Students’ perception about the Olympic Values experience in Rio 2016 Olympic Games and the future of the Olympics

Abstract

When proposing the creation of the Olympic Games (OG) of the Modern Era, Pierre de Coubertin has highlighted the importance of the integral formation of the human being through sports practices. In order to keep the directions of the Olympic Movement close to Coubertin’s ideas and looking for the continuous progress of the OG, the Agenda 2020 has pointed out some adjustments necessary to bring more attention to the actual challenges of our time, including encourage of ethical attitudes and education based in values. As a response of the OG in Rio, some research initiatives were taken, however, there is a lack of studies in the educational legacy of the Games. Therefore, the present study aims to identify the Rio 2016 Olympic Games spectators’ (students) perception about the Olympic Values experience during the event and their opinion about the future of the Olympic Games. The methodology of this study is quantitative with cross-sectional analysis, descriptive and exploratory. The sample of 13 students, which were engaged with research duties during the Games, has answered a questionnaire with 16 items. When analysing the results it is noticed the importance of the cultural events, along with other non-competition rituals and ceremonies, to promote Olympism and its values. Also, the data collected sustains some of the recommendations of the Agenda 2020 in the scope of education, social responsibility, gender equality and fight against doping. Gathering data from other universities/research groups would be interesting to have a bigger scope about the research objectives. Keywords: Olympic Values; Olympism; Olympic Games; Education; Olympic Agenda 2020.