Curriculum Portal

neurologyYou need to know

• The modern Olympic Games were revived by Pierre de Coubertin, who founded the International Olympic Committee in 1894, before the first modern Games were held in Athens in 1896.
• Olympism aims to use sport to support the harmonious development of people and promote a peaceful society that respects human dignity.
• The three core Olympic values are excellence, friendship and respect.
• The International Olympic Committee is the organisation that leads the Olympic Movement, protects the Olympic Charter and selects the host city for each Olympic Games.
• The British Olympic Association is the National Olympic Committee for Great Britain and Northern Ireland and is responsible for selecting, preparing and leading Team GB at the summer, winter and youth Olympic Games.
• Political exploitation occurs when individuals, organisations or governments use a sporting event to promote political ideas, improve their image or apply pressure to other countries.
• At the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Adolf Hitler's Third Reich used propaganda to present Nazi Germany as powerful, well organised and peaceful, while concealing its persecution of Jewish people and other groups.
• The Nazi regime hoped the 1936 Games would demonstrate supposed Aryan racial superiority, but the Black American athlete Jesse Owens challenged this claim by winning four gold medals.
• At the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised black-gloved fists during a medal ceremony to protest against racism and inequality, after which they were suspended from the United States team and expelled from the Olympic Village.
• Shortly before the 1968 Olympics, Mexican security forces killed protesters in the Tlatelolco massacre while the government was attempting to present Mexico as a stable and modern country.
• Apartheid was South Africa's system of enforced racial segregation, and international opposition led to South Africa being excluded from the Olympic Games from 1964 and expelled from the IOC in 1970.
• At the 1972 Munich Olympics, members of the Palestinian terrorist group Black September took Israeli athletes and coaches hostage; eleven Israelis were killed during the attack and failed rescue operation.
• The Munich attack exploited worldwide Olympic media coverage to draw international attention to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and the Games resumed after a suspension and memorial service.
• The United States led a boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics in protest against the Soviet Union's 1979 invasion of Afghanistan, reducing participation and using absence from sport as political pressure.
• The Soviet Union and several of its allies boycotted the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, officially citing security concerns and anti-Soviet attitudes, although the decision was widely viewed as retaliation for the 1980 boycott.
• Hosting a global sporting event can create sporting benefits such as new facilities, increased participation, improved coaching and inspiration from elite athletes, but facilities may become expensive and underused after the event.
• Social impacts of hosting can include national pride, volunteering, cultural exchange and urban regeneration, but may also include disruption, overcrowding, increased inequality and the displacement of local communities.
• Economic impacts can include tourism, employment, investment and improved infrastructure, but construction and security costs can create debt, while predicted long-term income may not be achieved.
• Political impacts can include stronger international relationships and increased national prestige, but governments may use events as propaganda or face criticism over spending, human rights and security.
• The shop window effect occurs when a global sporting event provides extensive media exposure that allows a host country or city to promote its culture, economy and political image to an international audience.

• Explain the background and aims of the modern Olympic Games using accurate references to Pierre de Coubertin, Olympism and the Olympic values.
• Distinguish between the roles of the International Olympic Committee and the British Olympic Association, including their responsibilities for the Olympic Movement and Team GB.
• Analyse how propaganda, protest, terrorism and boycotts were used to exploit the Olympic Games for political purposes.
• Compare political exploitation at Berlin 1936, Mexico City 1968, Munich 1972, Moscow 1980 and Los Angeles 1984 using accurate contextual evidence.
• Explain links between an Olympic incident and its political consequences, such as reduced participation, international publicity or damage to national reputation.
• Classify the impacts of hosting a global sporting event as sporting, social, economic or political and as positive or negative.
• Evaluate whether hosting a global sporting event benefits a country or city by weighing short-term and long-term impacts before reaching a supported judgement.
• Construct an extended exam response with a clear argument, accurate event-specific evidence, developed explanation and a reasoned conclusion.