Tarnished Rings: The IOC and the Salt Lake City Scandal
By: Stephen Wenn, Bob Barney & Scott Martyn
Visit Tarnished Rings on Amazon In Tarnished Rings, Wenn, Barney and Martyn examine the fascinating story of the bid scandal surrounding the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. They explore its genesis and chart the IOC’s efforts to bring stability to its operations. Based on extensive research and unparalleled access to primary source material, the authors offer a behind-the-scenes account of the politics surrounding the IOC and the bidding process. This in-depth examination of a critical episode in Olympic history and the presidency of Juan Antonio Samaranch, who brought sweeping change to the Olympic Movement in the 1980s and 1990s, offers valuable lessons for those interested in the IOC, the Olympic Movement, and the broader concepts of leadership and crisis management.
Rethinking The Olympics: Cultural Histories of the Modern Games
By: Bob Barney
Visit Rethinking The Olympics on Amazon This anthology of essays previously published in Olympika:The International Journal of Olympic Studies, addresses key themes in the scholarly study of the Games. Part I presents seven articles devoted to Olympic history: the Games' legacy from antiquity, their modern evolution, and the most controversial Games of the modern era, the Berlin Games of 1936. Part II deals with the persistent problems and crises that confounded and defined the Olympic Games over time. The nine essays in this section focus on a variety of issues such as: performance enhancement; the rise of commercialism; enduring controversies in the form of leadership, corruption, and the Cold War; and the politics of hosting Olympic Games. Finally, in Part III, the future of the Olympic Movement is addressed from the perspective of the rapidly accelerating and mushrooming processes of globalization.
Global Olympics: Historical and Sociological Studies of the Modern Games
By: Kevin Young & Kevin Wamsley
Visit Global Olympics on Amazon 
The Olympic Games have become a subject of major importance to students,
academics, sports bodies, politicians, urban planners, and the public
at large. The Olympic Rings are among the most recognised symbols in the
world, and there are few other cultural phenomena that attract such a
significant following in the popular media or such widespread support
among the nations of the world. "Global Olympics: Historical and
Sociological Studies of the Modern Games" draws together some of the
world's leading scholars on critical issues emerging from ancient
Olympic contests, and over one hundred years of modern Olympic history. A
wide range of expertise permits the authors to address these issues
from varied perspectives, while encompassing an in-depth assessment of
the current literature and debates on the Olympics. This book will serve
as an interdisciplinary resource for undergraduate and graduate
students alike, as well as for the growing cohort of researchers
interested in understanding and explaining the historical and
sociological significance of the Games.Selling The Five Rings: The IOC and the Rise of Olympic Commercialism
By: Bob Barney, Stephen Wenn & Scott Martyn
Visit Rethinking The Olympics on Amazon 
The original scheme for the modern Olympic Games
was hatched at an international sports conference at the Sorbonne in
June 1894. At the time, few provisions were made for the financial
underwriting of the project—providence and the beneficence of host
cities would somehow take care of the costs. For much of the first
century of modern Olympic history, this was the case, until the advent
of television and corporate sponsorship transformed that idealism. Now,
linking with the five-ring logo is good business. Advertising during
the Olympic Games guarantees a global audience unmatched in size by any
other sports audience in the world. However, if the image begins to
tarnish and the corporate sector loses interest, television companies
can’t sell advertising to business interests. This was the greatest
threat posed by the scandal surrounding Salt Lake City’s bid. Selling the Five Rings
outlines the rise of the Olympic movement from an envisioned instrument
of peace and brotherhood, to a transnational commercial giant of
imposing power and influence. Using primary source documents such as
minutes of the IOC General Sessions, minutes and reports of various IOC
sub-committees and commissions concerned with finance, reports of key
marketing agencies, and the letters and memoranda written to and by the
major figures in Olympic history, the authors track the history of a
fascinating global institution.
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