In this report from the Centre for Sport Policy Studies at the University of Toronto, Peter Donnelly and Michele K. Donnelly has analysed gender equality in sport using the case of the 2012 London Olympics. The specific focus of the report is on the athletes and on the gender-based structural and rule differences that still exist on the Olympic programme.

The Sochi Games next year have taken their share of critique. On top of dramatic budget overruns, ecological damages and construction being behind schedule, a recent report from Human Rights Watch documents multiple cases of workplace abuse and exploitation among the many immigrant workers on the Olympic constructions in Sochi.

This paper by Simona Kustec Lipicer discusses the implementation dilemmas of Slovenian sport policy through time.

The debate was heated and the media repercussion remarkable when 85 speakers and participants met in São Paulo last week to discuss legacy of mega-events, lack of sports democracy, FIFA relations and the need for a national Brazilian sports strategy.

It is not always easy to see where the line is drawn for the Olympic spirit, as several cases have shown us during this year’s Olympic Games, Andreas Selliaas concludes in this comment piece discussing what fair play means in reality.

Australia, one of the world’s leading sports nations, has so far not lived up to its own expectations at the London 2012 Olympics. This has caused serious public debate and prompted the president of the Australian Olympic Committee to call for giving school sports a higher priority. In this comment piece Bonita Mersiades agrees, but not for the rationale of winning medals.

In this comment, Andreas Selliaas discusses the Olympic badminton ‘scandal’ and questions whether the tactics of the badminton players are so different than swimmers and 100m runners saving their strengths for the finals.