Political celebrity and the Olympic movement: exploring the charismatic authority of IOC presidents

Abstract

. (2012) 'Political celebrity and the Olympic Movement : exploring the charismatic authority of IOC Presidents.', Celebrity studies., 3 (3). pp. 319-334. Further information on publisher's website:http://dx.doi.org/10. 1080/19392397.2012.717760 Publisher's copyright statement: Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-pro t purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. Abstract:In this paper, we explore the modernization of the role of President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) by analyzing the actions of three men who held the position during the 20 th century: Pierre de Coubertin, Avery Brundage, and Juan Antonio Samaranch. Employing Weber's concept of charismatic authority, and considering its connections to, and congruence with, contemporary understandings of political celebrity, we examine how each of these men mobilized their influence and authority to reinvigorate the political energy of Olympic sport and benevolent Olympism, particularly in times of crisis and/or apathy. In turn, we illustrate how the IOC under Samaranch came to embrace celebrity culture and spectacle in a way that solidified the organization's legitimacy, power and influence amidst the challenges of governance posed by late modernity. Our central argument is that all three of these men were charismatic leaders, in the Weberian sense, and that they mobilized this authority using the forms, means and opportunities of power particular to their respective time periods. In turn, the extent to which they can be considered political celebrities should be considered against the 'routinized authority' that has become ascribed to the position of the IOC President itself. Introduction: