The Role and Involvement of London 2012 and Paris 2024 in the Educational Olympic Programme

Abstract

Across the history of Olympic Games, the sport significance has been emphasized with its educational feature of linking body and mind, and to achieve a better quality of life. Following such movement, Olympic education has been set inside the Olympic Charter as one of the key objectives of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), through which the Olympic values would spread. In this sense, the positive legacy of the Olympics is one of the main concerns of the International Olympic Committee. Till now, several researchers have investigated Olympic education programmes for schools by Olympic Games host cities. However, there has been no study comparing a past and a future Olympic city and, additionally, two cities with similar cultural, geographical, economic and political characteristics. The aim of this study was to identify, register, and analyse the actions of the Organizing Committee of the London 2012 and Paris 2024 Olympic Games for the development of a relevant and universal Olympic education. To reach this goal, semi-structured interviews have been established in order to extract and absorb as much information as possible by probing stakeholders. The two educational programmes have brought their specificities with different objectives. London took advantage of its multicultural reputation and its goal of increasing the sporting experience of British citizens and of the world through innovative educational programmes. Paris has been focused within the national and French-speaking area in order to enhance the cultural dimension of sport and to mobilise it as a tool to strengthen the links between educational institutions, their environment and the sport movement.