The Olympic Games have evolved into the most prestigious sport event on the planet. As a consequence, each Games generates more and more interest from the academic community. Sociology, politics, geography and history have all played a part in helping to understand the meanings and implications of the Games. Heritage, too, offers invaluable insights into what we value about the Games, and what we would like to pass on to future generations. Each Olympic Games unquestionably represents key life-markers to a broad audience across the world, and the great events that take place within them become worthy of remembrance, celebration and protection. The more tangible heritage features are also evident; from the myriad artefacts and ephemera found in museums to the celebratory symbolism of past Olympic venues and sites that have become visitor attractions in their own right. This edited collection offers detailed and thought-provoking examples of these heritage components, and illustrates powerfully the breadth, passion and cultural significance that the Olympics engender.

1. Examining the Olympics: heritage, identity and performance 2. London's Olympic waterscape: capturing transition 3. The Olympics, amateurism and Britain's coaching heritage 4. Cathy Freeman and Australia's Indigenous heritage: a new beginning for an old nation at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games 5. The marginalisation of Paralympic heritage 6. Non-events and their legacies: Parisian heritage and the Olympics that never were 7. Olympic legacy and cultural tourism: exploring the facets of Athens' Olympic heritage 8. Conclusion