What a party! Chanting fans, fireworks, cheering and applause coalesce in a sea of flags – for many people, these scenes are rowdy, intimidating, uncivilised and uncouth. For others this is the highest of highs, an eruption of fan euphoria representing a cultural phenomenon that is now widespread, but about which very little is known.
“Sport” as a one-size-fits-all concept has never existed; it is too heavily influenced by societal factors and social milieu. For example, there used to be a strong sports movement for workers.
Nowadays it goes without saying that, hot on the heels of the Olympics, comes the Paralympics, in which people with disabilities compete on the same global platform. But it’s only since 1988 that the two sporting events have truly shared a stage. A look at the history of sport for the disabled.
This year’s hosting of the Winter Olympics and the Football World Cup by, respectively, China and Qatar – both authoritarian states – has sparked debate about the influence of politics in sport. A look at history shows that sport and politics have always gone hand in hand.
Around 1880, women here and there in Switzerland picked up boxing gloves for the first time. With their efforts initially dismissed as circus sideshows, women battled until the 1990s to be allowed to box competitively.
On 6 August 1986, Alain Charmey from Vaud became the first person to swim the entire length of Lake Geneva. A press photographer was on the spot to capture the moment.
