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Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Table of Contents -- List of Tables -- Notes on authors -- Preface -- Abbreviations and acronyms -- 1 Introduction: how Putin's political system led to Olympic corruption, military adventurism, and state-sponsored doping -- 2 The 2014 Sochi Olympic mega-project and Russia's political economy -- 3 Political and civil society and the Sochi games -- 4 Security: fighting terrorism and strengthening the military -- 5 International issues: Circassians, the former Soviet countries, and the West -- 6 The legacy of the Sochi Olympics -- Index

ObjectiveThe predictive power of expert knowledge and econometric modeling is analyzed using predictions of results at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games.MethodForecasts by five sport experts and three sport‐agnostic economists are compared at the country level by medal color and by sport. Success ratios and correlation coefficients are used to make these comparisons.ResultsExperts beat economists, although both indicators are always above 75 percent at the country level and 60 percent at the medal‐color and sport levels. Indicators are below 40 percent when predicting individual winners and 20 percent when predicting athlete and medal color.ConclusionsExpert predictions can help bettors. Econometric models can help design long‐term sport policies.

The Nanjing Government applied temporary environmental regulations to guarantee good air quality during the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in 2014. We study the effect of those regulations by applying the emission estimate algorithm DECSO (Daily Emission estimates Constrained by Satellite Observations) to measurements of the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI). We improved DECSO by updating the chemical transport model CHIMERE from v2006 to v2013 and by adding an Observation minus Forecast (OmF) criterion to filter outlying satellite retrievals due to high aerosol concentrations. The comparison of model results with both ground and satellite observations indicates that CHIMERE v2013 is better performing than CHIMERE v2006. After filtering the satellite observations with high aerosol loads that were leading to large OmF values, unrealistic jumps in the emission estimates are removed. Despite the cloudy conditions during the YOG we could still see a decrease of tropospheric NO 2 column concentrations of about 32 % in the OMI observations when compared to the average NO 2 columns from 2005 to 2012. The results of the improved DECSO algorithm for NO x emissions show a reduction of at least 25 % during the YOG period and afterwards. This indicates that air quality regulations taken by the local government have an effect in reducing NO x emissions. The algorithm is also able to detect an emission reduction of 10 % during the Chinese Spring Festival. This study demonstrates the capacity of the DECSO algorithm to capture the change of NO x emissions on a monthly scale. We also show that the observed NO 2 columns and the derived emissions show different patterns that provide complimentary information. For example, the Nanjing smog episode in December 2013 led to a strong increase in NO 2 concentrations without an increase in NO x emissions. Furthermore, DECSO gives us important information on the non-trivial seasonal relation between NO x emissions and NO 2 concentrations on a local scale.

The Nanjing Government applied temporary environmental regulations to guarantee good air quality during the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in 2014. We study the effect of those regulations by applying the emission estimate algorithm DECSO (Daily Emission estimates Constrained by Satellite Observations) to measurements of the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI). We improved DECSO by updating the chemical transport model CHIMERE from v2006 to v2013 and by adding an Observation minus Forecast (OmF) criterion to filter outlying satellite retrievals due to high aerosol concentrations. The comparison of model results with both ground and satellite observations indicates that CHIMERE v2013 is better performing than CHIMERE v2006. After filtering the satellite observations with high aerosol loads that were leading to large OmF values, unrealistic jumps in the emission estimates are removed. Despite the cloudy conditions during the YOG we could still see a decrease of tropospheric NO2 column concentrations of about 32 % in the OMI observations when compared to the average NO2 columns from 2005 to 2012. The results of the improved DECSO algorithm for NOx emissions show a reduction of at least 25 % during the YOG period and afterwards. This indicates that air quality regulations taken by the local government have an effect in reducing NOx emissions. The algorithm is also able to detect an emission reduction of 10 % during the Chinese Spring Festival. This study demonstrates the capacity of the DECSO algorithm to capture the change of NOx emissions on a monthly scale. We also show that the observed NO2 columns and the derived emissions show different patterns that provide complimentary information. For example, the Nanjing smog episode in December 2013 led to a strong increase in NO2 concentrations without an increase in NOx emissions. Furthermore, DECSO gives us important information on the non-trivial seasonal relation between NOx emissions and NO2 concentrations on a local scale.

Olympic analyses typically depend heavily on perspectives built from macro processes characteristically rooted in political economy. Using survey data of city residents gathered at six different points in time during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, this article proposes a focus on what happens within the host city during the Games. While the Olympics were the centre of much debate and controversy before the Games, the data show that attitudes towards the Games became much more favorable thereby providing hard evidence that the Olympics had an experiential urban impact. Regression models revealed that attending free unticketed events and supporting the Liberal party in the last provincial election were the best predictors of positive attitudes towards the Games. It is concluded that the Olympics represent a form of public policy which generates responses related to socio-political factors while also being an interactional event transforming local attitudes towards the Games.

The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics offer a unique lens to examine media portrayals of China as a host nation amidst global polarisation and nationalism, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Our special issue explores these dynamics through four key themes: (1) Western English-language media sentiment towards China during the pandemic; (2) the influence of China–US relations on China's portrayal in US media across two Olympic Games; (3) Chinese social media fandoms as a method to decolonise sports communication studies; and (4) the representation of foreign athletes of Chinese origin amidst rising Chinese nationalism. We critically assess how racism, nationalism, and bilateral relations intersect to shape media narratives of the Olympics, with China as the host.

The Nanjing Government applied temporary environmental regulations to guarantee good air quality during the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in 2014. We study the effect of those regulations by applying the emission estimate algorithm DECSO (Daily Emission estimates Constrained by Satellite Observations) to measurements of the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI). We improved DECSO by updating the chemical transport model CHIMERE from v2006 to v2013 and by adding an Observation minus Forecast (OmF) criterion to filter outlying satellite retrievals due to high aerosol concentrations. The comparison of model results with both ground and satellite observations indicates that CHIMERE v2013 is better performing than CHIMERE v2006. After filtering the satellite observations with high aerosol loads that were leading to large OmF values, unrealistic jumps in the emission estimates are removed. Despite the cloudy conditions during the YOG we could still see a decrease of tropospheric NO2 column concentrations of about 32 % in the OMI observations when compared to the average NO2 columns from 2005 to 2012. The results of the improved DECSO algorithm for NOx emissions show a reduction of at least 25 % during the YOG period and afterwards. This indicates that air quality regulations taken by the local government have an effect in reducing NOx emissions. The algorithm is also able to detect an emission reduction of 10 % during the Chinese Spring Festival. This study demonstrates the capacity of the DECSO algorithm to capture the change of NOx emissions on a monthly scale. We also show that the observed NO2 columns and the derived emissions show different patterns that provide complimentary information. For example, the Nanjing smog episode in December 2013 led to a strong increase in NO2 concentrations without an increase in NOx emissions. Furthermore, DECSO gives us important information on the non-trivial seasonal relation between NOx emissions and NO2 concentrations on a local scale. ; Geoscience & Remote Sensing ; Civil Engineering and Geosciences

AbstractWe examine organizational culture evolution within a temporary organization, specifically the 2010 Olympic Winter Games organizing committee, by exploring aspects of the work environment. Analysis of organizational artifacts, ethnographic field‐notes, and member‐checking demonstrated that liminal spaces facilitated socialization and cultural crystallization, which in turn assisted members' performance. Organizational structure, socialization, and cultural evolution were parallel processes that impacted each other. The concept of time (i.e., velocity) had a direct influence on subculture crystallization. The paper further integrates stakeholder/client interactions and draws on the role of leadership and cultural infusion mechanisms to demonstrate how culture evolves in temporary organizations. Copyright © 2013 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

In early 2010, Canada welcomed the world to Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia, for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, which took place from February 12 to 28, 2010, and March 12 to 21, 2010, respectively. During the planning and the staging of these Games, Canada had the opportunity to show its citizens, visitors and television viewers around the world the values that inspire and define its identity, and demonstrate the degree to which linguistic duality is a fundamental value of Canadian society

Preface - Introduction - FIRST PART: ANALYSING OLYMPIC MOUNTAIN REGIONS -- 1. The characteristics and the challenges of the Olympic Valtellina mountain region -- 2. The spatial rescaling of Italian mega-events: from big projects to regional regeneration -- 3. The spatial change of Winter Oympics: The analysis of international case studies - SECOND PART: SHAPING THE TRANSITION OF THE OLYMPIC MOUNTAIN REGION -- 4. Sports as well-being practice. The diversification of tourism through the integration of sport, wellness and health -- 5. Culture as trans-scalar encounter. The increase of livebility through the integration of landscape and services -- 6. Transport solution for alternative mobility and accessibility. A sustainable and feasible approach -- 7. Governance and planning: from complexity and contradictions to multi-level and trans-border approaches - THIRD PART: LEARNINGS AND CONCLUSION. THE FUTURE CHALLENGES FOR MEGA-EVENTS IN REMOTE AREAS -- 8. Through and beyond mega-events. Scenariosand prospects from cities to mountain regions.

President Vladimir Putin's claim and policies to resurrect Russia as a great power have been a cornerstone for the construction of the hegemonic position of power that he has for so long successfully exerted and upheld. This paper discusses the Russian great power ambitions in relation to national identity and popular appeal, and puts them in relation to the upcoming Winter Games in Sochi in 2014. The paper examines how this mega-event is discursively constructed as a manifestation of Russia's return to great power status, and as such is meant to convey certain messages internally as well as externally. The successful carrying out of the Games would no doubt constitute an important component in the undergirding of the – otherwise visibly dwindling - legitimacy of President Putin. They would be an important display window for manifesting the prowess of the Russian great power, and the location of the Games to the Caucasian city of Sochi in the Russian South would have a deeply symbolical aspect. If the Games can be successfully carried out in a region that has for so long been experienced as volatile and unruly, then it must surely mean that internal order has been restored in the Russian great power. However, it is argued in the article that there are several potential tripwires on the way towards achieving these symbolically important goals. Problems of security, terrorism, geopolitical volatility, large-scale corruption and inter-ethnic tension loom large, and may all turn out to be formidable obstacles and render the hosting of the Games a counter-productive enterprise. The paper puts official discourse (as in official speeches, media interviews, et cetera) in relation to scholarly analyses of the problems and potentialities of the Sochi Olympics, all in the general framework of Russia's self-image and identity as a great power.