Australian Parliamentary Library Research Paper on Olympic Games

The Library of the Australian Parliament yesterday published a research paper entitled The modern Olympics: an overview:

"This paper provides brief background information for Australian Parliamentarians on the origins of the Olympics and a snapshot of the development of the Games since the first modern Olympics were held in 1896. Particular reference is made to the Melbourne Olympics in 1956 and the Sydney Olympics in 2000. The achievements of Australian Olympians are also a special focus of the paper."

"The paper also provides an insight into the many social and political dimensions of the Olympics."

Among the political and social issues that are addressed are: amateurism, commercialism, doping, gender, race and political conflict.

Earlier Library Boy posts about the Olympic Games include:

• International Sports Law Guide (February 17, 2006): "Written by a librarian at Georgetown University, this new International Sports Law guide published on the GlobaLex website looks at key institutions governing international sports and provides information and links to federations governing individual sports at an international level, bodies associated with the Olympic Games and the Court of Arbitration for Sport."
• New Internet Research Guide for Olympic Studies (April 2, 2008): "Intute, a British university consortium that offers free online service access to evaluated web resources for education and research, has just published a new subject booklet entitled 'Internet resources for Olympic studies'. The booklet describes resources relating to associations, the history of the Olympic Games, past and future Games, athletes, sports research, event management, and legal issues (arbitration of sports disputes, disability sports, gender equity and doping)."
• China Crackdown on Human Rights Intensifying Before 2008 Olympics (April 7, 2008): "The human rights organization Amnesty International recently published a report documenting the intensifying campaign of repression by Chinese authorities before the opening of the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing later this year."
• Beijing Olympics: Corporate Sponsors Risk Black Eye (April 23, 2008): "The international NGO Human Rights Watch recently published a report on the upcoming Beijing Summer Olympics that states that the 'corporate sponsors of the Olympics risk lasting damage to their brands if they do not live up to their professed standards of corporate social responsibility by speaking out about the deteriorating human rights situation in China'."