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Experts: 2024 Paris Olympics  

Published: 22 July 2024

The 2024 Paris Olympics, held from July 26 to August 11, will mark the third time Paris has hosted the Summer Games. Featuring sports like baseball, softball, and debuting breakdancing, the event emphasizes sustainability and innovation. Iconic landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower and the Champs-Élysées will be sites for celebrating sports, culture, and environmental consciousness.

Here are some experts from McGill University who can comment on this topic:  

Exercise science

Julie Côté, Professor in the Faculty of Education and Director, Sylvan Adams Sports Science Institute

"I study human biomechanics in occupational and sports and exercise-related contexts. I develop new knowledge and measurement tools and techniques to track how our movements change with higher performance, fatigue, and injury. I also study sex differences in how people move and cope with fatigue. My main areas of expertise in sports science relates to sports that fatigue the arms and shoulders (like swimming), as well as running."

Julie Côté is a Professor in the Faculty of Education, Institute Director of the Department of Kinesiology & Physical Education and Director of the Sylvan Adams Sports Science Institute. Her areas of expertise inclulde biomechanics, ergonomics and fatigue.

julie.cote2 [at] mcgill.ca (English, French)

Marketing implications 

Bruno Delorme, Course Lecturer, Desautels Faculty of Management and School of Continuing Studies 

“The 2024 Paris Olympics focus on sustainability and technological innovations, aiming to create the most eco-friendly and digitally enhanced games ever. Leveraging Paris's cultural landmarks for events merges tradition with modern marketing strategies, enhancing global appeal. Effective management of security, media rights, and dynamic fan engagement are key to ensuring the success and legacy of the games.” 

Bruno Delorme is a Course Lecturer in the Desautels Faculty of Management and School of Continuing Studies, specializing in the fields of management, marketing and consumer behaviour. His areas of expertise include entrepreneurship, sports management and sports marketing. 

bruno.delorme [at] mcgill.ca (English, French) 

Economic repercussions 

Moshe Lander, Course Lecturer, Department of Economics   

“It is often claimed that hosting large-scale sporting events like the Olympics or the World Cup bring economic benefits that exceed the significant costs of hosting. This is patently untrue. The Paris Olympics and the Los Angeles Olympics will likely be the last held in one (democratic) country as taxpayers are realizing that the sales pitch politicians have thrown at them is increasingly disconnected from the economic reality they face when the Games are gone. For the Olympics to survive, they will either have to sell what is left of their soul to autocratic regimes that do not care for their citizens (e.g., Beijing 2022) or to reinvent the Olympics movement that will allow democratic countries to host smaller portions of the Games at more opportune times.” 

Moshe Lander is a course lecturer in the Department of Economics. He is Canada’s preeminent sports economist and teaches the economics of sports, gaming and gambling at multiple Canadian universities.  

moshe.lander [at] mcgill.ca (French, English) 

McGill and the Olympics 

Earl Zukerman, Sports Information Officer, McGill Athletics & Recreation 

“I have conducted extensive research to compile a list of about 150 McGillians who have competed at the Olympics, dating back to the legendary Percival Molson, who competed in track at the 1904 Games in St. Louis. My interest in sports began at the age of 10 when I began scouring the newspapers. I became a voracious reader of sports and statistics, but I really became fanatical about it when I started researching McGill’s sporting history in 1981. Since then, it’s been a relentless pursuit of athletes and their stories.” 

Earl Zukerman has served the past 45 years as a Sports Information Officer at McGill Athletics & Recreation. A McGill grad (BA ’80), he serves as an unofficial sports historian for the University and is renowned for his expertise on the origins of ice hockey and football.  

earl.zukerman [at] mcgill.ca (English) 

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