The Olympic Games Explained: A Student Guide to the Evolution of the Modern Olympic Games

by Vassil Girginov, Jim Parry

An awesome festival of sporting excellence and competition, the Olympic Games have now evolved into a major international event with great cultural, political, economic and social importance.

The Olympic Games Explained is an introductory guide to the history and meaning of the four-yearly phenomenon that is the modern Olympic Games. The book provides a comprehensive overview of 'Olympism' from its Ancient Greek origins through the beginnings of the International Olympic Committee to the global Olympic Movement in the twenty-first century.

Each chapter offers a range of study tasks and review questions to help students develop their understanding of key concepts in Olympic studies.

288 pages, Paperback

First published May 3, 2005

About the author

Dr. Girginov is Visiting Professor at the Russian International Olympic University and at the University of Johannesburg. He is also Reader in Sport Management/Development at Brunel University. Previously he has worked as advisor to the Chairman of the Bulgarian Sports Union, on the Sofia bids for the Winter Olympic Games and in higher education institutions in Bulgaria and Canada. He has been researching the sports development legacy of the 2012 London Olympic Games and the relationship between the culture of national sports governing bodies and participation in sport. Vassil is the editor of the two volume collection on the London 2012 Games published by Routledge, and is also an Executive Editor of the 2012 Routledge Special Olympic Journals Issue that involves some 40 journals from a range of academic disciplines. Vassil’s current research projects include: ‘Creation and transfer of knowledge within the Sochi Organizing Committee of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games’ (supported by the Russian International Olympic University), and ‘UK National Governing Bodies of sport leveraging of the London Olympics for capacity building’. His research interests, publications and industry experience are in the field of Olympic movement, sport development, comparative management and policy analysis. His most recent books include Sport Management Cultures (Routledge, 2011), The Olympics: A Critical Reader (Routledge, 2010), Management of Sports Development, (Elsevier, 2008), The Olympic Games Explained (Routledge, 2005, the book has been translated in 5 languages) and Handbook of the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games (Vol. 1 & 2 - 2012-3).