Historical Dictionary of the Olympic Movement

By (author) John Grasso, Bill Mallon, Jeroen Heijmans

Publication date:

14 May 2015

Length of book:

906 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

ISBN-13: 9781442248595

The Olympic Movement began with the Ancient Olympic Games, which were held in Greece on the Peloponnesus peninsula at Olympia, Greece. It is not clear why the Greeks instituted this quadrennial celebration in the form of an athletic festival. The recorded history of the Ancient Olympic Games begins in 776 B.C., although it is suspected that the Games had been held for several centuries by that time. The Games were conducted as religious celebrations in honor of the god Zeus, and it is known that Olympia was a shrine to Zeus from about 1000 B.C. In modern time The Olympic Movement attempts to bring all the nations of the world together in a series of multisport festivals, the Olympic Games, seeking to use sport as a means to promote internationalism and peace.

This fifth edition of Historical Dictionary of The Olympic Movement covers its history through a chronology, an introductory essay, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 1000 cross-referenced entries on the history, philosophy, and politics of the Olympics, major organizations, the various sports, the participating countries, and especially the athletes. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about The Olympic Movement.

Editor’s Foreword by, Jon Woronoff
Preface
Acronyms and Abbreviations
Chronology
The Olympic Games and Olympic Winter Games
Introduction
THE DICTIONARY
Appendix I: Presidents of the International Olympic Committee
Appendix II: The Games of the Olympiads
Appendix III: The Olympic Winter Games
Appendix IV: Members of the International Olympic Committee
Appendix V: Awards of the International Olympic Committee
Appendix VI: Final Olympic Torchbearers (Within the Olympic Stadium)
Appendix VII: Speakers of the Olympic Oath
Appendix VIII: Official Openings of the Olympic Games
Appendix IX: Most Olympic Medals Won: Summer, Men
Appendix X: Most Olympic Medals Won: Summer, Women
Appendix XI: Most Olympic Gold Medals Won: Summer, Men
Appendix XII: Most Olympic Gold Medals Won: Summer, Women
Appendix XIII: Most Olympic Medals Won: Winter, Men
Appendix XIV: Most Olympic Medals Won: Winter, Women
Appendix XV: Most Olympic Gold Medals Won: Winter, Men
Appendix XVI: Most Olympic Gold Medals Won: Winter, Women
Appendix XVII: Most Appearances: Summer, Men
Appendix XVIII: Most Appearances: Summer, Women
Appendix XIX: Most Appearances: Winter, Men
Appendix XX: Most Appearances: Winter, Women
Appendix XXI: List of All Positive Drug Tests at the Olympic Games
Appendix XXII: Attempts at Olympic Revival Prior to 1896
Appendix XXIII: International Federations – SportAccord
Appendix XXIV: Olympic Summer Games Participants
Appendix XXV: Olympic Winter Games Participants
Appendix XXVI: Olympic Sports
Appendix XXVII: Bid Cities
Bibliography
About the Authors

The fifth edition of the publisher's series dealing with the Olympic Movement contains much of the same material that previous editions are known for, including hundreds of A-Z entries providing relevant details about athletes, countries, sports, dates, commentators, organizations, and related subjects. This reference book is a good place for beginners to do general research on the Olympics, with a chronology going back to 1100 BC and forward to 2020. Offering a few black-and-white photos throughout the text, authors Grasso (an Olympic historian), Mallon (a former professional golfer), and Heijmans (an IT professional) focus on athletes from the 19th and early 20th centuries. A number of athletes are not included, however (e.g., American ice skater Dick Button is mentioned but not Peggy Fleming or Dorothy Hamill, other than their listing in an appendix on final Olympic torchbearers). Most entries average approximately a half page in length, although some are considerably longer (e.g., ‘Women at the Olympics’ or ‘Olympic Finance’ are six and eight pages, respectively). Very short entries appear on the future games in 2016, 2018, and 2020. Because the book is user friendly and contains many cross-references, the new information warrants purchase of a new edition. Summing Up: Recommended. All academic and general audiences.