'Team GB', 'Team England' or 'Team Scotland'? Media Representations of 'Britishness', 'Englishness' and 'Scottishness' in London 2012 and Glasgow 2014

Given the timing of the Scottish independence referendum in September 2014, the hosting of both the London 2012 Olympic Games and the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games coincided with a period of considerable political turmoil and reflection within the United Kingdom. The extensive levels of public, political and media scrutiny of both of these major sporting events can therefore be framed within a wider consideration of the contemporary dynamics of the political union between the constituent nations of the UK, as well as the multifarious forms of national identities expressed within the various regions of the ‘nation-state’. Despite the growing influence of social media forms within contemporary society, politics and sport within the UK, the ‘traditional’ print media retain a central (although arguably diminishing) role in the dissemination of information relating to major societal, political and sporting issues to the British public. This paper will therefore critically reflect upon the nature of print media representations of ‘Britishness’, ‘Englishness’ and ‘Scottishness’ at London 2012 and Glasgow 2014 from both London-based and Scotland-based publications, drawing upon empirical data from completed and ongoing doctoral theses from the respective authors. In particular, the implications of the contrasting competitive structures of each event will be considered, given the symbolic differences between the unitary ‘Team GB’ at the London 2012 Olympics and the separated representative teams for Scotland and England at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Beacon

Artwork using Internet search engine technology to make people’s online desires, interests and orientations visible, presenting random search term enquiries in a variety of forms including a railway information sign, an art gallery installation and an online website. activity, curiosity and desire. The project sampled and analysed how ‘search terms’ were used by the public as live data. It then re-presented them on a website, in a gallery and latterly on a bespoke mechanical railway flap-sign, thus creating a snapshot of online enquiry at any give time. Beacon’s originality lies in the manner in which it has taken abstract digital data and found different expressions for it. Thus the work extends debates in media arts that focus on purely virtual and online expressions of data, by developing online information into new non-digital material forms and contexts such as railway signs. This research has been developed over a three year period. Initially with software only and then on receipt of AHRC small grant (£5000) with the lauded Italian manufacturer Solari of Udine, Italy and BFI Southbank. It represents the culmination of a body of research that asks whether live data can be used as material to make artworks. Beacon was specially developed for the Tate Britain programme 40 artists 40 days, produced in conjunction with the UK Olympic Games bid and intended to “create a unique countdown calendar that will focus attention on Britain’s exceptional creative talent”. The project is exhibited by the Tate website ‘Tate Online’ presently in perpetuity. The gallery version of this work is currently held in five private collections in the USA and is shown regularly in galleries around the world. The railway flap-sign is owned by BFI Southbank and will eventually be sited there permanently. All work is developed jointly and equally between Craighead and her collaborator, Jon Thomson, (Slade).

A review of tourism policy for the 2012 Olympics

This review considers the main tourism policy documents published by the UK Department for Culture, Media & Sport which are explicitly linked with the hosting of the Olympic Games in London in 2012. It reflects on the use of evidence gained from wider events hosting strategies utilized elsewhere, but notes concern about the lack of a coherent marketing theme and the potential to spread the tourism benefits beyond the main event venues. It concludes citing again the oft-noted problem about the links between tourism and wider cultural strategy development.

Culture and the 2012 games: creating a tourism legacy?

The role of tourism in delivering wider economic legacies is strongly stated in recent national tourism policy documents. The Olympic Games are envisaged to have the legacy impact of ‘4 million extra visitors’ and ‘50,000 extra jobs’ over 4 years (DCMS (2011). Government Tourism Policy, p. 15). This paper considers the nature of Olympic tourism and the possible contribution of the Cultural Olympiad to developing a cultural tourism legacy. It does this by investigating local perceptions of culture and local cultural enactments in the London Borough of Hackney, one of the five boroughs surrounding the Olympic Park. This research shows that local cultural enactments and programming connected to the Olympics are largely motivated by a wider social agenda. They are funded by a wide variety of arts, social and youth programmes and largely reflect initiatives and projects that were already in place in the Borough. While there is an acceptance that cultural events might stimulate the visitor economy, specific discourses around ‘tourism’ and ‘tourists’ are not expressed by the people engaged in the local process.

Exploring the intangible impacts of cultural events on the creative sector: Experiences from the Cultural Olympiad programmes of Torino 2006 and London 2012

This paper engages with the debates around the Olympic legacy by exploring the qualitative, intangible impacts of the Cultural Olympiad programme on local small creative firms in Torino, Italy and London, UK. The research objectives are achieved through a qualitative study of local small creative firms’ perceptions of the impacts of the Olympic Games’ cultural programme on their activities. To achieve this, Torino 2006 and London 2012 are used as case studies. The findings of this exploratory study show that cultural events can impact the creative sector. They do this by providing opportunities for mutual learning and access to initiatives that may generate ideas and new skills, as well as contributing to the development of a creative field. The study also explores the weaknesses and missed opportunities linked to the Cultural Olympiad programme, as perceived by creative practitioners. These include the lack of information and failure to engage smaller businesses. Based on qualitative analysis and discussion, recommendations for future organizers and further research are provided.

London 2012: changing delivery patterns in response to the impact of the Games on traffic flows

The paper addresses road freight transport operations during the London Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012. It presents work carried out prior to the Games to understand pre-Games patterns of freight deliveries in London (for both light and heavy goods vehicles) and the results of modelling work carried out to assess the likely impacts of the Games road restrictions on freight operations. The modelling results indicated that increases in total hours travelled carrying out collection and delivery work would range from 1.4% to 11.4% in the six sectors considered. The results suggested increases in hours travelled in excess of 3.5% in four of the six sectors modelled. The possible actions that could be taken by organizations to reduce these negative impacts were also modelled and the results indicated that such actions would help to mitigate the impact of the road restrictions imposed on operators during the Games. The actual impacts of the 2012 Games on transport both in general terms and specifically in terms of freight transport are also discussed, together with the success of the actions taken by Transport for London (TfL) to help the road freight industry. The potential freight transport legacy of the London 2012 Games in terms of achieving more sustainable urban freight transport is considered and the steps being taken by TfL to help ensure that such a legacy can be realized are discussed. Such steps include policy-makers continuing to collaborate closely with the freight industry through the ‘London Freight Forum’, and TfL's efforts to encourage and support companies revising their delivery and collection times to the off-peak; improving freight planning in the design and management of TfL-funded road schemes; electronic provision of traffic information by TfL to the freight industry, and the further development of freight journey planning tools.

Market impact of international sporting and cultural events

We study market reaction to the announcements of the selected country hosting the Summer and Winter Olympic Games, the World Football Cup, the European Football Cup and World and Specialized Exhibitions. We generalize previous results analyzing a large number and different types of mega-events, evaluate the effects for winning and losing countries, investigate the determinants of the observed market reaction and control for the ex ante probability of a country being a successful bidder. Average abnormal returns measured at the announcement date and around the event are not significantly different from zero. Further, we find no evidence supporting that industries, that a priori were more likely to extract direct benefits from the event, observe positive significant effects. Yet, when we control for anticipation, the stock price reactions around the announcements are significant.

Physical Education Complex

Exterior view of the Phys. Ed. Complex after the 1980 Aquatic Centre Addition. The Eleanor Misener Aquatic Centre, which contains Brock's Olympic size swimming pool, is the large structure in the foreground. The remaining buildings in the background house the gymnasiums and other facilities.

Herb de Bray

Herb de Bray standing in the yet to be filled Olympic sized swimming pool.

Pool Filling

Olympic size swimming pool gets filled with water.

Pool

Olympic size swimming pool in the Eleanor Misener Aquatic Centre.

Understanding the financial status of a group of high performance athletes

With the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games quickly approaching, there has been a heightened interest in the performance of Canadian athletes at international competitions (Duffy, 2007; Fidlin, 2005; Longley, 2006). Two significant documents outline Canada's goal to become the number one sporting nation at the 2010 Olympic Games, and improve Canada's performance at the 2008 Olympic Games: Own the Podium and Road to Excellence (Priestner Allinger & Allinger, 2004; Road to Excellence, 2006). These two documents represent heightened interest in the performance of our elite athletes, in conjunction with Canada's hosting status of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games. The requirements to train and compete at the international level have become more demanding both in terms of financial resources and time commitment. The need to financially assist athletes with their training and competition costs has been an important topic of debate over the past decades (Beamish & Borowy, 1987; Gatehouse, 2004; Macintosh, 1996; Munro, 1970; Owens, 2004). Two sources of fiinding for high performance athletes in Canada are the Athlete Assistance Program (AAP) provided by the Federal Government and the Canadian Olympic Excellence Fund provided by the Canadian Olympic Committee. The importance of these fiinds for athletes has been discussed in various forums (Ekos, 1992, 1997, 2005; Priestner Allinger & Allinger, 2004; Thibault «& Babiak, 2005). However, alternative sources of funds for high performance athletes have never been the object of research. As such the purpose of this study was to describe a group of athlete applicants from the time period of November 2004 to April 2006, and to contextualize these applications within the development of the Charitable Fund for Athletes.

Royal Canadian Henley Regatta fonds, 1948-1983 (non-inclusive)

In 1903, the Canadian Association of Amateur Oarsmen had their request granted to make the Old Welland Canal at Port Dalhousie the permanent site of the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta. That same year organized rowing was established in St. Catharines when the St. Catharines Rowing and Canoe Club was formed. The Henley course was completed in July of 1903 after rowing was well underway. Although the Henley course served as an athletic and social event, rowing itself was slow to grow in the St. Catharines area. In 1915 the Regatta was cancelled for the duration of WWI and reinstated in 1919 when an increased public interest in the sport began to grow. Two years later, the Henley Aquatic Association was formed in order to control, maintain and improve the rowing facilities. This association was responsible for building a new clubhouse at Ann Street in 1921 and in 1931 completing the grandstands. Also in the 1930s the association had the Federal Government approve their appeal to have the Henley waters dredged for the first time. The St. Catharines Rowing Club re-located its headquarters to the Lakeport Road site. The 1940s brought more support from local groups and with that more events. In 1945, the St. Catharines Junior Chamber of Commerce began helping to organize and promote rowing locally. One of the new events at the Henley course was the "Schoolboy Championships". The growth of both rowing and the Henley continued growing through the 1950s. The Henley Aquatic Association acquired Reid's Island, now Henley Island, mainly through the efforts of Ted Nelson. In the 1960s, rowing really took off in St. Catharines. Women began to become recognized in the sport when Brock University created a women's rowing team. The second dredging was completed in 1964, leading to the creation of a world class rowing course. The facilities were upgraded to international standards and the Henley rowing course became Canada's first Class A FISA (Fédération Internationale des Sociétés d’Aviron or International Federation of Rowing Associations) rowing course. The first North American Rowing Championship was held at the Henley course in 1967 and again in 1970 for the third championship. The Canadian Henley Rowing Corporation formed in 1972, along with the St. Catharines, Parks and Recreation Department created the first rowing school for youth. Since 1960, St. Catharines has been at a competitive level with other International rowing courses. The city continues to produce Olympic level athletes today.

Tony Biernacki Collection, 1967, 1979-1980, n.d.

Tony Biernacki's rowing career began in 1950 in Ottawa with his first Henley medal in 1952 in the coxless four. Sculling became his real means to success. Since 1955 he has posted record times and had numerous wins in the single. He represented Canada at the National Team between 1958 and 1967 and raced in the single at the British Empire Games and Pan Am Games (Chicago, silver medal) and pair at the Worlds in Yugoslavia in 1966. He won the Olympic trials in 1960 in Rome, but was unable to go. Upon his retirement from competition Tony was hired as the Team Manager for the following Pan Am Games. Tony was hired by Brock University in 1965 as a technician in the Chemistry Department. He became the head rowing coach that same year and began women’s rowing at the university level in Ontario with the first women’s crew in 1967. As Brock's second coach ever, he led the teams to championship form and kept the athletes racing through the summer regatta season. Tony remained at Brock from 1965 to 1980. He was one of the founders of The Canadian Masters Rowing Committee and he helped to initiate master's racing at the Canadian Henley. In 1985 he won the single, double and quad at the World Masters Regatta in Toronto. For a number of years he was also the world record holder for his age category on the C2 ergometer. His last heartfelt project was the construction of a wheelchair ramp at Resurrection Lutheran Church where he was an active member. Mr. Biernacki passed away on January 9, 1998 at the age of 66 after a valiant battle with cancer only a month after being awarded the Canadian Coaching Provincial Coaching Award. He is survived by his wife Janet, daughters Tracy, Tammy Pauls, and Tory Phannenhour, and son, Tony Jr. He is also survived by several grandchildren.

Photograph - Donald Ziraldo, Michael Budman, Ross Rebagliati & others in Aspen, CO

A photograph of five people, some are identifiable, such as Donald Ziraldo, Roots Co-founder Michael Budman and Ross Rebagliati, Canadian professional snowboarder and Olympic gold medal winner for Men's Snowboarding at the 1998 Winter Olympics. On the back it is noted that this is Aspen Colorado in 1998. This may relate to the 1998 Winter Games as two people in the picture are wearing the Roots hat designed for that event.