.trendolizer.com/2014/02/tatu-sochi-live-2014-winter-olympics-opening-ceremony.html">a little camp</a>, with noughties girl band TaTu – Russia’s world-famous “<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/02/06/tatu-fake-lesbians-sochi-olympics-2014-opening-ceremony_n_4740796.html">fake lesbians</a>” – among the performers. </p>
<p>Simultaneously and without contradiction it presented a celebration of Russia’s classical and at times surreal cultural heritage. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The lavish Sochi opening ceremony.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The New Yorker has described <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2014/02/the-man-behind-the-opening-ceremony-for-the-sochi-games.html#entry-more">Ernst is the chief visual stylist of the Putin era</a>. A professional pragmatist, he has established the myth of the era, its visual style, attitude and most importantly its nuanced emotional life that blends sentimentality and nostalgia with a sense of mystical power.</p>
<h2>Olympian spectacles</h2>
<p>The current Winter Olympics are a far cry from the <a href="http://www.olympic.org/moscow-1980-summer-olympics">1980 Moscow Summer Games</a> in terms of spectacle and readying the audience in advance. </p>
<p>In 1980 the focus was on TV informational programming, documentaries, kids animation and, of course, the famous <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1123628/3/index.htm">card stunt</a> that was used for the first time at an opening ceremony. </p>
<p>Paradoxically, it was also the first time a mascot was used at a sporting event that then went on to gain a life of its own and enormous commercial success. <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jAZcr0qs7f8/UBF_McXTLuI/AAAAAAAAImY/ikEQm1UMtFc/s1600/Mishka1980.jpg">Mishka</a>, the Russian bear mascot, appeared at the opening and closing ceremonies, in the guise of numerous merchandising products (I still have mine) and as a character in the Olympics episode of the much loved Russian animation, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgiqLmzCk0g">Nu Pogodi!</a> (Just you Wait!).</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Moscow 1980, complete with Mishka.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The opening ceremony integrated a childlike vision of Olympic history with Soviet cosmonauts, Greek chariots and Russian troikas, high formality with an elaborate dance suite celebrating the Friendship of all Peoples (or at least the 15 Soviet Republics) but performed to the Russian folk song <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XxK2JJisEc">Kalinka</a> and then Widespread is my Motherland, made famous in Alexandrov’s mass spectacle Stalin-era blockbuster musical, <a href="http://www.academia.edu/6081905/Stalinist_Musicals">Circus</a> (1936). </p>
<p>The vision from Moscow in 1980 was all about soft, cuddly power, not a spectacle of a mature, sentimental and at times surreal empire that we are seeing in Sochi.</p>
<p>The Sochi opening ceremony was a summary of the Putin era: new media and classicism stuck together with pathos to celebrate a robust sense of nationalism, pride and a symbolic resurrection of Empire. Let’s not forget that Ernst developed Russia’s first major blockbuster, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0403358/?ref_=nm_ov_bio_lk1">Night Watch</a> (2004), a brilliant action thriller about vampires and mystical forces that were fighting for the soul and salvation of Russia.</p>
<h2>Russian athleticism on screen</h2>
<p>In contrast to Moscow 1980, there has been a spate of films preparing Russian audiences for the appropriate emotional response to the Sochi Olympics. It’s not about the medals and the victories – but the passionate relationship of the athlete to their community and country. </p>
<p>There Are Only Girls in Sport, released on February 6, is just one of those films, about the Russian women’s snowboard team. Three long-haired 18-year-olds get away from a chase by riding snowboards down a professional track. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">There Are only Girls in Sport.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Their skills are noticed by the women’s Olympic coach who invites the girls to join her team. Problem is that they are not girls and a whole range of unexpected adventures ensues especially with the American women’s snowboarders.</p>
<p>Last year’s top-grossing film, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2182001/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_1">Legend No. 17</a> primed audiences to focus not only on the sporting heroes and medals, but on the human element of their rise to the top and their emotional and family life in the context of international sporting success. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2182001/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_1">Legend No. 17</a> was a powerful, heartbreaking tale of the rise of Russia’s greatest ice-hockey player – <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/columns/story?id=2213576">Valeri Kharlamov</a> – to lead an unfancied Russian amateur team against the might of Canada’s professionals and win against the odds. Much more than a sport film, this was a potent biopic that showed the power tussles in the sporting bureaucracy and how that played out on real people with a few historical revisions thrown in to ensure maximum emotional response.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Legend No.17 trailer.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Riefenstahl’s elegant but disturbing <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030522/?ref_=fn_al_tt_4">Olympia</a> (1938) has nothing on the Sochi Olympics. They are the culmination of the complex cinema, television and mythology of the ongoing Putin era, an era that is remarkable in its blending of melodrama, sentimentality and sense of a mystical Empire.</p>
<h2>The view from the outside</h2>
<p>The Western media’s coverage of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics has been – on the whole – negative, with journalists taking every opportunity to grumble about their living conditions and ridicule the Russians over minor preparation details. </p>
<p>And the <a href="http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/537829/20140208/canada-lgbt-sochi-winter-olympics-luge-gay.htm#.UvogRvmSy7w">criticisms</a> levelled at Russia over its treatment of gay and lesbian people have – of course – been aired internationally. </p>
<p>But Russian media’s representation of the Games has been remarkably consistent – drawing on the tried and tested bread and circuses formulae but with a nice mix of traditional Russian sentimentality, professionalism – and a demonstration of the Empire’s capacity to eliminate any opposition or at least <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/10469999/The-film-Russia-tried-to-block-The-threats-and-corruption-behind-Sochi-Olympics.html">to stifle it</a> with money.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/22833/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Greg Dolgopolov does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>All modern Olympics employ directors who stage-manage the huge spectacle of the Games – and Sochi 2014 is no different. So what does this stage management tell us, internationally, and what is it intended…Greg Dolgopolov, Lecturer in Film, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/227432014-02-16T19:11:43Z2014-02-16T19:11:43ZSwitching sports: Jana Pittman’s psychological hurdles<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/41443/original/wbchccwn-1392263932.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Jana Pittman, an accomplished summer Olympian, will compete in the bobsleigh event this week in Sochi.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Dean Lewins</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Jana Pittman has always been fast on the athletics track, but now she has the opportunity to display not only her speed, but her strength and versatility, when she becomes “the muscle at the back” of a 130kg bobsled in Sochi this week. </p>
<p>Despite looking very much at home in her speed suit, the Australian public would most likely best remember Jana as being a track and field athlete rather than a bobsledder – a transition that not only requires physical power, but psychological strength too.</p>
<p>Jana competed for Australia in the 400m hurdles at the Sydney and Athens Olympic Games in 2000 and 2004 respectively. Many may also remember the emotional rollercoaster that Jana rode coming into the Athens Games after she suffered a knee injury late in her preparation. </p>
<p>This required her to have surgery a week prior to the start of competition, before she was finally being cleared to race. Jana then demonstrated her resilience, a <a href="http://www.sxf.uevora.pt/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Fletcher_2012.pdf">common psychological characteristic</a> of successful athletes, by going forward to achieve her best Olympic result, finishing fifth in the final. </p>
<p>This week, however, the 31-year-old will swap the track for the ice to make sporting history when she represents Australia as a brakewoman in the Women’s Bobsleigh event at the Sanki Sliding Centre. Her race will mark the first time an Australian female athlete has competed at both a Summer and Winter Olympic Games. </p>
<h2>Jana’s achievements</h2>
<p>Before being named in her first Winter Olympics team, Jana already had a long list of career successes to her name. </p>
<p>Many people may not know that, in 2003, Jana became the youngest 400m hurdler in history to win a World Championship, or that she is one of just a handful of elite athletes, including the great Usain Bolt, to have won a World Championship at all levels of her career, including youth, junior and senior events. </p>
<p>More recently, Jana placed seventh in her very first bobsleigh race alongside experienced driver Astrid Radjenovic at the 2012 World Cup in Attenberg, Germany. This remains the best result ever by any Australian crew in the sport to date! </p>
<p>However, even though Jana has achieved more in her young life in the sporting arena than many of us could ever hope to, the negative press she attracted post-Athens in 2004 seemed to cast a shadow over this talented athlete, one which has taken quite some time to lift. </p>
<p>Jana’s psychological resilience was once again tested as she dealt publicly with adversity both <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/news/sport/she-poisoned-our-team-pittman-accuses-rival/2006/02/07/1139074229545.html">related</a> and <a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/jana-pittman-on-track-for-second-divorce-from-chris-rawlinson/story-e6frf7jo-1226039930008">unrelated to sport</a> over the course of a number of years. </p>
<p>However, Jana’s steely determination and inner motivation has seen her bounce back every time. While many others would have been satisfied with fulfilling their dream of being selected in one Olympic team, Jana has been able to regroup, reset her goals and successfully transition from one sport to another. She has then gone on to be successful in securing her third Olympic berth – a truly impressive achievement. </p>
<h2>Jana’s transition</h2>
<p>The transition process, whether it is a transition out of sport (retirement), within a sport (from junior to senior level), or between sports, can be a confusing time for an elite athlete. </p>
<p>In a huge blow, Jana missed both the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympic Games due to a recurrent foot injury, which ultimately led to her retirement from hurdling in 2012. She has been reported as saying that the fear of retiring from elite sport was one of the <a href="http://www.news.com.au/sport/more-sports/jana-pittman-switches-from-athletics-to-bobsleigh-for-a-shot-of-representing-australian-at-the-olympics/story-fndukor0-1226552648389">key drivers</a> for her transition to bobsleigh. </p>
<p>Athlete career transition has been a common topic in the media over the past few years, with many high-profile athletes acknowledging the social and psychological difficulties that they have faced post-retirement from elite sport – the most recent, of course, being Ian Thorpe and his struggles with <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/sport/ian-thorpe-in-rehab-battling-alcohol-abuse-and-depression-20140131-31q45.html">depression and alcohol abuse</a>. </p>
<p>This topic has also attracted <a href="http://www.sxf.uevora.pt/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Fletcher_2012.pdf">considerable attention</a> among sport psychology researchers. One thing that is evident from anecdotal and scientific reports is that career transition can lead to athletes experiencing adjustment difficulties as they attempt to re-evaluate many different areas of life. </p>
<p>Further to this, involuntary retirement – that is, retirement which does not occur by choice or is outside of the control of the athletes (such was the case with Jana sustaining a career-ending injury) – has been found to place athletes at <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10413200.2013.798371">further risk</a> of such issues. </p>
<h2>Getting the balance right</h2>
<p>Despite such risk, Jana has been fortunate in that her transition to retirement turned into a successful transition to a sport which has presented her with new opportunities. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/41439/original/w6dqb9bk-1392263256.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/41439/original/w6dqb9bk-1392263256.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/41439/original/w6dqb9bk-1392263256.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=732&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41439/original/w6dqb9bk-1392263256.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=732&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41439/original/w6dqb9bk-1392263256.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=732&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41439/original/w6dqb9bk-1392263256.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=919&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41439/original/w6dqb9bk-1392263256.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=919&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41439/original/w6dqb9bk-1392263256.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=919&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Jana celebrates winning the 400m hurdles at the World Athletics Championships 2007 in Osaka.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Osaka07_D6A_Jana_Rawlinson_celebrating.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There are certain factors which have been shown to assist athletes to experience a smoother transition. These include, but are not limited to, having a clear post-sport career plan, quality social support and a good balance between sport life and personal life. </p>
<p>In line with this, it would appear that Jana’s world outside of sport has undergone a large amount of change since the last time we saw her on the Olympic stage. Jana now studies medicine full time, with the goal of being an obstetrician, along with juggling her busy Olympic training schedule and being a single mum to her son Cornelius. </p>
<p>Such changes would have certainly shifted Jana’s priorities and, subsequently, her sport-life balance. That is, she would now not only identify herself as being an athlete, but also as being a mum and a student, among other life roles. </p>
<p>As for social support, Jana has credited her parents for providing her with the love, support and assistance that has allowed her to maintain this balance and to continue to strive for sporting success. </p>
<p>Even though her road has not been an easy one, these factors, as well as Jana’s self-belief and psychological resilience, have helped her to both excel in, and endure, the elite sport environment for well over a decade. This is definitely no easy feat.</p>
<p>Best of luck to Jana and all the Australian competitors who are competing in Sochi as they strive for their piece of Olympic glory!</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/22743/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lisa Martin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Jana Pittman has always been fast on the athletics track, but now she has the opportunity to display not only her speed, but her strength and versatility, when she becomes “the muscle at the back” of a…Lisa Martin, Lecturer in Sport Psychology, University of the Sunshine CoastLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.