The politics of sport and the sport of politics: Olympic Gaming physical activity policy development

Background: All 21st Century Olympic Game host cities have incorporated some kind of inferred or explicit commitment in their Olympic bids to increase community participation in sports and/or physical activity (Reis et al., 2017). The ongoing commitment of Olympic host cities to develop and implement PA policies is in spite of evidence suggesting that the initiatives are not yet translating to increased population levels of PA (Bauman et al., 2021). An important public health opportunity exists to examine the motivations of political leaders and other key policy actors, to prioritise PA policy development as part of hosting large international sporting events such as the Olympic Games.
Purpose: The current investigation aimed to examine if and why key actors such as political leaders and senior bureaucrats incorporated PA policy development as part of their 2032 Brisbane Olympic legacy preparations.
Methods: The research project was divided into two components, Part A: an analysis of Brisbane 2032 Olympic Submission documents, Queensland (sub national) PA policies and PA policy instruments (eg lead agency implementation plans, annual reports and departmental budgets). Part B: interviews with relevant elected leaders and key decision makers regarding motivations to incorporate PA policy components within Olympic submission documents and subsequent policy development.
Results: Documentary evidence confirmed 2032 Brisbane Olympic Legacy documents include ambitions to increase community levels of participation in sport and/or PA including PA policy development. Interviews with key decision makers identified common motivational themes for incorporating PA considerations within Olympic Legacy planning.
Conclusions: Initial results found politicians and key decision makers view increased community participation in sport and PA as a potential community benefit emerging from hosting the games.
Practical implications: Hosting Olympic Games provide a significant opportunity to engage key decision makers to consider and develop PA policies.
Funding: None