Abstract
In 2012, London hosted the thirtieth edition of the world’s biggest sporting event; the Olympic Games, with 10,500 athletes from 204 nations competing.1 From the modest beginnings of the inaugural 1896 Games, the holding of the sporting festival every four years since this (excluding the period of the two world wars), has seen the Olympic Games rise to become the ‘Circus Maximus of planet Earth’2 — the great circus of the world. They are viewed as an event of the highest international importance and are not simply a past-time for those involved, but rather, ‘a serious proposition for the athletes for those involved be they nation-states, business organizations, the media, or the spectators.’3
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Notes
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© 2015 Luke J. Harris
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Harris, L.J. (2015). Introduction. In: Britain and the Olympic Games, 1908–1920. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-49862-5_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-49862-5_1
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
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