The Olympic Games Explained: A Student Guide to the Evolution of

An awesome festival of sporting excellence and competition, the Olympic Games have now evolved into a major international event with great cultural, political, economic and social importance.

The Olympic Games Explained is an introductory guide to the history and meaning of the four-yearly phenomenon that is the modern Olympic Games. The book provides a comprehensive overview of ‘Olympism’ from its Ancient Greek origins through the beginnings of the International Olympic Committee to the global Olympic Movement in the twenty-first century.

Each chapter offers a range of study tasks and review questions to help students develop their understanding of key concepts in Olympic studies.

Vassil Girginov is Senior Lecturer in Leisure and Sport Studies at the University of Luton. He is a founding member of the Bulgarian Olympic Academy. His research interests include the Olympic movement and Eastern European sport. Jim Parry is Senior Lecturer and former Head of the School of Philosophy at the University of Leeds. He is the founding Director of the British Olympic Academy and a consultant with the International Olympic Academy. He held the International Chair in Olympism at the Autonomous University of Barcelona in 2003.