Performance Sport and Performance Athletes — Analyses from the Viewpoint of the Social Sciences

Abstract

Citius -Altius -Fortius: The Olympic "Contribution" to the Professionalization of Sport ? Citius -Altius -Fortius: These magic Olympic symbols and their message are communicated all over the world, worshipped by millions of people. These symbols not only imply, as intended by Baron de Coubertin, the very meaning and ideal of sport but also the possibility for the transformation of sport into something other than the founders of the Olympic Games had envisioned. Describing sport in another context, Hans Gunther Prescher symptomatically asks through the title of his book: "Sport -Segen oder Fluch unserer Epoche?" (1961) (Blessing or Curse of our Epoch?) while Philip Goodhart and Christopher Chataway label their book on international sport: "War Without Weapons" (1968). The Upgrading of the Performance LevelThe very meaning of the Olympic phrase refers to the essence of competition: one competes for success through the improvement of his performance. This performance improvement is supposed to be of intrinsic value, without question, according to the very ideology of sport and the common values of western civilization.As a process, the Citius -Altius -Fortius has lately experienced an accelerated upward trend. The expansion of participation in sport, noticed all over the world, has greatly contributed to this trend since the very nature of competition spurs the upgrading of the performance level and accordingly: the larger the number of participants committed to pursuing the same goal like world championships or Olympic success, the higher the level of performance tends to rise.The term "level of performance or demand in sport" as used in this paper refers to the state or standard of a performance sufficient for the probable success in an important international competition, and is abbreviated by LPS.As a success goal the Citius -Altius -Fortius has gained its value potency through extensive mass communication and public recognition, which are one of the mightiest and most lively interest groupings ever known in history. One cannot understand or give meaning to modern big sport without regarding this public interest. Just imagine what sport and the Olympic Games would be without this exposure to the gigantic world public: no urgent problems of doping, commercialism, sham-amateurism, but certainly also less social significance and contribution to the welfare of youth I It is amazing that so little attention has been paid to the role of the public in the recent development of sport and to this vicarious mass consumption in sports. The 351 Performance Sport and Performance Athletes wants and passions of the public tend to have priority with the management of sport over the welfare of participants or the sport itself. Even the Olympic Games have the characteristics of "conspicuous consumption" and of commercial entertainment along with the cultivation of sport and the interest of athletes.This mass comsumption via mass-media and audience eye-witnesses has given sport events world-wide publicity and recognition: the Olym...