Olympic history wins awards in Athens
“Agones,” a television documentary about the revival of the Olympics, has been given a special award by the Hellenic Olympic Committee (HOC) at a special gala event held in the Olympic headquarters in Athens. “We honour those who with their work and actions promote Olympism. […]
Micro Flames, Snowflakes and Uyghurs
Ceremony Director Zhang Yimou had been promised that the Flame for Beijing would be lit in “unprecedented” fashion and so it proved. For the duration of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, a “micro” Flame burned in Beijing and that was a deliberate choice to respect the environment. […]
Ove Karlsson’s archive, a treasure trove of Documentation and Literature
Our Swedish colleague and friend Ove Karlsson, who passed away on 24 April 2021, was a founding member of ISOH and a member of the Executive Committee from 2004 to 2008. He was also a prolific sports journalist and a […]
How do you top 2008?
Very soon, the Bird’s Nest Stadium in Beijing will become the first to stage Opening Ceremonies for both Summer and Winter Games. Although director Zhang Yimou has promised that the Olympic cauldron will be lit in “unprecedented” fashion, many will wonder whether it will prove possible to outdo 2008. […]
The long and the short of the Olympic Torch Relay
1,200 bearers are expected to carry the Olympic flame this week as it makes its way to the Bird’s Nest Stadium for the 2022 Opening Ceremony. It will present quite a contrast with the epic Beijing 2008 Relay which lasted 138 days. Even for the Winter Games, recent Relays have been a colossal […]
Beijing – the last time
When Beijing last played Olympic host 14 years ago, the Games were staged in colossal style. They had been chosen as host city at the 2001 IOC session in Moscow. It was the last major announcement by then IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch. The IOC concluded that the Games were “by almost every measure, an […]
Wembley Stadium Centennial
On January 10th 1922, construction began on what was to become one of the most famous sporting arenas in the world at Wembley in North London. The official ‘Court Circular’ records how Prince Albert, Duke of York, (later King George VI) “inaugurated the building […]
David Miller’s new book Touching the Heart
ISOH member David Miller’s latest book Touching the Hear is a personal selection of 50 of the biggest sporting names of the last century. It will benefit the Starlight Foundation, a charity which helps seriously ill children in Great Britain. Miller, previously a biographer of Seb Coe, […]
ISOH New Branding Revealed
The International Society of Olympic Historians has been rebranded. To learn more about how the new design came about and what the various elements of the branding signify, please view this short video. […]
Three Lifetime Awards mark 30th anniversary
ISOH has celebrated its 30th anniversary by presenting three lifetime achievement awards. The gathering was held at the Foundation Coubertin at St. Remy Les Chevreuses on the outskirts of Paris. This was the family seat of the Coubertin family and appropriately it was attended […]