Flights to Empire: Australia's imperial engagement with the Olympic Games, 1900-1938

Erik Nielsen*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

Imperialism was a key concern for Australia during its early engagement with the Olympic Movement. This engagement was marked by a tension between traditional British approaches to sport and more modern approaches that could stem the tide of American superiority that had been expressed at the Olympic Games since 1896. Australia used the Olympic Games to assert its centrality within the British Empire in a sporting context. These themes are observable in three sets of circumstances: the selection of Australian teams between 1900 and 1932, Australia's engagement with the British Empire Games and Australia's response to the development of state amateurism within the Olympic Movement.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)783-799
Number of pages17
JournalSport in Society
Volume18
Issue number7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 9 Aug 2015

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