ISOH

In the last issue of 2009, the Journal of Olympic History covers the following topics, among others:

• Rio de Janeiro is awarded the 2016 Summer Olympics, which will make it the first South American city to host the Games (by Maria De Franceschi Neto-Wacker and Christian Wacker).
• Following the release of a movie on the topic, Volker Kluge dives into the history of German high jumpers Dora Ratjen (who competed in the ‘36 Games, but later turned out to be a man) and Gretel Bergmann (who was Jewish, and would not compete in the ‘36 Games because of that).
• Ulf Lagerström tells the story of John Woodruff, Olympic 800 m Champion in 1936.
• Ove Karlsson explains why it took 30 years before Ingemar Johansson (who died in 2009) received his silver Olympic medal in boxing.

In addition to several more articles, there are also the usual book reviews, letters from the board, letters to the editor.

Apart from the regular JOH (issue 2, 2009), a special issue of the Journal is published this month, on the occasion of the XIII Olympic Congress, which is currently held in Copenhagen (Denmark). The latter contains a selection of the best articles published in the Journal. In the regular journal, Bob Chappell presents a case study “Issues and problems - the 2004 Athens Olympic Games: A case study of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania in East Africa, and Namibia and Botswana in Southern Africa”. Biographies of IOC members are presented in the second part of a series, while Joel Rookwood takes a look at peace promotion through sport in Bosnia and Russia.
Naturally, the recurring items are also included: book reviews, obituaries and the messages from the ISOH board.

The 2010 edition of the Postgraduate Research Grant Programme, created by the IOC Olympic Studies Centre is now available at the IOC website.

This year’s first issue of the Journal of Olympic History will be out in April. A sample of the contens: Megan Popovic writes about how snowboarding entered the Olympics in 1998, Volker Kluge tells the story of a 1900 Olympic champion, and you an read the first part of biographies of all IOC members. And of course, there are the regular parts, such as the book reviews, the obituaries and the messages from the ISOH board.

Out now is the newest issue of the Journal of Olympic History. In this issue, among others:

• The tale of the butterfly stroke in swimming
• An article about the British Olympian Emil Voigt
• A history of the National Torch Relay in Porto Alegre, Brazil

And of course, there are book reviews, messages from the ISOH executive board, and various other articles related to Olympic history.

Tom Van Aken, co-lecturer at Univeristy of Ghent, Belgium, has started a project to reconstruct biographies of each of the competitors at the 1948 London Olympics. At London1948.org,visitors are invited to contribute information about these competitors. In addition, the site is following the Olympics Games that took place 60 years ago, day by day. This is accompanied by photos and video material, such as a video of the men’s 100 m final.

Just out, issue 2 of the Journal of Olympic History. On the cover is the “lost” poster of the 1908 Olympics, the subject of an article by Bob Wilcock. Other topics include Avery Brundage’s vision of the Olympics in the 1948–1952 period (by John Lucas) and the story school boy Ted Meredith at the 1912 Olympics (by Harald Wilson, Jr.). Several other articles are included, as are of course the book reviews, obituaries and messages from the ISOH president and secretary-general.

American company sports-reference.com has launched a new website with full Olympic results. Already, final results for all events and details on all competitors are available - more detailed results will follow soon. It is the first time this information is fully and publicly available on the internet.
The data for this site had been provided by a group of “Olympic Madmen”, which includes various ISOH members, including past ISOH-president Bill Mallon.They hope the publication of their information will help ISOH members with their research and will lead to new discoveries and additions. One of the discoveries published on the site concerns a new Olympic medallist at the 1904 Olympics.

ISOH secretary-general Anthony Th. Bijkerk reports on the election of the executive commitee for 2008 – 2012. Elected are:

• for President: Dr. Karl Lennartz [GER]
• for Vice-President: David Wallechinsky [USA]
• for Secretary-General: Anthony Th. Bijkerk [NED]
• for Treasurer: John Grasso [USA]
• for Members:
• Don Anthony [GBR]
• Konstantinos Georgiadis [GRE]
• Ove Karlsson [SWE]
• Volker Kluge [GER]

Full details on the election are available here.

The IOC’s Olympic Studies Centre (OSC) has created an annual programme of grants intended for young researchers engaged in scholarly research on the Olympic Movement, its history and ideals, and the impact of the Olympic Games on the various aspects of contemporary society and culture.

More details on the 2009 programme are available here.