Inside the Olympics: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Politics, the Scandals and the Glory of the Games - Softcover

Pound, Richard W.

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58 ratings by Goodreads

9780470838709: Inside the Olympics: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Politics, the Scandals and the Glory of the Games

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0470838701 ISBN 13: 9780470838709

Publisher: Wiley, 2006

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"The only man who could have written this book has done it with candor and style. A lucid and penetrating look at the five-ringed world, filled with Dick Pound's customary insight, frankness and wit. Inside the Olympics wins gold, silver and bronze." - John Powers, Boston Globe

Every two years, world attention turns to the Olympic Games for a few short weeks, in a celebration of athletic excellence, competition, and national pride. But in recent years, the Olympic ideal has also been tainted by scandals, greed, and corruption-from bribery, to doing, cheating, politics, and exploitation.

Never shy of the issues, Dick Pound reveals the full inside story-both good and bad-of the Games. An Olympian himself, and long-time IOC insider, Pound sheds a bright light on many controversial events and issues surrounding the Olympics, including the conduct of IOC officials, and the doping scandals that he considers the greatest threat to sports today. He also offers a fascinating look at negotiations in the high-stake worlds of television rights and corporate sponsorships, and at the politics, backstabbing, and intrigues that take place behind the scenes in the world of international sports.

At times damning, at others prescriptive, sometimes amusing, but always honest and insightful, Inside the Olympics gives a rare personal view on the business, the personalities, the ideals, and the organization behind the world's greatest sporting event.

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From the Inside Flap:

EVERY TWO YEARS, WORLD ATTENTION TURNS TO THE OLYMPIC GAMES FOR A FEW SHORT WEEKS, IN A CELEBRATION OF ATHLETIC EXCELLENCE, COMPETITION, AND NATIONAL PRIDE.

But in recent years, the Olympic ideal has also been tainted by scandals, greed, and corruption—from bribery, to doping, cheating politics, and exploitation.

Never shy of the issues, Pound reveals the full inside story—both good and bad—of the Games. He sheds a bright light on many controversial events and issues surrounding the Olympics, including the Salt Lake City bribery scandal, the figure sakting judging fiasco of the 2002 Winter Olymics, terrorism, human rights, the conduct of IOC and sports officials themselves, and the doping scandals that he considers the greatest threat to sports today.

Since he competed as an Olympic athlete himself, Pound has witnessed and been party to enormous changes over almost half a century in the world of sport and politics, and has served under the leadership of four IOC presidents. He offers a fascinating look at negotiations in the high-stakes worlds of television rights and corporate sponsorships and at the politics, backstabbing, and intrigues that take place behind the scenes in the world of international sports.

At times damning, at others prescriptive, sometimes amusing, but always honest and insightful, Inside the Olympics gives a rare personal view on the business, the personalities, the ideals, and the organization behind the world's greatest sporting event.

About the Author:

Dick Pound has been a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for over 25 years. He has served on the IOC Executive Board, as vice-president for two terms, and as Chairman of the IOC Television Negotiation Committee, and Chairman of the IOC Marketing Committee. Pound is the founding Chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), and is a partner in the law firm Stikeman Elliott. In 1999, he was made the seventeenth chancellor of McGill University.

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