Champions Park Catwalk (Credit: @Paris2024)
The 2024 Paris Olympics is almost underway. The glory for the world-class athletes and the excitement for the spectators make for a riveting Games—crucial for the success of these Olympics and, more importantly, for the longevity of the Games.
That sustained legacy is considered high priority for host countries and the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Jeeyoon (Jamie) Kim
, associate professor of sport management in the , studies Olympic sport legacy, specifically how young people are drawn into the games as sport participants and viewers.
With the median age of viewers of the Olympics in their 50s, Kim says now is a critical time for the IOC to take opportunities to create excitement around the games for younger people, including adding in new sports, such as this Olympics’ newest event: break dancing.
For the 2018 Games, Kim was awarded funding by the IOC’s Olympic Studies Centre to better understand the impact of the games and develop strategies for drawing in young people, for her project “Building a Sport Participation Legacy Through the 2018 Winter Olympic Games.” Kim found that “social influence” from friends and family played the biggest role for younger people in Asia to be drawn into the Games.
Kim, who worked for the Korean Olympic Committee, assisting in its bid for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, more recently will present in August in Paris at the International Sport Business Symposium on her research on the Youth Olympic Games.
In this Q&A with SU News, Kim shares information about her research and getting youth involved and engaged with the Olympics.
What is the research around the Youth Olympics that you will be presenting at the 11th International Sport Business Symposium in Paris?
It is an abstract titled “Investigating the Legacy Governance Process of YOG (Youth Olympics Games) Organizing Committees for Building a Sustainable YOG Legacy.” It is an interview-based case study (e.g., 2016 Lillehammer, 2018 Buenos Aires, 2024 Gangwon) investigating how Youth Olympic Games Organizing Committees manage its Youth Olympics’ legacy throughout the bidding, planning, execution and post-games phases.
What impact does the Youth Olympic Games have on participation in Olympic sports?
The hope for Olympic sport participation legacy is grounded on the “trickle-down effect” (i.e., watching Olympians compete will inspire youth to participate in sport). For the Youth Olympics, the event can also be a stepstone for younger athletes to compete at the international stage and grow to become Olympians.
Additionally, the Youth Olympics offer many grassroots-level sport opportunities, such as sport camps and collaboration with local schools, to encourage the general youth to learn about Olympic sport.
How important is it to get and keep youth interested in the Olympics/Olympic sports for the sake of the Games’ longevity?
Medals of the 2024 Paris Games (Credit: @Paris2024)
Not garnering enough attention among the youth has been a critical issue. The median media viewership’s age in the North American market is in the mid-50s. The IOC is very aware of the situation and has been putting in a lot of efforts to tackle the issue (e.g., addition of new sport such as breaking, changing event formats to be more entertaining, incorporating esports).
This is a critical period for the IOC and the games’ longevity, but also with great opportunities as the upcoming games will be hosted in traditionally strong sport markets where there are a lot of room for growth in Olympic interest (2024 Paris, 2026 Milan-Cortina, 2028 Los Angeles).
Could the inclusion of break dancing or other new and upcoming “sports” be seen as a way to be more inclusive, to get younger people’s attention on the Games?
Paris 2024 will be the first Olympics to include breaking in the official program. We will have to see how the event turns out. But, so far, looking at the Olympics qualifiers series and the ticket popularity of breaking (currently, very, very popular), it seems like there is a lot of interest garnered for the sport.
What is your favorite summer Olympic game to watch?
Personally, archery. Korea has been very strong in the sport historically, and it is always fun to watch a sport where my team does well (I will be attending the women’s individual archery finals event at the 2024 Paris Olympics).
Check out a as she answers questions about the Olympics.
