European Cultures in Sport: Examining the nations and regions (Intellect European Studies Series)

Sport occupies a key position in the cultural profile of a nation. This study forms a comparative guide to sport across Europe, in terms of its relative political and social status, its increasing professionalism, and the ways in which it has contributed to national achievement. Identity Is Analysed By Showing How European Nations Define Sport In Their Own Way; Germany Including Naturalism, Spain - Bullfighting, England - Cricket And Croquet, And So On. The Editors' Approach Refuses To Confine 'sport' Or 'gymnastics' To A Single, Culture-specific Definition. The Globalisation Of Sport Is Acknowledged To Be Constantly Giving Sport New Meanings And Activities. The Contributors Are Eleven Sports Historians Whose Intention Is Both To Provide An Insight Into The Unique Development Of Sport In European Society And To Reveal The Related Historical Processes That Have Shaped European Sport Over The Last Two Hundred Years.--book Jacket. Introduction / James Riordan And Arnd Krüger -- England And Wales / Marc Keech -- Scotland / Ian Thomson -- Denmark / Else Trangbaek -- Germany / Arnd Krüger -- The Soviet Union And Eastern Europe / James Riordan And Hart Cantelon -- France / Thierry Terret -- Spain / Teresa Gonzalez Aja And Patrick Stumm -- Italy / Angela Teja And Marco Impiglia. Edited By James Riordan, Arnd Krüger. Includes Bibliographical References. Sport occupies a key position in the cultural profile of a nation. This study forms a comparative guide to sport across Europe, in terms of its relative political and social status, its development, and the ways in which it has contributed to national achievement. Covering sport in ten major European states, each native contributor to the study presents : A brief historical sports successes, Olympic positions and sporting traditions; Organisation of its structure and financing; Elite talent is spotted, nurtured and remunerated,sports academies,national qualification schemes; The role of science and medicine in sport; Summary and conclusions. Following this format through each chapter, the book serves as a valuable guide to students of Sports Studies, enabling comparison of sport across culturally diverse regions of Germany,Russia,UK,Spain,Denmark,France,Italy,Belgium,Lithuania and Slovenia.

Sport occupies a key position in the cultural profile of a nation. This study forms a comparative guide to sport across Europe, in terms of its relative political and social status, its development, and the ways in which it has contributed to national achievement. Covering sport in ten major European states, each native contributor to the study presents: • a brief historical background: major sports successes, Olympic positions, sporting traditions, • organisation of sport: its structure and financing, • elite sport: how talent is spotted, nurtured and remunerated, sports academies, national qualification schemes, • the role of science and medicine in sport,

Preliminaries......Page 2 Contents......Page 4 Contributors......Page 6 Introduction......Page 8 England and Wales......Page 12 Scotland......Page 30 Denmark......Page 54 Germany......Page 74 The Soviet Union and Eastern Europe......Page 96 France......Page 110 Spain......Page 130 Italy......Page 146 Modern sport and gymnastics had their origins in Europe during the last two centuries.