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Olympic Games
During the London 2012 Olympic Games, I was working with an arts based digital project called Emoto, which was an artist-led data visualization of the Games using Twitter. The project was developed by Future Everything using Lexalytics. Here is a video of the final sculpture of the tweets, which brought an additional creative layer to the content.
The last night of sport at the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games coincided with the BBC’s Last Night of the Proms on 8th September and it was a night full of Olympic tributes. The programme included work by Josef Suk, which won a musical prize at the Los Angeles 1932 Olympic Games, back when there were also contests for artists, as well as athletes. His ‘Towards a New Life’ is now considered a classic Olympic fanfare and a fitting prelude to John Williams’ ‘Olympic Fanfare and Theme’, which took place in Part two of the evening
The popular Williams composition is an iconic Olympic musical score and was even greeted in the Royal Albert Hall with a solitary Olympic flag, which stood amidst a uniquely international collection of other flags in what is one of the most popular British nights of the year, watched all over the UK.
It was also a night for festival. In this unique year for the BBC Proms, now in its 118th season, it was made part of the London 2012 Festival, the primary Cultural Olympiad brand during Games time, running throughout the Proms season.
It was also apt then that Antonin Dvork’s Carnival was played in this important year, as it was first played at the original Proms in 1895. Dvorak – whose birthday in 1841 also fell on the 8th September – composed the piece imagining a ‘lonely, contemplative wanderer reaching at twilight a city where a festival is in full swing’. Played at twilight in London on the penultimate night of the London 2012 Games and within the London 2012 Festival programme, one could not imagine a greater festival in any fuller swing!
Whether by design or by chance, this Paralympic Games time finale was a wonderful climax to the London 2012 Games’ cultural programme, which could only be followed by a closing ceremony, which takes place on Sunday the 9th September at 730pm.
The evening concluded by bringing the Olympic programme full circle, with a rendition of Jerusalem, which also featured in the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony. There was also a surprise appearance of Team GB gold medalists, who accompanied the audience in a rendition of “Rule Britannia’, a Last Night of the Proms classic, and a special mention to London 2012’s Cultural Olympiad by Jiri Belohlavek, outgoing Chief Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra – the evening’s star of the show.
After last night's surprise result with Alan Fonteles Oliveira beating Oscar Pistorius in the 200m final, I've been asked by a few journalists for a comment. Here's what I've got to say on the matter:
FINAL UPDATE: "The deeper issue underpinning this debate is what counts as a legitimate human within either Olympic and Paralympic sport. This is why the fall of Oscar Pistorius is more important than the fall of any other athlete before him, even Lance Armstrong. This is because Pistorius symbolizes the rise of the cyborg and the demise of the natural human. If his loss yesterday was fair, two conclusions are possible. Either, there are more like him coming and this will spark a tidal wave of change within Olympic and Paralympic sport, but, more broadly, in how society perceives ability. If his loss was unfair, then we may ask whether it is ok to transcend the normal human body and change people in a way that bears no resemblance to species typical norms. Either way, the debacle is a step forward for a transhuman view of sport, the only sure winner of which is technology. Just in case this is unclear, I think this is good for sport, as it exposes what has been there under the surface for some time. In fact, as the technology progresses to the nanoscale, our reinforcements - our prosthetics - will become imperceptible to the naked eye."
UPDATE: "Many people have asked why Pistorius didn't change his prosthetic blades as well, but any alteration would have prevented him from competing in the Olympic Games too, since the clause of his inclusion was very narrow defined. It seems daft to me that the IAAF and the IPC have a different definition of what is the appropriate length of a prosthetic device for a person to use. Of course, they don't. It's just that the IAAF don't have a definition at all, since they would prefer Pistorius not to enter the Olympic Games. However, Pistorius has suffered from wanting to remain eligible for each Games. It is a terrible world where a person with a disability must compromise their status within a disability community to be eligible for participation in a non-impaired world. Pistorius raised the concern about the length of the new prosthetic devices some weeks ago. This is not sour grapes, it is a person who has a legitimate concern who feels it is not being heard. What's more, he is not alone in having raised this. I found his post-race interview quite uncalculated and measured. Not a tantrum at all"
"It would be a mistake to say that Oscar has been beaten at his own game, but critics have drawn parallels to his concern about Alan Fonteles Oliveira with arguments against Oscar's participation within the Olympic Games."
"The IPC have said that Oliveira's legs are within the rules, but here we have another debate about what the rules should be in the first place. Oscar's concern indicates that these athletes have changed their legs recently in such a way as to betray the rules, but only an inquiry will change this decision now. It sounds to me that there ought to be one, since it is highly unusual that an athlete should gain such great speed in the final stretch and that they could so dramatically change their running times from one Games to the next"
"It's hard to understand how a Paralympian could adjust their prosthetics in such a way as to dramatically alter their height, but the concern seems to be that the Paralympic rules are not tight enough."
"If the rules are all agreed, then last night was a great night for Paralympic sport. It needs more people who can compete with Oscar Pistorius to really bring about a change in the argument over whether there should be just one Games. With more athletes reaching the same level of Pistorius, I think we are closer to that point"
"This situation may be a reason to force Paralympians to use the same kind of technology, of course, adjusting to their individual body types."
"The big question emerging from the race last night is whether the Paralympic rules within the T43 200m race need to be tighter. It's normal that a past winner should face young challengers and that they should eventually dethrone the champion. However, this looks like an unusual win and the concerns have been raised by other Paralympians about athletes adjusting their blade dimensions."
"If Oliveira's prosthetic legs are bigger and better and legal, then Pistorius really ought to get some. If his body height precludes this and the only reason why Alan Fonteles Oliveira has longer blades is that he is taller, then Pistorius has been beaten by a more biologically privileged athlete. However, there might be an argument to divide athletes by height as well as disability - and this is something I've argued should be applied not just to Paralympic sport, but also the Olympics. In the same way that we separate athletes in weight divisions, height also has a huge impact on likely achievements"
"On a more subjective level, I've watched the race countless times now and it looked to me like Oliveira was much more reliant on momentum than Pistorius"
Professor Andy Miah is Director of the Creative Futures Institute at the University of the West of Scotland and is author of 'The Olympics' (2012).
Here's my 'holding slide' for the Games time period. Available for interview Contact: +44 (0) 757 898 4147 / @andymiah / email@andymiah.net Interview topics: doping, Olympic politics, London atmosphere, local issues, social media, Oscar Pistorius, sport technology, ethics, gene doping, cultural olympiad, London 2012 Festival, Olympic politics
Qualifications: primary research at 6 Olympic Games (Winter and Summer), Prof at International Olympic Academy, interviews live+recorded for major programmes (BBC Newsnight, CBC The Hour), writing for Washington Post, Guardian, Independent, Times). Dates: I will be in London 21-22 July, then 26 July - 13 August, then 1-10 September.
Games Time Interviews to date. Some of these are derived from the same source eg. a Reuters piece in English picked up by Bolivia, but I figure, if someone has bothered to translate it, then it counts.
Articles published during the Olympic month
While today’s sentencing of the Pussy Riot trio and the accompanying 100 year law banning Pride marches is devastating for many Russian citizens, it also jeopardises the integrity of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games, which will take place in less than two years. It may even be a bigger political issue than the complaints about China's entitlement to host the Games back in 2008 when Beijing staged the Olympics.
This is because there are many more visible activists who have stood on behalf of the Pussy Riot trio and who are visibly vocal in their rejection of the ruling. In comparison, China's capacity to silence dissidents forced the debates about human rights to the margins and obscured it from people's views once the Games began. There were not even any significant statements from athletes about the situation during the sports. While such statements would have compromised an athlete’s position in their Olympic team, history has shown that, when issues matter a lot, then these conditions of participation may be less significant to athletes, who know they are also moral role models for their fans.
What’s different about Sochi 2014 is that the issue of LGBTQ rights is much more alive and in the public domain within Russia than the human rights issue within China. Furthermore, at every Olympic Games, a Pride House is created – alongside the various national houses – and Russia’s domestic law is likely to make this impossible. Furthermore, as a population, the athlete community is much more switched on and emotionally connected to the issues surrounding LGBTQ rights and freedom.
As such, the IOC should expect to see all kinds of protest during the Sochi 2014 Games, unless the Pussy Riot trio are released early. Indeed, Sochi 2014 could give rise to similarly historical statements as were made by USA athletes Tommy Smith and John Carlos back in Mexico 1968. It seems inconceivable that none of the many LGBTQ athletes will use their moment in the limelight to highlight an issue that some of their peers and friends within the Russian Olympic team will feel unable to raise. It even brings into question whether the Games should have gone to Russia at all, given the Olympic movements promotion of non-discrimination.
At this moment between the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, where there has been much talk about a one Games future, leaders within the Olympic movement should make statements of support for Russian LGBTQ athletes, if only to ensure that the IOC frowns on this kind of regressive decision.
While this undoubtedly will not come, in one year when plans to create a Pride House during the Sochi 2014 Games surface again, this issue will erupt and catch the Olympic movement unawares unless it acts first.
This view was taken while interviewing for Ben Brown of News 24, which came about after having written this article for the BBC.
There has been a lot of talk about how London 2012 is the first social media Olympics, but did you notice just how much this concept was embedded into the Opening Ceremony?
First of all, behind every audience members’ seat was a personalized ‘pixel’ device, which they were asked to utilize and create ‘user generated content’ in the ceremony itself. Even the official media guide for the Opening Ceremony says there are no spectators; everyone participates.
Also, in the final main section of the Ceremony, a social media love story became the backdrop for the spectacle, where a modern day Charlie Chaplin pursued his girl using mobile phones, text messages, and social media messaging.
The final straw was the presence of Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide web, who appeared at the end of this segment, as if he was the architect of the entire modern day society we had just witnessed developing before our eyes.
Evidently, he was even tweeting from his desk during his appearance within the ceremony, including references to the World Wide Web Consortium and the Web Foundation. These two references aligned with the ceremony’s foregrounding of important social concerns, not least of which is free communication.
At the end of the sequence, Berners-Lee’s infamous words ‘This is for everyone’, referring to the World Wide Web, were displayed via the pixels in the crowd.
As a lot of Canadians remind us, Vancouver 2010 was also a social media Olympics and can really claim being the first. However, nobody can contest that London 2012 was the first to make it a social media Opening Ceremony!
This post was first published in Metro
The Olympics are upon us, you’ve charged up your mobile, you’ve wiped down your iPad, you have no data limits. Now, what should you do to make sure you don’t miss out on crucial information as the Games begin?
Here’s a quick guide to some of the key Twitter accounts that are worth following, but don’t forget to use Twitter lists and hashtags as a filter for information. It's not everything, but not a bad start. If there's anything significant I've missed, drop me a line!
The best way to do this is to discover which hashtags are beginning to trend around any particular event. It might be #100m or #archery, but you’ll find the best one by searching among your Twitter peers. Most likely, #London2012 will be far too populated to function effectively, but #London2012Festival might be a good tip for cultural activity.
@London2012 ‘the management’ – LOCOG’s primary account, a bit too much stuff
@SebCoe ‘the boss’ - not many personalized tweets, but the top guy at LOCOG
@IamWenlock ‘the Olympic Mascot’
@IamMandeville ‘the Paralympic mascot’
@AlexBalfour2012 ‘the social media guy’ – LOCOG’s Head of Social Media, if the website goes down, blame Alex.
@London2012Fest – official account of the London 2012 Festival. If you don’t have a ticket for any sport, or even if you can’t get to London for the Games, then this is a good place to start, as you can participate in a range of cultural activities taking place wherever you are over the next 2 months.
@RuthMackenzie – Director of London 2012 Festival and a recent Twitter convert, good content, tweets, and replies.
@paulwoodmansey – PR for London 2012 Festival. If it’s on, Paul is there!
@olympics – the main IOC account, not much engagement, but good links to Olympic family people (athletes, etc)
@AlexHuot – the IOC’s Social media Director, plugs into SXSW and other cool camps
@L2012Spectators - for travel advice, especially for ticket holders
@VisitBritain – in case London gets too much, find out what is happening elsewhere in the UK during the Games
Remember that the Olympics are not just about sport, there are 12,000 cultural events happening around the Games period, many of which are free.
@ArtistsLead – Artists taking the lead is a series of major commissions around the UK, try to see them all for a really breath taking experience
@LegacyTrustUK – whether you knew it or not, there has been a lot of Olympic & Paralympic activity in your region funded by Legacy Trust. While their account is not very active, their links will take you to activity taking place in your region.
@thespacearts – perhaps the most innovative project of any Olympic Games ever, a collaboration between the BBC and Arts Council England to revolutionize broadcasting of cultural events
@edfringe – ok, it’s not really London 2012, but there is other art stuff happening during the Games, you know!
@TeamGB – scroll through who they are following to find your Olympic hopeful or hopeless
@ParalympicsGB – the primary account for British Paralympian team.
@TomDaley – not a swimmer, a diver!
@OscarPistorius – ‘the blade runner’ making history by qualifying for the Olympic Paralympic Games
@ChrisHoy – cycling legend
@MatthewCPinsent – rowing veteran
@SkeletonAmy – zooms down hills at the Winter Games
@NickSymmonds – the World’s most social media savvy athlete. Auctioned space on his left shoulder on eBay to fund his career. Winner would have their Twitter handle tattooed there during 2012.
@JDE66 –Jonathan Edwards, triple jump world record holder and overall London 2012 ambassador
Also check out the IOC’s Athlete Hub, which takes you to social media links for athletes: http://hub.olympic.org
@BBC2012 – the principal account for the London 2012 BBC team
@RogerMosey – Director of the BBC 2012 programme, follow him for a more personal insight into what the beeb are doing
@NBCOlympics – at the Beijing 2008 Games, the NBC Twitter list was the most followed worldwide and NBC partnered with Twitter to create a great guide to the Games for tracking athlete data.
@PearceSport – the BBC’s sport anchor James Pearce, always in the thick of things
@C4Paralympics – for the first time, Channel 4 are broadcasting the Paralympic Games. Check in with this account for their contribution
@InsideTheGames – novel news start up for 2012
Not all of the sponsors have Twitter profiles, but here are some examples that have generated a lot of activity. You can also visit the Olympic Sponsor pavilions when the Games begin.
@BPLondon2012 – Cultural Olympiad premier partner
@CadburyUK – expect free, Olympic themed chocolate
@CokeZone – Coca Cola has a number of Olympic twitter ids, this is the one for the Torch Relay, for which it is presenting partner. Keep an eye out for their pin trading id, to participate in the unofficial Olympic sport.
@GamesMonitor – the Olympic & Paralympic watchdog, keeping tabs on all
@CounterOlympics – planning coordinated action on 28th July in London
@DropDowNow – campaign against Dow’s sponsorship of the Olympic Games
@Moratorium2012 - Stop the Arrests - campaign to stop sex worker arrests in London during Olympics
@NoSochi2014 – connect with the emerging protests around the Sochi 2014 Games
@OccupyOlympics – will there be an Olympic occupation during the Games? If so, this account will let you know.
@OlympicBoycott – the official protestors whose DIY protest t-shirts captured LOCOG’s attention
@OlympicMissiles – protesting the situation of missiles on residents’ homes
@OurOlympics – reclaiming the Games from the corporations
@ReclaimTheBard – the Reclaim Shakespeare Company, campaign against BP involvement in the Cultural Olympiad
@SpaceHiJackers (the people behind the Official Protestor campaign)
In addition to these, here are some accounts that I'm using
@andymiah - my personal account
@media_2012 - for some of the alternative news from the #media2012 network
@CulturalOlympic - for all the cultural news
@emoto - a data visualization of Twitter emotions (I'm a collaborator)
On 21st June, Beatriz, Ethan and I spent a day following the Olympic torch down from Dumfries in Scotland to Bowness-on-Windermere. It began at 745am on a cloudy, grey morning and that turned out to be the best weather of the day!
I was accredited by LOCOG to be with the team and spent a reasonable proportion of the day around the delivery team, talking to torch bearers, police officers, and the Torch entourage (sponsors, crew, etc) about their experiences.
One of the most overwhelming take home messages from a range of people I spoke to were complements about the Metropolitan police officers involved. I wasn't expecting to hear this, especially as the presence of security is often seen as a negative aspect of the torch. However, people in the crowd and around the staging of events only had positive things to say about them and my experience reinforced this view.
I spent quite a bit of time talking to officers in detail about their experience. One of the team told me that they are 'all runners' and that, when they are assigned to running for the day - sometimes they are on bicycles - they cover approximately the distance of a marathon.
They work on a 4-week rotation, which meant they recently had a 4 day break and are due another in early July. One officer explained that it was very difficult to be away from the torch for that length of time and there was a real sense of emotional attachment to this assignment.
On the boat from Ambleside to Bowness, the team had around 1 hr when they could relax a little and talk more.
At any one time, there are 2 pilot light flames accompanying the lit torches and the lanterns - traditional mining lantern designs - and a further 4 lit pilots on the bus. These lanterns stay with the officers 24 hrs a day. They even sleep with them I was told.
Throughout, it was apparent how the officers were constantly focused on the torch bearer's experience and I was surprised at how personable they were. Some of the photos I took convey this well. I didn't ask if they had received media training, but they were certainly very human in how they related to those people who entered their inner circle and very well versed to speak to media. I was with them at the half-way point in the relay, so I think they probably had answered the same questions 100 times by then.
Even the Olympic sponsors who were with the team confounded my ideas about how they may simply devalue the Olympic symbol. While people on the ground reported how the sponsors may have trivialized the experience at the evening events, on the boat, the sponsor reps spent time talking to the torch bearers, explaining the history of the torch design and seemingly trying to enrich the torch bearer's experience of their brief time with the team.
At the same time, the VIPs who found themselves around the torch were really not placed centre stage. If anything, they were relegated and given reasonably short shrift in the experience, which was quite heart warming.
When starting out on the day, I was not sure how or what I would report, but the story turned out to be the entourage around the torch bearer and the experience within that quite tightly constructed bubble where the performance of the relay is delivered. It is a place of considerable collaboration between the police, LOCOG, and the crew, along with the local teams that must work with them to ensure everything stays on schedule.
I'm sure I would not like to have got in the way of their work - one of the official photographers did bump me out the way at one point when I got in his shot, but that's not unusual - and I'm sure there are some who have felt the wrath of this team - and the wider police work around the torch - at key moments when the torch may have seemed vulnerable. I was also surprised that this turned out to be my story of the day, as stories about the police around the torch historically are more critical than anything.
However, when all goes well, people in the crowd conveyed to me how they felt the police helped to make the experience memorable, in a good way. Nevertheless, I think the torch bearers themselves were the main beneficiaries of their conduct.
The Palgrave Handbook of Olympic Studies is out now with a chapter by Jennifer Jones and I on the Olympic Movement's digital assets, monetization and more.
The #media2012 project is really ramping up now. We have been shortlisted for a prize, which will be decided on public vote. Please vote for #media2012 here (takes 5 seconds).
Latest film for the #media2012 project, makes a new argument.
Dr Beatriz Garcia and I have just launched the website of our new book, due for publication by Taylor and Francis in February 2012. It is titled 'The Olympics: The Basics' and features within the renowned Routledge series 'The Basics'. The website to the book is a unique attempt to build content around the Subject Index for the book. On the months leading up to publication, we will add resources that complement discussions in the book, providing fascinating insights into the Olympic movement and Games. You can also follow the book on Twitter, where we wil post new resources from the site.
Last week, I was back in Lausanne and spent a couple of days in the Olympic Studies Centre at the International Olympic Committee Museum. I first visited the Olympic Studies Centre in Lausanne during the Winter of 2001, when I was researching the International Olympic Committee’s Medical Commission and Ethics Commission. The Ethics Commission had only just been established and I was able to attend its first press conference at the IOC HQ, which is a couple of miles west from the museum in Vidy. The OSC consists of a library where a wide range of Olympic related publications are held, along with the IOC’s archive, which provides access to its meeting minutes, correspondence and multimedia documentation. It’s such a beautiful location and an optimal working condition. If ever you get a chance to visit, take it.
The trip was pretty useful, managed to progress a lot of the research on Computer Games and Sport, which was v helpful. Also managed to catch up with Dick Pound briefly, who was in the museum's Olympic Studies Centre researching his latest book.
In case you’re wondering what the totem is all about in the picture above, they’ve just installed their Vancouver 2010 exhibition, which foregrounds the ‘four host nations’ dimension of their Games. This photograph is taken at the entrance to the museum. More photos here:
London 2012 Creative & Digital IndustriesManchester, 2009.06.19
Paul Newman Media City
5 BBC depts., 1600 jobs BBC Five Live BBC Childrens BBC Sport
Local radio, comedy, some news and current affairs
Peter Salmon, BBC North - chief commissioner of Media City
Anne Thompson NWDA, Sector Leader Sport
Scale of Olympics ME: numbers of media are inaccurate. These are the IOC and Organizing Committee accredited figures 13k broadcast, 7k print. But in Beijing, you had another 11000 media present and many more without accreditation from the official broadcasters.
CompeteFor - main mechanism to receive contract opportunities - must be registered and published
Claire Stocks (Editor, Olympics, Sport Interactive) & Tim Plyming, Chief Executive, Digital Olympics BBC Sport
Beijing 2008
Digital Olympics
4.5million visitors to website each day 2million of them looking at clips
2004 – Athens 2.5million live streams
2008 - Beijing 38-40 million live streams
Digital Olympics - bring all parts of technical development to crecendo in 2012 last 3 Olympics have been described as a digital games, but nobody has really delivered this yet
we have a unique timing clash – switch off of analogue
Digital Britain provision of 2mbps broadband in every homoe by 2012 raise awareness of digital content
30% of population happy wth analogue signal
audience expectation - extended choice, immediacy, interactivity
Beijing Tv – 74% Online – 31% Radio – 15% Mobile – 2%
aspiration for 70% online reach
nbc Beijing 2008 - first time they developed rich video services - Beijing was biggest event in us history - But rich digital services were complimentary
Sold out advertising target within a week of Games
Hours BBC put in can at last games Sydney – 300hrs Athens – 1250hrs, 4000 HD Beijing, 2750hrs, 4000 HD London – 5000hrs, 5000 HD
How connect audiences across all platforms to this HD content?
3 phases towards 2012 1. build up: news stories 2. 2011: countdown phase – cultural Olympics, torch relay, music festivals 3. 2012: programme of events leading to games time. ME: but what about Games time as a distinct phase? How can you integrate non-sporting dimensions? How involved with non sport depts. Of bbc be with other content
Pulling all content together ME: but people don't want a distinct platform, they want you to allow them to pull it into something else, like Facebook
Legacy from Olympics – an integrated platform for post Games events
IPTV - 2012 first IPTV Olympics
Mobile - in Beijing, followed live text commentary
ME: what about street reporters?
Unless got a high end unlimited device, you’re not really using mobile for video
Audio might be the main story for mobile, not video
Radio (DAB)
Live Sites - interactive services, interact with mobile, Bluetooth download zones
ME: are there plans to deliver navigation and orientation content to mobiles, rather than produce print material?
Alex Balfour
25% of world online by 2012 (+44%) 17 countries will have > 60% broadband penetration by 2012, uk 58% to 74%
people having conversations online Mobile trends: - mobile penetration 100% in Western Europe
early adoption 13.5% vs innovators 2.5%
8 yr cycle to get to 60% penetration
simple new media model 1. new media products and services (help efficiency or cost effective) (eg. ticketing, education programme) 2.
put out on YouTube, Flickr
ME: if you are in the 2.5% of innovators, what platforms are you looking at for use in 2012? Is Twitter a clear commitment for instance? Are there others that you think people here should be working with, developing the applications, etc.
If not on Facebook, then we’re invisible.
ME: Can we engage people in Olympic park using digital? Eg. harnessing the Sponsors venues, which are the most prominent – or around pin trading, the other major games time cultural experience.
ME: how are you working with Olympic park infrastructure to make it more interesting?
Cultural Olympiad – artists taking the lead
ME: What are you not yet into, but which you have plans to be involved with?
Opportunities around venues, dressing buildings etc
Bring together digital content.
ME: you talk about dressing venues, have you found that you can talk to the individual sponsors who will be in the venue to build digital into their programmes?
My2012 - technology platform and sponsor already - channelled through social networks
Inspire Mark programme
Sponsors have expressed interest in digital
ME: Is digital the first way in history that sponsorship will enter Olympic venues?
To contact me: 200 word email
Debbi Lander
SKV Equivalent Advertising Cost
Q and A
www.londonolympics2012.com - how can we get support?
Brand protection - have been looked at and we’ve approved or raised questions
jean-loup chappelet tale of two cities
winter olympics in the alps
only 4 alpine cities
innsbrock 1964 and 1976 grenoble torino
compare legacy of t three cities,
grenoble 1968 - develop fench ski industry - catch up w growing popn - spread out - fist antidoping tests for winter - first mascot - first colour tv broadcast - 3alpine gold
innsbruck - replaced denver in 76 (which renounced) - saved winter games - brundage wanted rid of the winter games - wanted die einfachen spiele - compact games, short distances - furthest venue only 33 km away - first heavy security games after munich - first combined artificial bob and luge runs
30-40 yrs later - legacy?
sport - grenoble: all facilities destroyed or abandoned except one 10000 seat arena and small ski jump - almost no large sacpe sport event after - not a cause of t rise of cross-country skiing in france - innsbruck -- all facilities used,etc --- olympia world innsbruck
urban - grenoble -- totally transformed city in less than 4yrs -- many new landmarks: city hall, terain station, post office, hospital, cultural center, campus ,monumental sculptures -- olmpic village becomes new toan innsbruck76 -- few changes
infrastruct grenoble - new transport and telecom innsburck - some changes, ski lifts, etrrtc
economic - grenoble: low tourism innsvburck: high tourist, low industrial
grenoble and innsbruick - two v diff legacies, each worthy
2006
torino legacy - probably besrt of Grenoble - infrastruct and economic - c ity tranformed - prob not a winter sport city like innnsbruck, but new mega events likely - cultural tourism
Economic Analysis of Berne 2010 - formercandidate ctiy c stofer
bid stopped by democratic bid - not wwilllingto bid then and not willing to fund
framework -sports event as part ofsport industry -- not like other industries - not calculated by gov --- makes diffi for sports to be accepted in pujblic opinion
starting posn - missing basic info on economic impact of 2010 - mising basc of political debate in berne - missing info to generate t canddature file
objectives -qualitative analysis of t economic effects of berne 2010 - quant analysis of t economic effects of berne2010
method - lit - key factors - expert workshops 3 - estimatiom of economic key factors
google www.event-scorecard.ch
online sport communication alma mater studiorum
27 italian sport teams websites
communicative capabilities
comparative analysis
hyp: most imp teams of each sports use more efficiently the web
theoretical foundations - alexander, lazarsfeld, talcott parsons, donati
multidimensional communication -
how can i measure t comm capability orf asport website
recog dimensions
4 dimensions - persuasive, knowl, communitarian, identitarian (parsons) sub-dimensions
AM: are all parts of italy equally well serviced for web? broadband, wireless? mobile access
REsnicks hypothesis: - normalization of cyberspace
sponsorship and wog: t digital era chris and josep
Manuel Castells info soc did not go unnoticed new ways of connecting communities
analysis of sponsors display to customer
kodak provided revenue for athens 1896 TOP programme from 1985 -TOP VI: Turin to Beijing (2005-2008) - US$886m
OG in Internet Era - Tokyo 1964 - watershed - first satellite and compujtes - First internet exp: atlanta1996 --11m hits per dy for web - ibm tackled probs of nagano 998 - conflict in sydney2000 -- first game w imopact in devel countries -- over 11,000m hits during 16 days , 100m for atlanta - merge nbcolympics.com and olympics.com in SLC2002 -- 3m unique visitors per day -- wk before, ioc launched olympic.org
analysis of comparative matrix
all top partners had own website
AM: people dont use websites anymore
only 3 of top had mascots
no ioc web until 1995
AM: where do people go for their Olympic info?
only coca cola created a specific site
AM: what did people use it for?
only 5 top offer ablog for athlettes
AM: what was the nature of this blog?
increased role of internet providers
role of nbcolympics.com- - 3 top partners
IOC World Congress on Sport Science, Oct, 2003 Genes and Performance Wednesday, 1030am, Chair: Bengt Saltin
Genes and Health Greg collier, AGT Biosciences, LTD, Deakin Uni, International Diabetes Institute and South West foundation Texas
PARL a new gene involved in muscle function and type 2 diabetes
Literature is full of candidate gene studies – not worth the paper their written on
Unique DNA collection
AGT Biosceince cetre for Stat Genomics
Outbread Israeli Sand Rat Colony
Ezpress Technology Platform
AGT Biosceinces has access to number of human DNA sample collections
Access to unique DNA collections from worldwide populations
Major Collaborators
Dr. John Blangero, Texas - analysis of genetics of many complex diseases - devel opf new stat software - SOLAR
Native habitat is semi-arid regions of middle east
Israeli sand Rat develops diabetes and obesity in manner similar to humans
PARL – Preseneilins-associated rhomboid-like protein
7 transmembrane protein
predicted was located in mitochondria – regulating basic muscle function
Located at chromosome 3q27
Reduced gene expression in muscle of diabetic P. obesus
PARL gene expression was increased after exercise-training
Human gene expression data - Eric Ravussin, Anthony Civitarese (Pennington Biomedical Research Center)
Discovered by microarrary….
REF: McQuibban, Nature 423, 534 (2003) - in mitochondria, yeast equivalent…. - if knock gene out, mitochondria shrink and don’t function correctly
PARL cleaves human equivalent of OPA1… - in diabetic muscle, where decreased expression of PARL, this is a problem
Mitochondrial defects in genes occur before diabetes occurs
Dgene expression I skeletial musc asso with
REF: Kissebah, AH PNAS 97, 14478 (2000)
Genotyping 50 individuals, XXX
Association studies
Look at relationship of XXX
Responsible for about 5% of variation in insulin levels
Largest yet genetic variation causing insulin resistance
Discovered in muscle of animals
Leu26Val variant of parl asso with plasma insuli, with a strong genotype-by-age variant
Finding genes like this is not simple
Need to combine human linkage studies with expression
Not a worthwhile task to identify a gene and find an association
Brain health, and voluntary running Frank Booth
Epidemiological reports indicate that physically active elderly humans have less cognitive dystnfunction
Laurin Arch Neurol. 58:498, 2001 - women 65 yars or older, evaluated - highlevel of phys activ corresponsed to exercise
What is the mechanism? How phys activ tie into brain disfunction
Brain derived neuro..factor (BDNF)
Lu Learn, Mem. 2003, 10: 83-85
Wifdenfalk Neurosci Res 34 125: 1999 - animals running more had increase in XXX (i.e.
Located in hippocampus - Hippocampus is highly plastic structure normally asso with cog function, rather than motor
Malcangio Trends Pharmacol Sci 24:116, 2003-10-08
Increase in neurogenesis in hippocampus in animals that are running, compared to animals who are not running
Running primes t brain to enhance neuronal health
It is dogma in medicine that health indivs are the control group and t sick patients are treatment group
It is dogma in exercise that healthy indivs are t treatment group and t sicker population is t control group
Nby calling t phyaically active group t treatment, some others outside of exercise believe that being sedentary is health and thus see no reason to further supp exercise research
Carro, J. Neurosci. 21, 5678, 2001 Carro Mol Neurobi9ol 27, 153, 2003-10-08 - Increased sendetarism, contributes to an increasing incidence of neurological diseases - Sedentary life is a risk factor for neurodegenerative disease
What genese are changing in brain that will protect you from neural degeneration
(Saltin: Have identified candidate genes, now how activate?)
Kinetic Consideration of endurance training adaptations Name?
Approx 4 weeks before protein increase, through training
In 1980s, mRNA increase detected after 2 weeks
How do muscle cells adapt to exercise?
Metabolic genes: at transcription or mRNA (transient response)
Measure mRNA increases (transient) 48hrs after exercise – inc in protein concentration
Stress genes Priority Genes Metabolic/Mitochondrial Genes
Adaptations from training have to stem from acute stimulus (exercise bout)
Trying to indicate different categories of genes
Example: PDK4
protoocal after 4 weeks of one-legged knee extensor exercise train
24 hrs after exercise bout, mRNA back to basel levels
during exercise, why would muscle want to shut of a gene that produces carbohydrates? - hyp: as glucose ….muscle no longer want to use…
Endurance (PGC-1) David Hood, York University, Toronto
Endurance = high capacity of mitochondrial enzyme activity Not only applicable to endurane athletes, but also sedentary individuals – no exercise, low mitochondrial content and endurance capacity)
Ageing and low physical activity, bring mitochon down
Changes in energy status and calcium,. XXXX l
Leads to change of nucleus – transcription factors
Stimuli that affect transcription of nuclear genes
Mitochondria has its own genome - very limited, only codes for 13 genes (and 100s of genes reqd for mitochondrial function) - transcription factor for 13 genes is TFAM
Studied with animal model - chronic stimulation
typical marker for mitochondria (cytochrome C) - Freyseeenet, et al AJP 277, E26, 1999
Performance change - muscle force greater fatigue resistance (40% improvement)
PGC-1alpha - popular due to widespread effects in cell biology - mediates thyroid - influ on muscle fibre type - affects mitochondrial biogenesis
co-activator not a transcrioption factor not binding DNA, but binding transcritpopn factors - e.g. NRF-1, thyroid receptors (can enhance)
with chronic stim model, looked at PGC-1 level - nothing happened after 3 days, but by 5, 7, 10, increase in PGC-1 protein by 50% (Irrcher et al AJP 2003, 284)
used cells for better control induce to fuse together - immature muscle cell. Can make contract, or treat with drug - not physiological, but useful - is calcium important in mitochondrial biogenesis
number of transcriptors that could be involved in calcium response - 2.5x inc in PGC-1
effects of exercise on PGC-1 might be mediated by calcium
stimulation model - cells stimulated in disk - compared to non stimulated - looked at factors o PGC-1 coactives NRF-1 o NRF-1 transcriptionally activates Tfam and Cyto c) o Tfam imported to mito and inc mtDNA transcption and copy number o P38 MAP kinases phosphorylation stablizes PGC-1 protein o Irrcher et al AJP… (as abobe)
Effect of altering AMPKalpha activity with AICAR - inc in PGC-1 levels - which will ultimately affect mito levels
if understand PGC-1, can understand what affects mitochondrial levels
thyroid hormone is another potent stimulator of metabolism - high thyroid, high mito - hypo-thyroid is opposite - also acts by PGC-1
Conclusion
Contractilve activity-endurance signalling of mito bigenesis involves both calcium signals and changed I ATP turnove and is mediated by PGC-1alpha
Important role of PGC-1 in mataining normal levels…
How neuronal activity controls muscle fiber type and fiber size S. Schiuaffino, Padova
Dissecting signalling pathways involved in activity-dependant muscle gene regulation
Fiber types in skeletal muscle Genetics important, but other factors can modulate fibers - motorneuron activity is major factor
motorneuron modulate fibre size and fibre type
mechanical effects also important, and one of less explored areas - sports that generate tension in muiscle (e.g. weightlifting) can induce muscle hypertrophy metabolic changes - exercise can inc AMP and can activate…?
Try to identify important transaction pathways (activate and block) - How? o Pharma not helpful o Need a genetic approach • Somatic transgenesis • Transgenic mice: long procedure • Instead make transgenic muscles o Inject foreign DNA through plasmid o In few days, see effect in muscle phenotype e.g. Changes in MyHC gene expression inducaed by slow motor neuron…
injected mutant transducers to see if can block effect of nerve or to induce denervated muscle
Murgia et alNature Cell Biol, 2000 Serrano el al PNAS 2001 Pallafaccihna et al PNAS ,2002
Effects: two fibres (injected with foreign DNA) do not express slow myocin
More recently identify transcription factor - NFAT (transcip factor, protein binding DNA o Known to translocate o This translocation been able to….directly, linkd to GFP (fluorescent protein)
Same approach can be used to study muscle hypertrophy
(Saltin: people are on path to find out how performance is regulated)
An overwall enlargement of skeletal muscles is obtained by training and enhanced by anabolic steroids Name? (Female, Paris)
What’s important in skeletal muscle is, as muscle grows, inc proteins, mitochondria, and myonuclei and satellite cells are controlling this
What happens to nuclei in muscle that accompanies growth of muscle fibre As indiv trains (power train), is inc in myonuclear number, and anabolic steroids increase myonuclear number - amount of cytoplasm remains constant
if inc in no. of nuclei, means that cells have to be added in and must come from myonuclear component
skeletal muscle has cell, reserve cell
satellite cells can proliferate, to allow muscle to grow - also used to repair muscle
sat cells can be isolated from muscle and grow from biopsy
sat cells isol from human muscle fibres, have ltd capacity to cell
from birth can make 60-70 divisions - most of these lost during rapid growth
then, muscles stop growing - from 20-90yrs, maintain capacity to grow and repair skel muscle
Mitotic Clock - this is why there is a limited capacity, limited by Telemere (on each chromosome, is a piece of redundant DNA, each time cell divides, small part of this DNA will be lost, after while, signals to stop cells from further division, protects cells from cancer, but limits no. times can divide)
in athletes, no. of satellite cells increase on muscle fibre - to inc muscle mass, to repair muscle
same biopsies – look at telemere length, compared to sedentary - in elite pro athletes, is small decrease in Tele DNA, muscle is turning over much more than in sedentary population
Athletes with FAMS (Fatigued Athlete Myopathic Syndrome - Noakes) - suffering from chronic fatigue - connective tissue abundant - inc internal nuclei - abnormal mito nuclei
compared with control group of sports people
in this syndrome, where overtrain and genetic background, where cannot replenish sat cells, is pathologic – comparable to genetic disease
similar decrease in sat cells in weightlifters with large doping history
lose telemetric DNA each time cell divides
in cell culture, when isolated from elite athletes, compared to sedentary, doing small amount of regular activity is beneficial, because amateurXXXXX? - what level of activity is beneficial, compared to excessive exercise
Muscle satellite cells activation and skeletal muscle mass recognition Geoff Goldspink
Muscle mass muss be regulated locally and systemically - must be local growth factors
Alterantive Splicing of Human IGF-1 gene - now call mechano growth factor (only detected in ?) o derived from IGF-1 • IGF-1 genereal growth factor that makes cells inc in size
Normally think of IGF-1 as produced in liver
But MGF has different sequence and different action to systemic factor Activated by chemical signals quickly after exercise?
49 base insert - ie. Downstream shifts
put cDNA into different plasmids using same techniqe as earlier paper (inject to muscle of mouse)
made some constructs for in vitro when pt into mouse, found that a group of fibres that hve been tranZZ have inc in size within 2 weeks (25% larger) - potent growth factor)
how was it doing this? - looked at cells in culture - put interest into C2C12 cells o saw effects of systemic IGF-1, increased in mass, but …?
Subjected rat to mechanical damage, put in myotoxin agent - to see repair, etc
if look at marker for sat cell activation - sat cells inc in numbers quickly after injury - what sort is activating? o Discovered that shortly after injury MGF is expressed • Chief contender as major factor activiating sat cells Need to replenish pool of cells, but not too much
Muscles respond to mechanical signals – how? - not enough sat cells - seems that they are not activated - all muscles do not respond to exercise as well, since do not prod enough MGF
(Saltin: now health subject)
Muscle Contraction Febbraio?, Female, Brown hair
Plasma IL-6 - Ostrowksi et al J. Physiol 1998 - Ostrowski,
Is IL-6 produced during exercise? - yes, by working muscles, when it is released into circulation
role of muscle glycogen? - systemic vs. local effects - transcription rate inc with exercise, but further enhanced when muscle glycogen is XXX?
What does it mean to feed athletes carbohydrates during exercise? - IL-6 is inhibited
Febbraio et al 2003
If IL-6 was being produced to signal to liver to produce glucose? - not clear from findings
Febbraio hiscock, fischer, sachetti, Pederson - 2hrs cycling, at 40% VO2max….etc - IL-6 can influence glucose production, but co-factor is required
Does IL-6 induce lipolysis? - yes. Van hall, et al J clin endorcinol metab june 2003-10-08
Keller, FASEB, J, December, XXXX?
Nutrition – supplementation and sports performance
Ergogenic aids:food for performance or food for thought
Diet, training and ergogenic aids: t evidence from antiquity Louis Grivetti
Examples of
Doping Substances in Nutritional Supplements: Results of an IOC study Hans Geyer
Since 1996, Prohormones available over counter
Prohormones of Testosterone - DHEA
Prohormones of Nandrolone
Labelling of preparations does not reflect actual content
Parasrampuria M. et al 1998
Insufficient urveyence of prohormones
Now analyse non hormonal
Broad based study of international market
634 nutritional supplements purchased from Oct2000 – Nov 2001
in 13 countries
mainlybourght in shops (91.2%) and internet
289 supplements (49%) from prohorone selling companies
Results: 15% of nutritional supp,ements contained anaboligc androgenic not on label
most of positive nutritional included DHEA andendion
most positive products came from US companies (about 90%!)
do only prohormone companies have positive samples?
10% of products from non pro-hormone also positive
does application of such contamination of substances, lead to positive doping results - Yes, especially if prohormone of nandrolone
Many victims of contaminated substance? - Christie, ottie, etc
Conclusion
Problem of non-hormonal nutritional supplements containing prohibited anabolic-androgeneic is international problem
Consumption can lead to positive doping
Minimize risk, athletes should only buy nutritional supplements from companies which perform qualiy check for prohormones that guaranteee
In germany have companies that
www.osp-koeln.de - low risk suppplments (cannot excp
www.dopinginfo.de
in this study, cases were too low to have a physiological affect
example from Belgium where athlete has managed to gain compensation from
Muscle Glycogen: train low – compete high
Carbo ingestionduring exercise of longdurationin c performance
High muscle glycogen enhances time to exhaustion
What are infol of CHO ingestion and uiscle glycogen on training??
Training adaptation: what is influ of training at low versus high XXX
Training adaptation - what is that? - Molecular mechanisms? o Accumulation of proteins o How accumulate protein in muscle?
Prof. Choulis,
Framing it as a problem.
Number of durugs see
Questions
Randy Welberg, USOC presentations
Goldspink - china, factor 8 - haemophilia
