What Are the Olympics For?

by Jules Boykoff

C2023-0-02512-3

174 pages, Paperback

Published March 26, 2024

Reviews

[Nate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty easy read. There are some novel ideas and interesting viewpoints but the author had little quality control and just compiled any anti-Olympic story or quote with little analysis or connection. There were a lot of reaches as well, such as the mention that the London Olympics displaced 1,000 people, but then in the same paragraph said that 13,000 new units of housing were built with ~1,500 of the units being low income housing, for a net gain of residents total and of low income residents. The author also criticizes non-games infrastructure related costs such as transport in the same breath as saying that the opportunity costs of the Olympics leaves residents by the wayside.

Some more nuance would have been appreciated.

[L · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better to be titled “What are the Olympics not for?”, this book is a recap of some problems and scandals throughout the modern history of the Olympics.

Given Boykoff’s years-long focus on the Olympics, I’d expected more insights and analysis that answer the titular question, not just a hinted-at acknowledgment of corruption, profiteering and sportswashing. I was looking for investigative journalism, or at least some behind-the-scene "dealings" that demonstrate how specifically this global event has benefitted certain interest groups. Instead, it's mostly a cursory look at what the IOC fails to achieve despite its purported missions and values. Nothing quite revelatory and the proposed "solutions" just as vague.

[Corinne Schroeder · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 A good overview of many issues and controversies surrounding the Olympics. Boykoff covers a lot of ground in just 123 pages, so it’s a fairly surface level introduction to each issue, and I’d view this book as a good jumping off point to further reading on the topic. Reads like an essay, culminating in a thesis of how to improve the Olympics/IOC.

[idana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this on my walk home and couldn’t put it down? Very surprised there are not many reviews?
Writing style is a little corny but that’s my only qualm. Very obviously well researched and very succinct. Loved how tied together everything was. Great short read!

[Charlie $ · Rating 3 out of 5]

alluding to sexual abuse but not talking about it ?
I should never be surprised that rather large cultural institutions have roots in racism, misogyny and capitalism

[Arjun]

Chapter 2 - A brief political history of the Olympics

[Adam · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt a little let down by this book. I heard Jules Boykoff on True Anon, and it was a really fantastic episode. I was really surprised by the length of it, expecting it to be longer, when I first saved it to listen to. I learnt a bit about the Olympics, but not anything more than I heard on the podcast. I did get some more history about the founder of the modern games, as well as some of the protesting.