Heritage and the Olympics: People, Place and Performance

The Olympic Games have evolved into the most prestigious sport event on the planet. As a consequence, each Games generates more and more interest from the academic community. Sociology, politics, geography and history have all played a part in helping to understand the meanings and implications of the Games. Heritage, too, offers invaluable insights into what we value about the Games, and what we would like to pass on to future generations. Each Olympic Games unquestionably represents key life-markers to a broad audience across the world, and the great events that take place within them become worthy of remembrance, celebration and protection. The more tangible heritage features are also evident; from the myriad artefacts and ephemera found in museums to the celebratory symbolism of past Olympic venues and sites that have become visitor attractions in their own right. This edited collection offers detailed and thought-provoking examples of these heritage components, and illustrates powerfully the breadth, passion and cultural significance that the Olympics engender.

This book was published as a special issue of the International Journal of Heritage Studies.

Sean Gammon is based at the University of Central Lancashire. He is widely published in the area of sport tourism, focusing on customer motivation, nostalgia and heritage. In addition he continues to contribute to the field of leisure; recently co-editing a new text on, Contemporary Perspectives in Leisure. London: Routledge.

Gregory Ramshaw is based in the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management at Clemson University. His research primarily examines the social construction of heritage with a particular interest in sport-based heritage. He has been widely published in numerous international academic texts and journals. He is also the co-editor of Heritage Sport Tourism: Sporting Pasts – Tourist Futures, published by Routledge.

Emma Waterton is based in the Institute for Culture and Society at the University of Western Sydney. Her current research explores the interface between heritage, identity, memory and affect at a range of Australian heritage tourism sites. She is author of Politics, Policy and the Discourses of Heritage in Britain (2010, Palgrave Macmillan) and co-author of Heritage, Communities and Archaeology (with Laurajane Smith; 2009, Duckworth).