Supervisors info:
Βαγενάς Γεώργιος, Καθηγητής, ΤΕΦΑΑ, ΕΚΠΑ
Καρτερολιώτης Κώστας, Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής, ΤΕΦΑΑ, ΕΚΠΑ
Ρόντος Κώστας, Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής, Τμήμα Κοινωνιολογίας, Πανεπιστήμιο Αιγαίου
Summary:
Olympic medal win is a multidimensional phenomenon which is influenced by the overall social and sport setting (De Bosscher, De Knop, Van Bottenburg, & Shibli, 2006). Many researchers have identified social, economic, demographic and political factors which affect Olympic medals win. The economic situation (Ball, 1972), the population and the geographic region (Bernard & Busse, 2004; Grimes, Kelly, & Rubin, 1974) the political regime (Levine, 1974), the number of the participants (Moosa & Smith, 2004) and the climatic conditions (Tcha & Pershin, 2003) are some of the primary predictors of the Olympic medals. In the present research, the Olympic medals were categorized in 12 groups of sports (gymnastics, team sports, athletics, racket sports, target sports, contact sports, swimming, aquatics, weight-lifting, horse-riding, cycling and other sports) and their relationship to the countries’ geographical, climatic, and economic characteristics. Research data were collected for the previous four Olympic Games (Beijing, 2008, Athens, 2004, Sydney, 2000, Atlanta, 1996) and only for the 87 countries which were rewarded one medal in Beijing. The statistical analyses included descriptive statistics, the Kruskal-Wallis analysis as well as logistic regression analysis. With respect to the number of medals, Kruskal-Wallis analyses yielded significant differences among the five geographical regions in seven out of 12 sport categories (x2=14.694, p=.005). Also, significant differences were found among the countries’ four climatic zones (x2=18.263, p=.000) as well as among the countries’ four economic ranks (x2=9.763, p=.021) in nine sport categories. The results showed that rich countries invest in a bigger number of sports than poor countries do. European countries were superior in almost all sports. The cold climate seems to affect significantly the development of indoor sports. The advantage of hosting countries was notable in sports in which victory is determined by the objective judgment (e.g., gymnastics). The ration medals/athletes was proved to be important in the majority of sport categories, thus, confirming the important contribution of the participants in interpreting the Olympic medals. The results add to the interpretation of the Olympic Games. Recommendations for future research on the Olympic success via sport categorization are made.
