Pilgrimage to Fallen Gods from Olympia

The Cult of Sport Celebrities

Authors

  • Justine Digance Griffith University
  • Kristine Toohey Griffith University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/jasr.v24i3.374

Keywords:

Olympic Games, Secular Pilgrimage, Sport Celebrities

Abstract

Contemporary Western society has an abundant variety of role models, with celebrities from all walks of life replacing yesteryear’s role models of military heroes and political leaders. However, sport has long provided religious and secular role models dating back to the ancient Olympic Games, and today every two years with the celebration of the summer and winter Olympics, more names are added to the Olympic pantheon of heroes. There is already a discrete acknowledged body of literature investigating celebrity sports men and women. This article draws on this literature specifically examining modern secular pilgrimage to sport celebrities, focusing on those who achieve fame and glory on the Olympic victory dais, but also those whose behaviour has led to their expulsion from Olympia. We suggest that because of the Olympic Movement’s philosophy of Olympism, it is different from other non-Olympic affiliated sporting organisations, and the price for transgression on and off the playing field can be higher.

Author Biographies

  • Justine Digance, Griffith University
    Justine Digance is a Senior Lecturer in sport, event and tourism management at Griffith University, Queensland. Her research interests are pilgrimage and sport law, and her doctorate from the University of Sydney was based upon research into modern secular pilgrimage.
  • Kristine Toohey, Griffith University
    Kristine Toohey is the first female Professor of Sport Management in Australia and an experienced manager of complex projects and teams in sport (Olympic) and university sectors (Department Head). Her doctoral thesis investigated Australian elite sport. The international significance of her work is evidenced by: over forty refereed publications and invitations to present international keynote addresses; and the gaining of over $250,000 in research funds from internal and external sources. Her research has contributed to national sport policy, evidenced in the ASC’s Shaping Up (1999), The Numbers Game (2000) and being cited in the 2006 Senate women in sport inquiry (About Time! Women in Sport and Recreation in Australia). She has influenced the practice of professional sport; for example, devising the original national competition for Netball Australia and consulting to the International Olympic Committee (which, as a result, changed its organisational structure). She is on the editorial boards of the International Journal of Sport Management (2006–present) and Sport in Society (2006–present). She has been a recipient of the University of Technology, Sydney, Excellence in Teaching Award.

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Published

2011-12-28

Issue

Vol. 24 No. 3 (2011): Special Issue: Religion and Celebrity/Guest Editor: Carole M. Cusack

Section

Articles

License

Equinox Publishing Ltd.

How to Cite

Digance, J., & Toohey, K. (2011). Pilgrimage to Fallen Gods from Olympia: The Cult of Sport Celebrities. Journal for the Academic Study of Religion, 24(3), 374-375. https://doi.org/10.1558/jasr.v24i3.374