Citation

Seiler S. Int. J. Sports Physiol. Perform. 2014; 9(1): 122-127.

Affiliation

Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Agder, Kristiansand Norway.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Human Kinetics Publishers)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

24088409

Abstract

Almost half of the record 98 events being held in the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games were either not held 20 years ago at Lillehammer, or have been substantially modified. The Olympics as a global sports event are not stationary, but must adapt and evolve in response to changing demands, just as the remarkable athletes who are competing. While the Winter Olympic program has steadily grown since Chamonix in 1924, the rate of development has greatly accelerated in the last 20 years. Three factors seem to be instrumental. First, the Winter Olympic program has become more gender balanced. Female hockey teams are battling for gold, and this year women will compete in ski jumping for the first time. Most Winter Olympic sports have equal numbers of events for men and women today, although female participation still lags somewhat behind. Second, many traditional events have been modified by sport governing bodies towards a more "TV friendly" format. Time trial starts have been replaced by mass or group starts. "Sprint" and team events have been added to spice-up traditional sports like cross-country skiing and speed skating. Finally "extreme" sports like half-pipe and ski-cross have crossed over from the X games into the Olympics, with some arguing that the Olympics need these popular sports more than the X Games sports need the Olympics. All of these changes create new research questions for sport scientists who are also willing to adapt and evolve.

Language: en