ICOS News
- February 08, 2024Registration for the ICOS 16th Symposium is now open, with an early bird discount available until March 15!
The organizing committee is excited to have received abstracts for presentations from all five continents. We look forward to meeting in the summer at Besançon to further the discussions on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion within the Olympic/Paralympic Games and the Olympic/Paralympic Movement.
Take a look at the activities planned and at the discounted prices to attend the conference.
- January 30, 2024
- January 27, 2024
- September 30, 2021
- August 03, 2021
- July 18, 2021Rescheduled Date and Format
- November 25, 2020
- November 20, 2020An interview with ICOS director Dr Angela Schneider
- July 08, 2020The IOC Certificate in Drugs in Sport is a 6-month online international postgraduate program for healthcare professionals on drugs in sport, awarded by the International Olympic Committee. The next course starts this September, with the deadline for applications 31 July 2020.
- May 25, 2020Call ends *18 February 2021*
- March 28, 2020
- March 28, 2020
- March 27, 2020
- March 24, 2020
- March 23, 2020
- March 22, 2020
- December 10, 2019
- December 10, 2019From The Moscow Times.
- December 09, 2019
- November 26, 2019
- November 20, 2019
- September 30, 2019Call for papers.
- June 28, 2019In an op-ed piece for the Western News, Bob Barney casts a critical eye on the economic implications of Olympic hosting strategies.
- June 06, 2019Professor Angela Schneider, School of Kinesiology at Western University, will succeed Michael Heine as Director of the International Centre for Olympic Studies, on July 1, 2019.
- June 05, 2019The University of Lausanne has issued a Call for Papers for the Congress of Youth and Winter Sports 2020. The event will be held in Lausanne on January 7-8, 2020.
- June 04, 2019In an unexpected decision, the Swiss supreme federal court has temporarily set aside IAAF regulations banning Caster Semenya from competing without medication. The South African runner will be able to compete without medication to June 25.
- May 29, 2019ICOS Director Angela Schneider was recently a guest on CBC mid-day radio call-in show Ontario Today speaking about the Caster Semenya ruling by the IAAF and Court of Arbitration for Sport
- May 27, 2019The Court of Arbitration for Sport's newly established Anti-Doping Division announces its first decision. The Division began operating in January 2019 to hear and decide anti-doping cases as a first-instance authority.
- May 17, 2019The University of Illinois Press has announced publication of a new book on Olympic economic history by Stephen Wenn and Bob Barney.
- May 16, 2019The World Anti-doping Agency launches call for proposals for its 2020 social science research grants, with a deadline of July 14, 2019.
- May 01, 2019Offering a complex technical rationale, the Court of Arbitration for Sport has rejected by majority the appeal by South African female runner Caster Semenya against the IAAF's "Regulations for Female Classification". If Semenya wants to enter IAAF's now "Restricted Classifications" events (400m to 1 mile races), she has to reduce her "natural testosterone level" to a new artificial lower level through adherence to an alteration regime of at least 6 months duration that relies on "normal oral contraceptives."
- April 29, 2019The IOC Olympic Studies Centre has announced its Advanced Olympic Research (for established researchers) and PhD Student and Early Career Grant Programmes in the humanities and social sciences.
- April 24, 2019British Paralympic officials were stunned to learn that hotels near their training camp for the 2020 Paralympics demand payments for making rooms accessible.
- April 17, 2019Kinesiology PhD student Andrew Pettit has been selected to participate in the upcoming session of the International Olympic Academy, in Olympia, Greece.
- February 04, 2019The Canadian Olympic Committee invites application by 20-35 olds for participation in the 2019 International Olympic Academy
- January 23, 2019The Observatory for Mega-Events Research invites submission from all disciplines and interdisciplinary studies for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Key Legacies Conference, University Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée, 17-18 June 2019. A special session on "Legacy in terms of image" will be part of the event.
- January 07, 2019Referring to critics of WADA's handling of the Russian doping case as a 'lynch mob', senior IOC member Richard Pound has forcefully defended the World Anti-Doping Agency's response to Russian authorities' breach of commitments in the ongoing investigation.
- December 21, 2018Russian anti-doping authorities have refused to comply with agreed-upon reinstatement stipulations set by WADA by blocking full access to the Moscow anti-doping lab.
- December 13, 2018The IOC Olympic Studies Centre invites the academic community to submit proposals related to any of the 11 IOC priority fields of research. Submission deadline is February 1.
- December 08, 2018At a recent meeting of the IOC, decisions on a potential inclusion of eSports on the Olympic program were deferred pending further investigation of the appropriateness of classifying the activities as 'sports.'
- November 14, 2018In a referendum characterized by a strong turn-out, a majority of 56% to 44% voted against a bid to host the 2026 Winter Olympic Games. This reduces the field of potential host cities to two. The IOC will make a final decision in 2019.
- October 13, 2018Professor Jeffrey O. Segrave, David H. Porter Professor at Skidmore College, has delivered the 2018 Earle F. Zeigler Memorial Lecture, speaking on the topic of, "Victorian Seriality and the Modern Olympic Games."
- October 01, 2018Earle F. Zeigler, first Dean of the then Faculty of Physical Education at Western University, has passed away at the age of 99.
- September 23, 2018The Sport and Social Impact Research Group (SSIRG) at Western will host a Human Rights and Social Impact in Sport Symposium on the day preceding the ICOS Symposium.
- September 20, 2018At the invitation of professor Robert Barney and ICOS, Professor Runbin Wang has arrived to take up a visiting professorship at the International Centre for Olympic Studies.
- September 20, 2018The World Anti-Doping Agency has surprisingly reinstated the Russian Anti-Doping Agency, subject to WADA-defined conditions. This move has been met with widespread criticism.
- September 17, 2018Citing infrastructural problems caused b a recent earthquake, the city of Sapporo, Japan, has decided to withdraw from the hosting competition for the 2026 winter Olympic Games. The City is now considering a bid for the 2030 Games.
- August 07, 2018The 2020 Tokyo Olympics will use facial recognition technology on athletes, official staff as well as the press.
- May 30, 2018Several scholars and researchers associated with ICOS presented papers at the 2018 Convention of the North American Society for Sport History.
- April 24, 2018The Association of African National Olympic Academies has just realized one of its most important projects, the creation of the African Center for Olympic Studies.
- April 12, 2018The IOC Olympic Studies Centre has announced its 2019 PhD Students Research and Early Career Academics Grant programmes. Deadline for the submission of applications is September 28, 2018.
- April 06, 2018 Seven cities, or joint-bidding cities, have expressed interest in hosting the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, the IOC has announced.
- March 06, 2018The first International Forum on Young Children and Sport will be hosted at the Research Centre for Gender, Children, Sport and Society, Beijing University, China, from May 9 to 12, 2018. Submissions are now open.
- March 06, 2018Researchers at the Université de Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée have established an Observatory for Research on Mega Events to focus on developments related to the 2024 Olympic Summer Games.
- February 28, 2018On the day after the Winter Games' closing ceremony, and subsequent to confirmation by the Doping-Free Sport Unit that all remaining tests from Russian athletes had come back negative, the IOC announced that the suspension of the Russian NOC would be lifted.
- February 24, 2018The International Olympic Committee has upheld its suspension of Russia as a team from the Games, a move that will force the country’s athletes to march in the closing ceremony without their national colours or flag.
- February 09, 2018The Court for Arbitration in Sport has rejected an appeal brought by Russian athletes and officials against the IOC Eligibility Panel's ruling excluding them from the 2018 Winter Olympics.
- February 04, 2018The IOC criticism of the CAS Russian doping appeal decisions indicates a widening rift between IOC and CAS.
- February 01, 2018The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has overturned sanctions against 28 Russian athletes banned from the Olympic Games for life, with their results from Sochi 2014 being reinstated. A further 11 cases were found to have enough evidence to uphold the sanctions.
- January 20, 2018The IOC gave the go-ahead for North Korea's participation in the 2018 Olympics, granting accreditations for 22 athletes in 3 sports and 5 disciplines.
- January 19, 2018In the ongoing case of Indian athlete Ms Dutee Chand, the Court of Arbitration in Sport has extended by another six months the suspension of Hyperandrogenism Regulations developed by the International Association of Athletics Federations. The IAAF had tabled revised and additional Regulations intended only to apply to women's track races between 400 metres and one mile.
- January 17, 2018Several US women gymnasts, including top Olympians Gabby Douglas and Simone Biles, were among the dozens of young girls sexually abused by former team doctor Larry Nassar. Several athletes voiced strong criticism of the lack of support from US Gymnastics.
- January 17, 2018Beginning January 22, the Court for Arbitration in Sport will hear the cases of 39 Russian athletes suspended by the IOC Disciplinary Commission for doping infractions connected to participation in the 2014 Sochi Winter Games.
- January 17, 2018North and South Korea have confirmed they are to field a joint women’s ice hockey team and will march under a pro-unification flag at next month’s Winter Olympics.
- January 11, 2018Kent Hehr, Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities, visited the International Centre for Olympic Studies, expressing a particular interest in ICOS' position on the benefits and disadvantages of hosting the Olympic Games.
- January 09, 2018North Korea will send a delegation that includes athletes, high-ranking officials, art performers, and reporters to the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. The decision is considered a diplomatic breakthrough amid rising tensions over North Korea's nuclear programme.
- January 03, 2018In a first for African sports, the Nigerian women's bobsled team has qualified for the 2018 Olympic competitions. The women team's entry marks the first-ever participation of an African team in Olympic bobsled competitions.
- January 01, 2018Calling for urgent meetings between North and South Korean sports leaders, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un announced in his New Year's Day speech that he is considering sending a delegation to the 2018 Winter Olympics.
- December 10, 2017Russian President Vladimir Putin has indicated that his government will allow Russians to compete as neutral athletes at the upcoming 2018 Winter Olympic Games.
- December 07, 2017The IOC has banned the Russian team from the upcoming 2018 Winter Olympic Games, but has left the door open for individual athletes who can prove that they are clean, to participate under a neutral flag.
- November 29, 2017A team of
- November 06, 2017The New Zealand Centre for Olympic Studies (University of Canterbury), the German Sports University Cologne, and the Centre d’Estudis Olimpics (Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona) have announced publication of the first issue of Diagoras: The International Academic Journal on Olympic Studies.
- November 01, 2017The IOC Olympic Studies Centre invites the academic community to submit funding proposals related to at least one of the 14 IOC priority fields of research, focusing on topics such major youth elite sport competitions, or the contribution of technology in supporting elite athletes.
- October 05, 2017Carlos Arthur Nuzman, chief organizer of the 2016 Rio Olympics, has been arrested under suspicion of conspiring to bribe members of the IOC during the host city selection process for the 2016 Olympics.
- September 06, 2017The presidents of Germany and Israel have unveiled a memorial to the eleven Israeli athletes and coaches and a West German police officer killed during an attack by a Palestinian militant group at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
- August 31, 2017ICOS graduate Doiara dos Santos has accepted a position at the Federal University of Viçosa, Minas Gerais, one of the leading research universities in Brazil.
- July 31, 2017Los Angeles has accepted a deal to stage the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. In consequence, the 2024 Games will be heading to Paris.
- June 21, 2017In an attempt to reduce cross-border political tensions, South Korea has proposed that North Korea host some of the skiing events at next year’s Winter Olympics.
- June 03, 2017Several researchers and graduate students connected with ICOS gave presentations at the 2017 Convention of the North American Society for Sport History.
- May 07, 2017After several years of painstaking research, professor emeritus Bob Barney has finally solved the riddle of the photo of the Canadian team participating in the 1908 London Olympics
- April 25, 2017The IOC has launched the 2018 edition of its PhD research grant program. The program consists of the 'open subject' and 'NOC Policy Priority' research streams.
- April 04, 2017The National Hockey League (NHL) has notified the IOC that NHL players will not participate in the 2018 Olympic Ice Hockey Competitions.
- March 06, 2017Professor Zinon Papakonstantinou, University of Illinois-Chicago, has delivered the 2017 Ion Ioannides Memorial Lecture.
- February 28, 2017The IOC has amended its host city contract document to make human rights considerations a core requirement for cities intending to develop future hosting bids.
- February 22, 2017The Hungarian government has announced the city of Budapest's withdrawal from the 2024 hosting competition, citing a lack of national support for the application.
- February 10, 2017The Guardian newspaper shines a critical light on the state of Rio Olympic venues six months after the conclusion of the Games.
- February 04, 2017The IOC Athletes’ Commission has issued a statement supporting expedited athlete access to the United States.
- January 27, 2017The 2024 Paris Bid Committee has announced plans to slash carbon emissions that are claimed greatly to exceed the results of London 2012 and Rio 2016
- January 27, 2017Olympic sprint star Usain Bolt has lost his Beijing 4x100 team relay gold medal, after his team mate Nesta Carter tested positive for a banned substance.
- December 13, 2016At the invitation of Laura Misener, School of Kinesiology, graduate students in the Sport Management Program at Vrije Universiteit Brussel paid a visit to ICOS.
- December 09, 2016In the second part of his investigation, Western law Professor Richard McLaren has confirmed a system-wide doping conspiracy that benefited over 1,000 Russian athletes.
- December 08, 2016Olympic and world champion pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva has been appointed to take charge of the Russian anti-doping oversight board. Isinbayeva, who was blocked from Rio 2016, has been an outspoken critic of WADA policies.
- November 16, 2016The IOC has launched the 2017-18 edition of its Advanced Olympic Research Grant Programs. The programs support Olympics-related research under a humanities or social sciences perspective.
- November 01, 2016The World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) has published a report casting a critical light on several aspects of the testing regime at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympic Games.
- October 18, 2016To mitigate the projected budget increases for Tokyo 2020, the IOC is considering the relocation of some rowing and canoeing events to central South Korea.
- October 13, 2016A panel set up by Tokyo's Governor has concluded that the hosting costs for Tokyo 2020 are to exceed the initial budget four-fold.
- September 22, 2016Citing the potential high costs of hosting the 2024 summer Olympic Games, the new mayor of Rome has terminated the city's hosting bid.
- September 14, 2016The World Anti Doping Agency's computer systems have been hacked by a Russian cyber espionage group. The group published medical data of several high-profile athletes.
- September 09, 2016IOC President Thomas Bach missed the Opening Ceremonies of the Rio Paralympic Games to attend the funeral of a senior German politician.
- August 17, 2016Janice Forsyth, former ICOS Director, comments in the Globe and Mail on the recent debate surrounding the problematic issues of sex/gender testing.
- August 17, 2016ICOS Founding Director Bob Barney discusses the future potential of the Olympic Games on the CBC's national morning program, The Current.
- August 16, 2016The IAAF's reinstated ban of Russian long jumper Darya Klishina is overruled by the Court for Arbitration for Sport
- August 13, 2016Former ICOS Director Janice Forsyth discusses IOC sex/gender testing policies on CBC's national show, Sunday Edition.
- August 13, 2016Based on new information, the IAAF has rescinded Darya Klishina's special permission to participate in the Rio Games. The special permission had overridden an earlier ban.
- August 12, 2016Richard Pound, Doyen of the IOC, delivered the 2016 Earle F. Zeigler Address, during the 13th International Symposium for Olympic Studies, in Vitória, Brazil.
- August 11, 2016ICOS' 13th International Symposium for Olympic Research was hosted in Vitória, Brazil, in co-operation, with Arete-Centre of Olympic Studies, Federal University of Espírito Santo.
- August 11, 2016On the Huffington Post, Janice Forsyth offers critical commentary on current IOC sex/gender testing policies from a human rights perspective.
- August 03, 2016Academics associated with ICOS keep a regular schedule of media interventions during the Olympic period.
- July 28, 2016Over on the Huffington Post, former ICOS Director Janice Forsyth shines a critical light on IOC sex testing / gender determination policies
- July 25, 2016To avoid issuing a blanket ban on Russia's participation in Rio 2016, the IOC has passed on enforcement of anti-doping measures to the International Sports Federations.
- July 22, 2016Richard Pound, Chairman of the IOC's Olympic Broadcasting Services, will deliver the the 2016 Earle F. Zeigler Lecture.
- July 21, 2016The Court of Arbitration for Sport has confirmed the International Association of Athletics Federations' decision to ban the Russian track team from the 2016 Olympics
- July 19, 2016Independent investigator Professor Richard McLaren's report to the World Anti Doping Association paints a damning picture of systematic doping in the Russian sports system.
- July 13, 2016The International Track and Field Federation has rejected applications by 67 Russian athletes to clear them for participation in Rio 2016.
- July 13, 2016US-based Russian long jumper Darya Klishina has been cleared to participate in Rio 2016 under the IOC’s ’neutral’ flag.
- June 19, 2016Professor Alberto Reppold will address the 2016 Olympic Symposium to deliver the closing Keynote Address.
- June 18, 2016The IOC has come out in support of the IAAF decision to ban Russian track and field athletes from taking part in the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics.
- June 18, 2016Professor Robert K. Barney will deliver the opening Keynote Address at the 2016 International Symposium for Olympic Studies at the University of Espírito Santo, Vitória, Brazil. Professor Barney will investigate "Olympic Values and National Identity at the 1908 London Olympics."
- June 02, 2016Several graduate students and researchers associated with ICOS delivered papers at the 2016 NASSH Convention
- May 08, 2016Cogenta Social Sciences (Taylor & Francis) has issued a call for papers investigating the link between social sciences and the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
- May 07, 2016Jules Boykoff, Pacific University, has published, 'Power Games,' a critical history of the modern Olympic Games.
- April 27, 2016The IOC Olympic Studies Centre has announced the 2017 PhD. Student research grants. Candidates can apply to one of two different grant program categories.
- April 04, 2016Over at the Huffington Post, former ICOS Director Janice Forsyth offers some critical observations concerning Olympic Team Canada's fashion penchants
- March 26, 2016A visit to the IOC Archives kicks off Bob Barney and Stephen Wenn's new Olympics economic history study
- March 12, 2016Traveller and visitor information has now been added to the Symposium page. Please visit the page for all Symposium-related information.
- March 03, 2016The IOC has given the go-ahead for a team of refugee athletes to compete at the 2016 Summer Olympics
- February 23, 2016In an open letter to the IOC, sport historian and former Olympian Bruce Kidd and colleagues have called for a reassessment of the IOC's position on sex testing for female athletes
- February 07, 2016Olympic critic Jules Boykoff maps out the winners and losers of the upcoming 2016 Rio Summer Olympics
- January 16, 2016Rio organizers respond with across-the-board cuts to deepening budget deficits
- January 09, 2016Yudoka Popole Misenga and Yolande Mabika, refugee athletes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, hope to be the first athletes to be admitted to Rio 2016 under the new IOC refugee athlete policy.
- December 13, 2015Volume 24 (2015) of Olympika will be mailed to subscribers in late December. Follow this link to view Table of Contents and abstracts.
- December 01, 2015The 13th International Symposium for Olympic Research, will be co-hosted by the International Centre for Olympic Studies (ICOS) at Western University, London, Canada, and ARETE - Centre of Olympic Studies, Federal University of Espírito Santo (UFES), Vitória, Brazil. The Symposium will be held on the Campus of UFES in Vitória.
- November 29, 2015In an unexpected outcome, the citizens of Hamburg, Germany, on Sunday rejected a bid to host the 2024 summer Olympics with more than half voting against the project, killing off the candidacy.
- November 24, 2015The Centre for Sport Policy Studies at the University of Toronto has published a gender equality audit of the 2014 Winter Olympics as part of its ongoing project of gender equality audits of major sporting events.
- November 17, 2015Lord Coe, head of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), provisionally banned the Russian track and field federation in the wake of the WADA-sponsored doping report, stating that Russia could be banned from the 2016 Olympic track and field competitions unless convincing doping controls were devised.
- November 17, 2015The North American Society for Sport History (NASSH) has announced its 14th Student Essay Prize Competition. Graduate papers from the broad space of sport historiography, including olympic and paralympic history, are eligible.
- November 10, 2015The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has released a report that paints a damning picture of anti-doping programs related to athletics in Russia. The report has raised concerns that Russian athletes might be excluded from the 2016 Olympics.
- October 29, 2015The IOC Olympic Studies Centres has launched the 2016/2017 edition of the Advanced Olympic Research Grant Program, aimed at encouraging university professors, lecturers and research fellows who have completed their doctorate, and who currently hold an academic/research appointment/affiliation, to conduct projects in IOC priority fields of research.
- October 27, 2015Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly, IOC President Thomas Bach announced that highly qualified refugee athletes will be allowed to compete in the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro
- October 17, 2015An 'Olympic Summit' convened by IOC President Thomas Bach has called for a widening of the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) responsibilities in order to make drug-testing independent of sports organizations.
- October 07, 2015Jerry Gonser, a recent inductee into Western University's "W" Hall of Fame, has donated a poster depicting the "first hundred years of the Olympics", to ICOS.
- October 05, 2015The International Sociology of Sport Association has announced its 2016 Graduate Paper Award. Deadline for the submission of a 3,000 - 6,000 word essay is November 30, 2015, the winner will be announced by March 1, 2016.
- October 04, 2015Complaints by a female colleague about verbal comments made by COC Presidents Marcel Aubut that amounted to sexual harrasment, have led to Aubut stepping aside from his position with the Canadian Olympic Committee. The COC has retained the services of François Rolland, former chief justice of the Quebec Superior Court, to mount an investigation of the charges.
- September 30, 2015The University of Johannesburg, South Africa, will host an international conference on 'historical and contemporary issues in Olympic Studies', from November 30 - December 2, 2015.
- September 30, 2015
- September 22, 2015Economist Andrew Zimbalist has updated and extended the critical analysis in his well-received Circus Maximus: The Economic Gamble Behind Hosting the Olympics and the World Cup. Zimbalist has extended his analysis to include the World Cup of Soccer.
- September 14, 2015The Toronto Star reports that Toronto Mayor John Tory has decided not to submit a hosting bid for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games. This decision ends an energetic discussion in the city on the advisability of submitting such a bid.
- September 12, 2015Former ICOS Director Janice Forsyth's blog on the Huffington Post examining the bid process (and its public invisibility) by the City of Toronto for the 2024 Summer Olympics has been noted positively in the Toronto Star.
- September 10, 2015Professor emerita (University of Toronto) Helen Lenskyj has donated her extensive research file collection to the International Centre for Olympic Studies.
- September 08, 2015Dr. Bradley Congelio, Keystone College, Pennsylvania, has succeeded Dr. Gord MacDonald as Olympika's Book Reviews Editor.
- September 04, 2015Los Angeles City Council has officially given Mayor Eric Garcetti approval to pursue a bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympic Games, but reserved the right closely to manage key aspects of the financial planning for the Games.
- September 03, 2015Dr. Helen Chenery, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine at Bond University, Australia, has visited the International Centre for Olympic Studies.
- September 01, 2015Organizers for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games decided to scrap the official Games logo after a Belgian artist's plagiarism accusation became public.
- August 02, 2015In a close vote of 44-40, the IOC has awarded the 2022 Winter Olympic Games to the city of Beijing.
- August 02, 2015Over at the Huffington Post, Dr. Janice Forsyth comments on the development process for a potential bid by the City of Toronto to host the 2024 Olympic Games.
- July 30, 2015Dr. Michael Heine has succeeded Dr. Janice Forsyth as Director of the International Centre for Olympic Studies.
- July 30, 2015Professor Jules Boykoff (Pacific University) comments on the problematic human rights situation in China and Kazakhstan, prior to the IOC's hosting decision for the 2022 Winter Olympics.
- July 15, 2015The U.S. Olympic Committee has rescinded Boston's bid to host the 2024 Olympic Games, after the Mayor said Boston's taxpayers could not afford to host the large-scale event.
- July 07, 2015After eighteen years at Western University, Dr. Kevin Wamsley has been appointed Provost of St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia
- June 30, 2015Dr. Janice Forsyth has completed her five-year term as ICOS Director. She will be succeeded by Dr. Michael Heine.