| Current Issues | No.43 January 2005 |
Post-Olympism: historical, social and philosophical aspects Dr. Oleg Milshteyn, Russia |
This paper was presented at the Pre-Olympic Congress in Thessaloniki, Greece, August 6-11, 2004. Olympism – is it a theory, practice or both? There are quite different opinions on this subject in literature. One group of authors considers Olympism as the theory of the Olympic Movement and Olympic Games. Another group supposes that it is theory and practice combining the whole triad of Olympism, Olympic Movement and Olympic Games. While a third group, especially the Olympic Movement Executives, think that Olympism is the practice comprising everything that happens now in the modern Olympic Movement. According to the theory of knowledge, theory and practice are two mutually related issues, and if we consider that Olympism is a theory we should treat it as a unity of scientific ideas, principles and laws. The Olympic Charter defines Olympism as: ‘…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 found in effort, the educational value of good example and respect for universal fundamental ethical principles…’ (Olympic Charter. International Olympic Committee, 2000). As we see, the main characteristic term in this definition is philosophy. There are no other system-making words, terms or definitions provided. The following principle of the Olympic Charter provides further definition of the ‘Olympism’ concept: ‘…The goal of Olympism is to place everywhere sport at the service of the harmonious development of man, with a view to encouraging the establishment of a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity. To this effect, the Olympic Movement engages, alone or in cooperation with other organizations and within the limits of its means, in actions to promote peace…’ (Olympic Charter. International Olympic Committee, 2000) The concept of the Olympic Movement as a practice is entered into by the definition of this basic principle of the Olympic Charter and then followed by more detailed explanation of mutual relations between the Olympic Games, Olympic Movement and Olympism. ‘…The goal of the Olympic Movement is to contribute to building a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport practiced without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, … solidarity and fair play’ (Olympic Charter. International Olympic Committee, 2000). The activity of the Olympic Movement, symbolized by five interlaced rings, is universal and permanent. It covers the five continents. It reaches its peak with the bringing together of athletes of the world at the great sports festival, the Olympic Games…’ (Olympic Charter. International Olympic Committee, 2000) As we see here, the mutual relations between the three components of Olympism, the Olympic Games and the Olympic Movement are underlined. Definitions are given and the Olympic Games, the main system-making factor of this triad, are mentioned. However, it is strange that there is no definition of the main component of this system. Though the rest of the Olympic Charter is dedicated to the details of the Games’ preparation and staging rules, we find no explanation of what the ‘Olympic Games’are. In accordance with the definition of Olympism given in the Olympic Charter, it is first of all the philosophy of the Olympic Movement and Olympic Games. Besides this, it is somewhat of an ideal to be reached in activity and development, that is, a living ideal supported by the Olympic Education Systems in many countries, the principles of fair play and presence of the so-called Olympic spirit among the Olympic Family members, existence of the Olympic Symbols System, the Games’ Cultural Programme, Opening and Closing Ceremonies, etc. In fact, scientific and public literature has always shown a great interest in Olympism and its problems, beginning from the works of Pierre de Coubertin, its founder and the person who revived the modern Olympics in the late 19th Century. As a rule, the Olympic Games are preceded by peaks of interest. For instance, in 1966 Carl Diem Institute of the Cologne Physical Education High School (Germany) issued a bibliography of Coubertin’s basic works from 1886 to 1936. The bibliography included 226 titles. In the following 5 to 6 years, the above institute, now headed by Prof. Karl Lennartz (a well-known scientist among the world’s sports historians, recently elected the new President of the International Society of Olympic Historians), published a number of de Coubertin’s works in English and German. In his works, the founder of the modern Olympics examined different aspects and interpretations of neo-Olympism and Olympism. In 1968 the IOC published an exclusive de Coubertin collection in French, a fundamental work compiled and edited by Prof. Norbert Mueller, an outstanding German historian of the Olympic Games, Olympic Movement and Olympism(see Pierre de Coubertin. Textes Choisis. International Olympique, 1968, Weidman. Vol.I-III.,). A considerable number of publications on Olympism also appeared in the lead up to the Centennial Olympic Congress in Paris, 1994. (see For Humanism of Sport. After a Century of Olympism. French National Olympic Committee, Paris, 1994, 239pp, Lucsas, J.A. Future of the Olympic Games, Chamaign, Illinois, 1992, David Miller. Olympic Revolution. The Olympic Biography of Juan Antonio Samaranch. Pavilion Books Limited, London, 1992, 266pp). In our opinion, the two volumes published as a result of this Congress should be considered as a serious contribution in the matter of solving the problems of Olympism (see Centennial Olympic Congress Report. Congress of Unity. International Olympic Committee, 1994. Vol.I, 425pp, Centennial Olympic Congress. Texts, Summaries or Plans of Papers. International Olympic Committee, 1994. Vol.II, 320pp). However, it should be recognized that above all, these and many other historical, historiographical, philosophical, sociological and pedagogical works on Olympism, there is still a unique volume of Coubertin’s selected works compiled by N. Mueller and published in English by the IOC before the Olympic Games in Sydney, 2000 (see Pierre de Coubertin. Olympism. Selected Writings. Ed Director: Norbert Müller. IOC, Lausanne, 2000, 862pp). Undoubtedly, from historical, social and philosophical aspects which we deal with, the richest historiographic and literature legacy is nearly fifty lectures and works of the International Olympic Academy Sessions, including the ‘Citius, Altius, Fortius’ Bulletin, which is now called the Journal of Olympic History – The Official Publication of International Society of Olympic Historians (ISOH). During the twelve years of ISOH activity, dozens of articles, reviews and references to multiple books, essays, various topical compilations, etc. have been published on the historical problems of the Olympic Games, Olympic Movement and Olympism. This has been made possible thanks to the efforts of the ISOH founders and first editors of ‘Citius, Altius, Fortius’ – Dr. Bill Mallon, ISOH President (2000 – 2004) and author of many fundamental works on the Olympic Games history from 1896 to 1924, as well as his co-author and colleague Mr. Ture Widlund. Recognition should also be made of Mr. Anthony Bijkerk, the, irreplaceable for many years, ISOH Secretary General and journal editor, Mr. Wolf Lyberg, Mr. David Wallechinsky, Prof. Robert K. Barney and others. The contribution toward the development of Olympic history and social philosophy made by Prof. Barney, who not only organized one of the world’s first Scientific Research Centres of Olympism in Canada but also founded the respective scientific school and educated many historians of sport and the Olympic Movement, should also be recognised (see Barney, Robert K./Wenn, Stephen R./Martyn, Scott G. Selling Five Rings: The International Olympic Committee and the Rise of Olympic Commercialism. Salt Lake City, 2002). It is our professional obligation to also note the contributions made by Soviet and Russian sport historians. Most of their works have been written in Russian, so these authors may not be so familiar to the international scientific and sports community, though their value is not less than that of their colleagues abroad. The first attempts of researching Olympism in domestic Russian sport historiography occurred in the mid-1960s and 70s with works by N. N. Bugrov, A. V. Vershinin, G. S. Demeter, A. O. Romanov, P. S. Stepovoy, V. V. Stolbov, Y. A. Talalaev and A. A. Frenkin. M research was concerned with the historical, philosophical and organizational issues of the Olympic Games and Olympic Movement. After World War II, the first work in the USSR which was directly dedicated to Olympism was V. V. Stolbov’s report ‘The Social Essence of the Modern Olympism’ (The 1st USSR Conference on Sociological Problems in Physical Education and Sports, 1966, Leningrad). In the 1980s and 1990s, especially with the beginning of social and economic reforms, the split of the USSR and the further formation of the Confederation of Independant States (CIS) and independent Russia, there was a growth of interest in various aspects, problems and interpretations of Olympism (see the works by B. A. Balayan, A. N. Bugreev, A. G. Egorov, R. N. Kiselev, A. A. Kozlovsky, O. A. Milshteyn, A. B. Ratner, V. S. Rodichenko, M. Y. Saraf, V. I. Stoliarov, A. B. Sunik, Y. M. Chernetsky, Y. N. Yuriev and others). Especially remarkable is the great contribution into the development of historical, social and philosophical aspects of the Olympic Games, Olympic Movement and Olympism by scientists and executives Mr. V. S. Rodichenko, Professor of the Russian State University of Physical Education and Sports and Vice-President of the Russian Olympic Committee for the past 12 years. On his initiative and with his immediate participation, 12 regional Olympic Academies have been founded in Russia since the early 1990s. These Academies are now doing very important work in Olympic education in various regions of Russia. The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), in co-operation with the Russian Ministry of Education, included a specialized course of Olympic education for all 8th form students of Russian secondary schools. Prof. Rodichenko is also the co-author and chief editor of the text-book on this discipline called ‘Your Olympic Text-book’ (14 editions with the total of almost 500000 copies) (Your Olympic text-book. Recommended by the Ministry of common and professional education of Russian Federation as the manual for educational institutes of Russia. Issuing 2, Moscow. "The Soviet sport", 1998, 136 pp (in Russian)). In 1990, he launched the All-Russian Conferences ‘The Olympic Movement and Social Processes’, which are now held annually with the participation of historians, sociologists, philosophers, teachers and psychologists. Along with these scientific conferences, All-Russian Meetings ‘The Practice of Olympic Education’, are held to enable scientists and organizing experts to exchange their experiences in this field. Until now, about 20 publications of this Conferences have been produced. The most recent conference and meeting was held within the framework of the 7th International Congress ‘The Olympic Sport and Sport for All’ (Oleg A. Milshteyn. Post-Olympism: Contest, Problems, Perspectives.-In: VII International Scientific Congress “Modern Olympic Sport and Sport for All”, The Materials, Vol.I, Moscow 2003, p.30 (in Russian)). Every year, the increasing number of publications on Olympic issues attracts a wide range of readers. Inspite of the described works by domestic and foreign authors, as well as many respective references and publications, there are none that concern the matter of Post-Olympism, i.e. the complex of issues, processes, concepts and views which reflect the essence of the changes that have taken place in the Olympic Movement and Olympic Games between the 1970s and 1990s. These changes started before (former IOC President) Samaranch’s “Olympic Revolution” and were conditioned not only by commercialization of international sports and its consequences, but also by such realities as globalization, mediacracy and visible transformation of the world’s political, economical, social, demographic, national and religious structures. In view of the above, we propose the idea of Post-Olympism, its content, problems, interpretation and research methods, i.e. the phenomena which in no way fits in the concept of modern Olympism (Oleg A. Milshteyn. The Olympic Expedition to the 21st Century. International Research Project. In: The Legacy of Olympic Games 1984-2000. International Symposium, Ed. Miquel de Moragas and others, Lausanne, 2002, p.397-399). Moreover, it begins by contradicting the ideas and principles of Olympism, to underline that Olympism, which remains, for most people, a philosophy or an ideal may be a myth or sometimes even an utopia. Also, in the development of the Olympic Movement, we cannot draw a line to clearly separate Olympism from Post-Olympism. They develop through and in parallel to each other at the present historical stage of the social progress. It’s worth saying that, fortunately, we are not alone in our approach. In April 2004, Danish colleagues published ‘Questioning Sport in the Twenty-First Century’. This work, by John Bale and Mitte Krog, highlights that the Olympic Games and Olympic ideals have become symbols of global co-operation, mutual understanding between nations and have connected people by means of sport. It also discusses Olympic rhetoric facing dark sides of the Olympic reality. The Olympic Games are constantly threatened by crises that may seriously damage the Olympic spirit or even the Games themselves. Observing the changes that have taken place in the Olympic Games during the 20th Century, some authors naturally ask themselves the following questions: do the Olympic Games have their future? If they do, what is it like? This is also a big question for the authors of the book ‘Post-Olympism?’. The book provides a useful overview of the ongoing significance of the Olympics and will be essential reading for anyone with a serious interest in the Games (John Bale, Mette Krogh Christensen. Post-Olympism? Questioning Sport in the Twenty-First Century, University of Aarhus 2004, 256pp). It does not tend to strictly contradict all negative things in the Olympic Movement and Olympism, but raises questions as to what Olympism is, nowadays. From 1991 to 1999, the international research project, ‘The Jubilee Olympiad’, was undertaken. Its aim was to monitor public opinion of the role, lessons and conclusions for the hundred years’ experience of the Olympic Movement, Olympic Games and Olympism. The research was historically and sociologically profiled. The historical aspect of its subject was approached by sociological methods. The basis was a standard interview including 16 main questions and the same number of optional ones. The author interviewed over 500 respondents, including: the Olympic Movement experts and the Olympic Family members from more than 80 countries; Olympic Games athletes from 1936 to 1996; coaches in more than forty sports from Europe, Asia, America, Africa, Australia and Oceania; leaders of International and National Sports Federations; IOC Members (76 of those who had this status at the time of the research); heads of all IOC departments, Library, Research Centre and Olympic Museum, members of all IOC Commissions; heads of National Olympic Committees; heads of sports ministries and other national sports bodies; several heads of the Olympic Games’ Organizing Committees; managers of national sports centres; sports journalists with leading networks from the USSR/Russia, USA, Germany, Great Britain, Italy and other countries; sports doctors and doping control experts; sports scientists, sports historians and sociologists; sponsors, business, financial, commercial and industrial corporations involved in the sphere of sport business; and religious leaders participating as priests of the Olympic teams of Germany, Poland, Italy, Belgium and other countries in 1972 – 1996. The interviews were conducted by the author of the project, between mid-1992 and mid-1996. The interviews were undertaken in 27 countries, by visiting respondents at their residence or working places, as well as at Olympic centres, during Olympic Games, Goodwill Games, European Youth Olympic Days, World and European Championships and other regional competitions, during the Centennial Olympic Congress in Paris (1994), various IOC Executive Board Sessions and Meetings, International and National Olympic Academies’ Sessions, ANOC General Assembly Meetings and General Assemblies and Congresses of the International Sports Federations (GAISF), during international scientific congresses, conferences, seminars, and symposiums. As a result of this long, intensive but incredibly interesting work, a unique set of material of enormous historical and scientific value was assembled. The volume of the five hundred interviews, in 12 languages, makes up 230 hours of tape recording. In addition to the purely scientific value, this work created the of an international archive of sound memoirs of sport and Olympic Movement veterans, as well as for the opening of a virtual Olympic library on Internet to be founded. All data was translated, processed, systematized, generalized and analysed. The translation of the material into Russian and entering into a computer database lasted from 1996 to 1999. The statistical and sociological data processing and analysis of the results was then carried out (Oleg A. Milshteyn. Olympic Saga. Olympionics, Priests and Pilgrims (Historical and Sociological Essays), Vol.I, Terra Sport-Olympia Press, Moscow 2001, 743pp (in Russian)). In 2000 at the Sydney Olympic Games, with kind assistance and support of the IOC (personally J.A. Samaranch and the Athletes Commission headed by P. Tallberg) and the World Olympians Association (Liston Bouchette, Secretary General), a new pilot polling was carried out at the Olympians Reunion Centre. Its topic was ‘Olympians Life Story and Sports Career’ and 63 videotaped interviews with the Olympic veterans representing 23 nations were collected. These athletes were the participants in 17 Olympic Games and 8 Winter Olympics in 17 sports from 1924 to 2000. The project was based upon the same key issues of the Olympic Movement, Olympic Games and Olympism. As well as in the previous mass polling of the Olympic Family members and Olympic experts, almost 93% of respondents defined Olympism in general as the Olympic Movement and/or Olympic Games, but very rarely as a philosophy, ideology or theory. So, we can clearly see the complete identification of the above concepts and phenomena in public opinion and in the opinion of the Olympic Family members and even the majority of IOC Members. These were the same results found, having carried out content analysis of the most fundamental Olympic literature (Carl Diem. The Olympic Idea. Discourses and Essays. Carl Diem Institute, Verlag Karl Hofman, Stuttgart, 1970, 121pp; Factcheets. Office of Communications. Public Information. IOC, Lausanne, 1998, 207pp; Krüger, A. The Unfinished Symphony: A History of the Olympic Games from Coubertin to Samaranch. In: Riordan, J./ Krüger, A. The International Politics of Sport in the Twentieth Century, London, New-York, 1999; Olympisch Bewegt Festschrift zum 60. Gedurstag von Prof.Dr. Manfred Lämmer, Köln, 2003, 509pp; Sortiris Giatsis, Vassilis Ziakas, Contantina Zygouri, Anastasia Giatsi. Sport and the Olympic Games in the Global Post-Cold War Era (1989-Nowadays).-Journal of Olympic History, Vol.12, May 2004, Number 2, p.35-47; Taylor, T. Politics and the Olympic Spirit. In.: Alison, L. (ed) Politics and Sport, Manchester, 1986; The International Olympic Committee. One Hundred Years. The idea – The Presidents. The Achievements. Work in three volumes. Series under the supervision of Raymond Gafner. Vol.I-III, IOC, Lausanne, 1994; The Olympic Movement and the Mass Media. Olympic Message. January-February-March 1996, XXVI-1.IOC, Lausanne, 213pp; The Olympic Movement, IOC, Lausanne, 1997, 111pp; The Olympic Truce. Report of activities 1991-1998. International Olympic Committee, Lausanne, 1998, 26pp; Wolf Lyberg. The Seventh President of the IOC. Facts and figures International Olympic Committee, Lausanne, 1997, 248pp). This project of polling the Olympian veterans and participants in the Olympic Games will be continued at the Olympians Reunion Centre in Athens, but even the existing material can logically provide the following sets of scientific information: Olympism as a theory and practice Fundamental problems of the Olympic Movement Current problems of the Olympic Games The role and functions of the IOC in the modern world; its social and organizational structure The role of an outstanding person in the Olympic history and the role of a sports hero Social nature of victory and defeat in sport The social status and career of an Olympic athlete, his lifestyle in general and after the termination of his sport career particularly; social adaptation of the athlete's personality The correlation between sport for all and high-level sport; the correlation between active and spectacular sports in the development of both national and international sports and the Olympic Movement The commercialization of modern sports and Olympic Movement and its social consequences The role of the mass media and mass communications in modern sports The historical importance of sport and the Olympic Movement for the civilization and culture of the 20th Century The place of Olympic education in the general education system of youth Futurological and sociological forecast for Olympism, international sports and the Olympic Movement in the first third to half of the 21st Century As for the last prognostic issues, one may note the following key tendencies in the stated opinion of the Olympic experts: The overwhelming majority of experts considered that the Olympic Games are eternal, just like the world, civilization and culture, and that even if the modern world were shaken by significant global disasters and other socio-economic and natural cataclysms in the 21st Century, the Olympic Games would continue their existence and development An insignificant number of respondents predicted the destruction of the Olympic Games if case that they continue the development within the existing model of the commercialization of sport in general and in the Olympic Games in particular, and also in case of increased use by athletes of doping or other means that break the principles of equality between athletes and the principle of fair play. But even those experts who adhere to this point of view about the coming demise of the Olympic Games, as a rule, specify that the Games are sure to revive, but within new forms, with new models of organization and realization The globalization of Olympism and the Olympic Movement at the expense of the increasing development of sports in the developing countries of Asia, Africa, Latin America Change of the national structure and internationalization of club and national teams structures, first of all in Europe, USA and Canada, at the expense of increasing migration of athletes from the countries of Africa, Latin America, the former USSR and Eastern Europe Rapid increase in the development of new non-traditional and extreme sports, attracting increasing numbers of young people, first of all from the advanced industrial countries. Along with this, according to the experts' opinion, these sports will be keen to join international organizations. These organizations, in their turn, will make every effort to receive Olympic recognition and inclusion in the programme of future Olympic Games Rapidly increasing number of cities bidding for the right to host the Olympic Games and strengthening of competition. This, in its turn, will require significant updating of the bid city selection system and constant perfection of the selection criteria by the IOC. This was confirmed by the recommendations of the IOC 2000 Commission and the decisions taken on that basis at the two most recent extraordinary IOC Sessions. I think this marks the very beginning of the revolutionary direction changes in the IOC Appearance of absolutely new organization and realization forms of complex international competitions and increasing number of both world and regional level games on the basis of common globalization processes A significant opportunity for the appearance of new games, with organization and realization forms alternative to those already existing in the world today Harmonization of top level sports and sport for all development, first of all in Western Europe, according to the models that already exist in Norway, Finland, Germany, Australia, Canada and other countries Increasing disproportion in the development of active sports and spectacular sports (sports as entertainment) in the advanced industrial countries Intensification of the International Sports Federations’ role and that of the unions within the International Olympic Movement on one hand and, on the other, significant strengthening of several most influential and financially independent ones (such as FIFA, IAAF, etc.) – up to leaving the Olympic Movement and organizing alternative, independent world games or festivals in track and fields, football, etc. Intensification of the NOCs’ role and involvement in the development and strengthening of the International Olympic and World Sports Movement The necessity setting up by the IOC with the ISFs and NOCs a flexible rotation system for different sports in the programme of the Olympic Games with the aim of their future development, preservation of their integrity, etc.< Thus, we believe that along with Olympism, as an ideal and everyday practice of the Olympic Movement and its nucleus, the Olympic Games, there is a phenomena that can be called ‘Post-Olympism’, meaning a fusion of innovations and realities concerning the contradictions in modern Olympic Movement that are frequently not appropriate to the ideals and principles professed by the Olympic Charter and other basic documents of the Olympic Unity. Prof. Dr. Oleg Milshteyn World Olympians Association Olympians Video and Audio Memoirs Fund Ph: +95 912 8236 Fax: +95 247 1883 Email: milshtein_oleg@yahoo.com http://www.icsspe.org/portal/bulletin-january2005.htm Post-Olympism: historical, social and philosophical aspects Dr. Oleg Milshteyn, Russia