Conference "Historical and Contemporary Issues in Olympic Studies"

From 30 November to 2 December 2015, the Olympic Studies Centre of the German Sport University Cologne and the University of Johannesburg organized the Conference “Historical and Contemporary Issues in Olympic Studies” in Johannesburg. The Conference was an outcome of the cooperation between the two institutions that aims for the establishment and development of an Olympic Studies Centre at the University of Johannesburg. This Centre is the first one in Africa and therefore adopts a pioneering role in the distribution of the Olympic values and Olympic education.

Prof. André Swart, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences of the University of Johannesburg, and Prof. Cora Burnett, Head of the Olympic Studies Centre at the University of Johannesburg opened the Conference during an official function. On this occasion, Prof. Dr. Stephan Wassong, Director of the Olympic Studies Centre Cologne, gave a special address in which he stressed the need for the new Centre to create links with international scholars and academic institutions within the field of Olympic Studies. The Conference presented a first opportunity for this.

The academic panels were launched by Dr. Sam Ramsamy, IOC Member in South Africa, and Gideon Sam, President of the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee. Both of them stressed the necessity to establish an Olympic Studies Centre in South Africa to serve the entire African continent. Moreover, Nuria Puig from the IOC Olympic Studies Centre in Lausanne illustrated the entire global network of Olympic Studies Centres.

Prof. Ian Culpan (University of Canterbury, New Zealand), Prof. Benoit Seguin (University of Ottawa, Canada), Dr. Sam Ramsamy, Prof. Ian Ritchie (Brock University, Canada) and Professor Cora Burnett gave the keynote presentations of the panel sessions. The panels accommodated perspectives on the educational significance of the Olympic Movement, aspects of the organisation of the Olympic Games, challenge to the IOC in its attempt to safeguard the Olympic Idea and the special situation of the Olympic Movement on the African continent. In total, twenty speakers from thirteen countries contributed with presentations to the panels.

Prof. Dr. Stephan Wassong, Dr. Ansgar Molzberger and Dr. Jörg Krieger represented the Olympic Studies Centre Cologne at the Conference. In his presentation, Prof. Dr. Stephan Wassong illustrated the growing importance of “Sport For All” activities of the IOC. Dr. Ansgar Molzberger presented the archive of the Olympic Studies Centre Cologne and highlighted research possibilities for international scholars. Dr. Jörg Krieger focused on the role of scientists as key agents in the Olympic fight against doping. Moreover, the Olympic Studies Centre Cologne and the University of Johannesburg published the book “Historical and Contemporary Issues in Olympic Studies” in conjunction with the Conference.

Various national media reported about the Conference. Furthermore, Prof. Dr. Stephan Wassong, Prof. Cora Burnett and Dr. Ramsay were invited to a live television interview with the African television channel ANN7.