Olympic controversies have been around for almost as long as the Games themselves. This course looks at some of the protests, scandals and colourful characters (both on and off the field) that have featured in the history of the modern Olympic Games. How did the governing body (the IOC) react to these, did they tarnish the games in the longer term, and what, if anything, has changed as a result?

DELIVERY MODE

• Face-to-Face

SUGGESTED READING

• International Olympic Committee: History of the IOC
• Pound, Richard: Inside the Olympics: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Politics, the Scandals and the Glory of the Games, Wiley, 2006.
• Council on Foreign Relations: Politics and Protest at the Olympics
• The Conversation: The Politics of the Olympics

COURSE OUTLINE

• An overview of the Olympic movement
• The International Olympic Committee: then and now
• Boycotts, exclusions and the games that weren’t.
• Off-field: the IOC and Politics
• Athletes and protests; Disqualifications
• What will this mean for the future

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this course, student should be able to:

1. Identify how the Olympics Games are governed
2. Discover the IOC’s attitude to protests and whether, and to what extent, the IOC’s approach has evolved
3. Know the lessons learned from previous controversies
4. Interpret whether the Olympic movement is politically ‘neutral’
5. Learn about the challenges to the Olympic movement going forward