Abstract
Olympic legacy research has traditionally emphasized the outcomes of hosted events, often neglecting the broader and more nuanced impacts of cancelled or unsuccessful bids. Inclusion—particularly of Indigenous Peoples—remains underexplored in the planning of sport mega events, despite its growing prominence in sustainable development and sport governance discourse. This study addresses this gap by examining the intersection of three largely disconnected research streams: Olympic cancelled bids, legacy, and social innovation. Focusing on the cancelled bids for the 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Tromsø, Norway, this research explores how legacy ideas of social inclusion of Indigenous Sámi population were conceived, perceived, and (re)interpreted and thereby highlights how unmaterialized social legacies can be translated into long-term value. We explore how inclusion-related ideas —particularly those related to Indigenous inclusion—evolve within bid committees and the planning of Olympic legacies and certain concepts shift between active and dormant states within organizational contexts. Findings indicate that several legacy ideas involving Sámi inclusion were developed during the bid process, including cultural representation, co-governance mechanisms, and institutional visibility. While some of these ideas entered a dormant state after the bid was cancelled, they continue to hold potential for reactivation. Sámi stakeholders perceive certain legacies as valuable but unfulfilled and highlight both political will and institutional commitment as necessary conditions for realizing these latent innovations. A focused examination of the role of Indigenous Peoples is a necessary contribution to the sport management field which integrates critical social perspectives into a domain often dominated by economic and promotional narratives.
Presenters
Dilara ValiyevaPhD Student, Organisation and Leadership , University of Inland Norway, Østfold, Norway
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Sports Management and Commercialization
KEYWORDS
Olympic Games, Event Bidding, Indigenous Peoples, Sports, Event Management
