Back-to-back M.A. Olympic Studies Module Weeks

From the 29^th February to 7^th March and 8^th to 14^th March 2020, two consecutive teaching weeks of the M.A. Olympic Studies were delivered at the German Sport University Cologne (GSU). During the first week, the teaching team delivered lectures, seminars and discussion sessions on the topic Olympic Athletes and Elite Sport in Transition during the course of 7^th intake’s second module. The second week constituted the last on-site module of the 6^th intake, namely International Relations and the Olympic Movement. Having enhanced and developed their interdisciplinary knowledge and research skills throughout the prorgamme, the participants are now fully equipped with the tools necessary to undertake their M.A. theses.

Within both module weeks, the participants were able to profit from the experience of an international and highly motivated team, including Ian Culpan from New Zealand and Jörg Krieger from Denmark as well as Stephan Wassong, Daniel Quanz and Rory Flindall from the GSU. Due to the, at the time, initial stage concerning international attention towards the COVID-19 crisis, not all of the participants were able to travel to the GSU within the month of March. Of course, the programme leadership has put into place its contingency plans for all those who were not able to attend their respective module week. For the GSU’s Olympic Studies Centre, it was of the upmost importance that everyone remained safe and healthy during the two weeks as well as being comfortable with the prospect of traveling to Cologne.