Category: Social Science

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Olympic Medals

The distribution of Olympic medals across continents reveals the persistent inequality of rewards across the globe. The first African country in the overall ranking of countries by Olympic medals is Kenya on 17th place. All 11 medals including 4 gold medals were obtained in athletics and in running disciplines 800m and more. The financial resources needed to practice running as high level sport are probably the lowest one of all disciplines. Ethiopia is another African country with this tradition of high level long distance runners on the African continent. Equipment and coaching in other disciplines than athletics involves more infrastructure and becomes more costly and the possibility to reserve infrastructure for elite athletes of a country is more difficult if the infrastructure for the population at large is rather limited compared to the population size. Therefore, the Olympic tradition has to confront the challenge of unequal access to many disciplines of the Olympic Games also in Paris 2024. Being a very good athlete is just not enough if you lack the coaches, training and facilities to be able to compete with the well-equipped countries. The knowledge about the best details of a specific technique or optimization potentials are part of the Olympic challenges as well. The Americas, Europe and Asia might be confronted with new forms or another criticism of imperialist strategies, this time in the domain of sport. The winner or medalists take all. Country rankings appear a bit like the football device “money buys goals”. (Image, Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, Extrait of Omar Victor Diop “Diaspora” 2014-2015).

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Paralympic Happiness

It is with great pleasure that we watch the paralympic athletes in Paris compete for Olympic medals. For many the emotions of participation and being applauded by so many people in a sport arena are great experiences. Happiness derives from such great games and audiences. The accomplishments of the athletes and their supporting teams are truly outstanding. The progress towards such high skill levels is remarkable for each of them. The adaptation to what appears to be a handicap with adequate support and technique allows to surpass limitations. Well exercised skills like swimming are possible to be performed with great skill to achieve incredible performances. The Paralympic Games in Paris 2024 are a great reminder that besides the athletes some artists had to struggle with handicaps, but achieved some of the finest pieces of art. Matisse, for example, is called frequently “le peintre-du-bonheur”, the painter of happiness. In his last few years he faced a severe handicap to paint, however the pursuit of abstraction helped him to continue to create masterpieces. The rather radical pursuit of abstraction and maybe simplification are uncovered in the exhibition “Matisse: The red studio” at the “Fondation Louis Vuitton”. This marks an important step in the artistic life course of Matisse and enabled him to continue his work in later life when his health made it very difficult to pursue his artistic work. (Image at Fondation Louis Vuitton 2024-9-1 exhibition Matisse).

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Olympic Nature

Nature and its biodiversity can teach us many lessons. This is made very explicit in the small exhibition in the “Jardin des Plantes” in Paris. The treasures of (lost) biodiversity are exposed in the adjacent “Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle”. In a pleasant environment within Paris you can stroll along rare flowers and trees to pass the posters that demonstrate the astonishing achievements of some species (Les champions of nature). For example ants would surpass us in weightlifting in relationship to own weight. A marathon of 42 km is a very short distance for birds flying across continents with rest. High jump or long jump is rather easy for frogs, but we struggle already to jump a little bit higher than our own body length. Lots of other examples are shown the exhibition and should make us a bit more humble concerning the sport accomplishments of humans. Beyond Darwin and Mendel there is a lot to see and experience in the Great Gallery of Evolution. After the question remains whether we are really at the top of the evolutionary ladder. In terms of marketing our successes irrespective of many species disappearing with rapid speed, we still appear rather unique in the evolution. Learning from other species as in bionics is a powerful strategy which is also quite effective to empower humans compared to other species.

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Olympics for All

The Paris 2024 Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games have demonstrated the extraordinary competence, professionalism and competitiveness of all athletes. The television spectators and live participants in the events have been involved to a great deal.
After all this hype around sports let us consider the probability of getting involved in physical activities and sports. Additionally, it is of interest, whether people are encouraged to continue sports, maybe at higher ages as well through these sports events like Olympia.
High level athletes are most likely to continue their sports activities. In many countries the extraordinary athletes of the Paralympics faced tough challenges to pursue their sport interests and passion.
However, the public health challenge is the big unresolved issue of how to best raise an awareness for the pleasures and benefits of sport for the masses. (bibliography by BNF “Santé et activité physique). It is not only a matter of suitable infrastructure, but also the question of sports in your neighbourhood. This issue has implications for urban and rural communities and how they organize the practice of sports in an inclusive way. Each step may be a stepping stone into sports for all ages and pathologies.
The pleasure and benefit to walk or something simple as walking to or walking after work, are part of the solution to many public health issues.
The visitors of the Paris Olympics walked a lot.
This fun experience in an enthusiastic city will encourage many to continue the simple exercise without thinking about exercise. This will do the trick. Just do it, without thinking to much about it.

BNF Paris 2024-8
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Paris Trees

Preparing metropolitan cities like Paris for the heating up of the globe due to climate change is a huge task. As early as 2020 Paris started an ambitious greening program. 170.000 new trees by 2026 in a densely populated city is a steep challenge. With 114.000 trees planted by 2024 as the Olympic athletes and spectators gathered in Paris the city is right on track. The 2 parks “bois de Boulogne et bois de Vincennes” have jointly 25.000 new or renewed trees. The cemeteries, for example “Père Lachaise” has received new cooling trees as well. Most trees, however, were planted along the notoriously hot and overcrowded “périphérique” with 50.000. Only with the use of a Colbert-like planning exercise and rigorous implementation against even some initial resistance, it is possible to achieve this result and the ultimate objective. Visitors of the Olympic Games already experienced the differences during the summer of 2024. Detailed planning by means of a “Bilan par arrondissement” facilitates monitoring of progress. Publishing the information is part of the communication strategy to keep citizens informed and engaged in this silent transformation for the benefit of inhabitants and visitors. (Image City of Paris webpage 2024)

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Paris libéré

It is with great pleasure to follow how Paris commemorates the liberation of Paris from Nazi-Germany 80 years ago. (Quote from De Gaulle “Paris libéré”.) On the 25th of August 1944 the city of Paris was finally liberated by French armies and the support of the local resistance movement. Similar to the journey of the Olympic flame on the way to Paris, we can follow each city celebrating the liberation from the occupants. Beginning with the landing in the Normandy of the Allied troops, the chasing of the enemy has been a matter of time, but still incurred huge human losses. More than 4 years of Nazi symbols in Paris were finally brought to an end and celebrations on the streets became a symbol for the enormous relief this liberation has meant to the population of Paris, France and hope to many neighbouring, but still occupied territories.
Several documentaries on television and radio allow to empathize with the joy of this time. Enduring the hardships imposed and, for many, risking their lives in clandestine networks of the resistance were honoured by the success of the liberation of the city without the massive destruction, which was to be expected.
A book edited by Ulla Plener (2007) highlights the supporting role played by some women originally from Germany to support the French Resistance movement. It still is not common to understand the retreat of Nazi-Germany also in Germany as the progressive liberation of the country from the terrors of a dictatorship.

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Burden of Disease

For the planning of health and care systems it is important to measure the so-called burden of disease within societies or related to specific diseases or social groups. A large-scale analysis of several longitudinal data bases of the populations 50 years of age and older shows that we have underestimated the burden of disease to societies of psychiatric disorders, like depression, in most societies.
A meta-study and overview of previous studies showed already that depression (age 60+) is more common in lower-income countries (between 25 and 33% of 60+population age group). High income countries, studied by Wang et al. 2024 in The Lancet Healthy Longevity, have rates of depression well below these levels, but a link to socioeconomic status, inactivity and loneliness is still evidenced. A five-year follow-up of persons aged 50+ years shows that the probability to develop a depression (hazard rate) is twice as high for persons with low socioeconomic status, who were socially
inactive and lonely than for socially active, high socioeconomic status and did not feel lonely at the beginning of measurement. The conclusion of the research highlights the need to develop and implement integrated and simultaneous initiatives to addressed the growing burden of disease related to depression in older persons. (Image, Jules Desbois, “Misery” 1887-89, Musée Rodin, Paris)

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Less is better

There is an interesting psychological phenomenon which is called the less-is-better effect. First research on this phenomenon dates back to marketing research more than 25 years ago. The Olympic games have even a mention on the English Wikipedia page on this less-is-better effect. The winner of a bronze medal at the Olympics might feel more happy than the winner of a silver medal. Why? Viewed as separate events winning a bronze medal makes can make you so much happier, because you are among the famous group of medallists in your discipline or with your team, whereas as a silver medallist you might be so disappointed that you did not reach the gold medal that this overrides the joy to come 2nd instead of 3rd. Several interviews of athletes during the Paris 2024 Games gave evidence of the pertinence of this less-is-better effect.
There are other forms of application of this rationale as well. A more sociological perspective highlights the potential change of category from less is more to the less-is-better rationale. One variable assessed in less and more frequency or value maybe better or worse in another category. Less pollution leads to better health. It is like a shift from a quantitative variable to a qualitative assessment of the same situation. Olympic Games are full of useful lessons from a social science point of view. Although, more can be worse.

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Sports Game

Each museum in Paris gave its view on sports. There is hardly any perspective that is not represented. The link of sports to soldiers in ancient Greece or the gladiators in the Roman empire are prime examples of this. The Museum Quai Branly added an ethnographic dimension to this view showing sports traditions in African, Asian and indigenous American peoples. The bookshop of the museum added anthropological views and critical literature to the phenomenon of sport. A provocative example of critical cultural literature has in the book title the question: Is sport a game? We all have our opinions on this topic. The idea that sports remains a game is a rather naive one. Most people probably would argue that in view of the high ticket prices, sport has primarily become big business. Listings and comparisons of medals between nations have financial implications in the aftermath for disciplines and athletes. The upcoming Paralympics in Paris reframe the above question. Sports at high levels is a very serious game.

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Paris Experiment

The Olympic Games 2024 were prepared years ago. Already the application procedures to prepare “un dossier” has to bring in lots of ideas and imagination what is desirable and feasible. Paris opted for a celebration of sustainability in a city proud of its medieval heritage and the Haussmann tradition of radical transformations of a city with large boulevards and representative buildings. From the “Arc de Triomphe” the major axes of communication between “arrondissements” become visible. 100 years ago the city had already been transformed according to this master plan. At that time sanitation of a city meant different things than today. The invasion of inner cities by Diesel-driven cars made life unhealthy again. Now, the Olympics gave reasons to restrict cars and lorries passing the inner city and the great boulevards. More tourists need more space and shall keep a much better memory of how pleasant Paris was during the Olympic Games. This could be a game changer for urban development in general. The proportion of pedestrians versus cars has to be shifted in favor of the walking population for many reasons. Tourists will flock to the city, if the overall and shopping experiences are great. Back to the future sounds crazy, but it has an interesting flavor to it for urban renewal and residents as well. (Image Paris 2024-8, b/w color filter applied, enlarge to see vasque)