It's Not Just Sport

Delhi and the Olympic Torch Relay

Resumo

This paper literally follows the Indian leg of the Olympic flame relay in Delhi and focuses on how the relay personifies intercultural encounters, conflict, and negotiation. Focusing on the harmonious, sometimes perilous encounters with the officials, protesters, and discourses, a context is created for understanding the significance for the Olympic movement and what it really means to peoples across the world. Through intensive interviews and ethnographic research, this paper draws attention to a different sense of “Olympism” and “the Olympic Movement”, which goes against the demands and prerogatives of today’s conventional understanding of the Olympic sports industry.
Keywords: Olympics; Torch relay; Delhi; Olympic movement