Olympic and Paralympic Values Dr Dikaia Chatziefstathiou Senior Lecturer [e-mail]

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Olympic and Paralympic Values Dr Dikaia
ChatziefstathiouSenior Lecturerdc130_at_canterbury.
ac.uk
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Aims of this presentation

• to examine the nature of the ideology of Olympism
  in the modern Olympic movement
• to identify the Olympic and Paralympic values
• To explore the ways that those values can be used
  as hooks for community engagement in London 2012

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Modern Olympic Movement

• The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was
  founded in 1894 by Baron Pierre de Coubertin in
  Paris
• The ideology of Olympism has been since then the
  ideological platform against which the Olympic
  Games take place and materialise.

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Coubertin and Olympism

• Olympism is a school of nobility and of moral
  purity as well as of endurance and physical
  energy but only ifhonesty and sportsman-like
  unselfishness are as highly developed as the
  strength of muscles
• (Coubertin, 1931 p. 208)

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Olympism

• Olympism is a philosophy of life, exalting and
  combining in a balanced whole the qualities of
  body, will and mind. Blending sport with culture
  and education, Olympism seeks to create a way of
  life based on the joy of effort, the educational
  value of good example and respect for universal
  fundamental ethical principles.
• (Olympic Charter, 2007 Fundamental Principle 1
  p. 9)

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Olympism (cont.)

• The goal of Olympism is to place sport at the
  service of the harmonious development of man,
  with a view to promoting a peaceful society
  concerned with the preservation of human dignity.
  
• (Olympic Charter 2007, Fundamental Principle 2
  p. 9)

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W.P. Brookes to Coubertin

• The establishment of an International Olympic
  Association has long been a cherished idea of
  mine, so far as making Greece the centre but the
  plan of your congress, embracing as it does, all
  nations, with festivals taking place in or near
  the capitals of all nations joining the movement,
  is a really superb one.
• May 23rd, 1894

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British Olympic Heritage

• The Cotswold Olimpicks of Robert Dover, 1612
• Cambridge University Olympic Games, 1620
• Olympic Games on the banks of the Thames, 1727
• Saxon Olympic Games, 1738
• Olympic Weeks, Baron de Berenger, 1832
• Olympic Festival, Leicester, 1839
• Shropshire Olympian Games, 1859, 1860, 1862, 1890
• Liverpool Olympics Festival, 1862
• Olympic Festival, Manchester, 1864
• National Olympian Games, 1866 (Crystal Palace),
  1867 (Birmingham), 1868 (Wellington), 1874 (Much
  Wenlock), 1877 (Shrewsbury), 1883 (Hadley)
• YMCA Olympic Festival, Liverpool, 1894

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Anglomania

• What lasting undertaking can be founded on the
  basis of fashion?...The only way to ensure any
  relative long-term survival of the athletic
  renaissance then still in its infancy was to
  superimpose the immense prestige of antiquity on
  the passing fad of Anglomania, thereby
  undercutting, to some extent, any opposition from
  the students of classicism, and to impose on the
  world a system whose fame spread beyond all
  national borders.
• (Coubertin 1929 lines 131 - 144)

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The Olympic Ideals

• philosophy of life
• balance/ harmony
• strength/ perseverance
• competitiveness
• participation
• teamwork
• excellence
• body and mind (mens sana in corpore sano)
• friendship, excellence, respect
• youth/ independent active citizens

• peace
• universalism
• internationalism
• understanding
• brotherhood and fraternity
• cosmopolitanism
• environmentalism
• sustainability
• social responsibility

• Different layers
• personal/ individual
• collective
• culture-specific

• multiculturalism/ interculturalism
• pluralism/ diversity

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Britain From Past to Present

• London as a global capital
• From imperialistic and colonial power to a
  pluralist, diverse and multicultural society
• Differing worldviews and epistemologies
• Forum of cultural exchange
• Consensus around the values of Olympism

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Theme 17 Olympism and Culture
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The Olympic and Paralympic Values

• Friendship
• Excellence
• Respect
• Determination
• Courage
• Equality
• Inspiration

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Three main streams of thought

• What do we mean by the term community
  engagement?
• How can the Olympic and Paralympic values be used
  to leverage community engagement, well-being and
  pride in relation to London 2012?

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Communities
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Engagement
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Community engagement

• 'Community engagement' is therefore a planned
  process with the specific purpose of working with
  identified groups of people, whether they are
  connected by geographic location, special
  interest, or affiliation or identify to address
  issues affecting their well-being
• Cavaye 2001

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• The so-called magic dust associated with the
  Games is a once in a life time opportunity for
  councils to use the inspiration of 2012 to help
  achieve existing priorities and make a difference
  locally
• Local Government Association (LGA)

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• it is not necessarily about doing lots of new
  things it is about achieving existing targets
  and priorities and using the Gamesas the magic
  dust to try and actually accelerate the delivery
  of some of those existing priorities
• London Organising Committee (LOCOG)

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Olympic ideals and community well-being

• Olympic ideals as a source of inspiration for
• better health/ lifestyle
• cooperation/ teamwork
• regeneration
• can-do mindset/ achievement
• Of course there are constraints and challenges
• (demonstration and festival effects, SPEAR)

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• HEROES

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• BEST OF US - ALL TOGETHER NOW

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Olympic and Paralympic ValuesDr Dikaia
ChatziefstathiouSenior Lecturerdc130_at_canterbury.
ac.uk