Olympic Cosmopolitanism: the Case of the Athletes’ Parade in Buenos Aires 2018

• Autores: Rafael Mendoza González
• Localización: Diagoras: International Academic Journal on Olympic Studies, ISSN-e 2565-196X, Nº. 5, 2021, págs. 76-88
• Idioma: inglés
• Enlaces
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• Resumen

  • In 2018, the Buenos Aires Youth Olympic Games Opening Ceremony presented a specialcharacteristic in the athletes’ parade: all participants marched together instead of doing it byseparate countries as usual. The intent of this paper is to analyze this particular feature. Thearticle will defend that Olympism is experienced through constant interaction with people fromdifferent countries and cultures - not just in competition but throughout the whole festival - andwill conclude that this feature reveals an Olympic Cosmopolitanism. First, the paper presentsan overview of the modern Olympic Games, Youth Olympic Games, and the ideas inherent inthe Olympic ceremonies. Second, Pierre de Coubertin’s ideals will be presented along with thereality of the festival; in this section concepts such as multiculturalism and interculturalism will bediscussed. Lastly, in section three, the interpretation of the athletes’ parade will be presented byconnecting it with Reid’s interpretation of Olympic peace and Carrington’s call for a CosmopolitanOlympism. The article won’t state that the Buenos Aires 2018 Organizing Committee are actuallypromoting Olympism nor that this should be considered a legacy, but it will conclude that theathletes’ parade is in fact aligned with the ideals of Olympism.