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The Lords Of The Rings: Power, Money, And Drugs In The Modern Olympics
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 5, 2015
Fascinating to be reading this book right as the controversy with FIFA/Sepp Blatter was occurring as the similarities were numerous between these two international sports organizations. The book was written as the '92 Barcelona Olympics were occurring, but so many parts in this book had relevance to 2015 and FIFA. A very good book, with extremely thorough reporting and insight into the IOC and its shady dealings.
February 22, 2018
I decided to revisit this book in light of the current PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games, so as to look back on an era of Olympic politics that is now well back in the past, and yet still relevant today. The IOC and the Olympics are in a spot of bother regarding their future relevance and stability, and the first serious cracks that have turned into fissures and tremors today came from the work of Andrew Jennings and Vyv Simson.
In some respects 'Lords of the Rings' is obsolescent due to the events being superseded and/or the main protagonists retired or dead. However the overall issues addressed by this book, such as the corporatism of the games, the empire building and political warfare that goes on within world sport administration, the problems of doping, the social cost of the great world sports festivals are all still with us today. It would be fair to say that the IOC has attempted to engage in some reforms, though they did not occur because of a self-examination brought on by the airing of their dirty laundry by Jennings and Simson. However those reforms have been patchy and not negated the problems that Samaranch, Nebiolo, Havelange and other members of 'the club' exacerbated during their ascendancy.
There are some concerns with this book in hindsight, re the varying quality of attributions made by the authors to the accusations they raise. At times 'Lords of the Rings' reads like a tabloid expose; however as shown by later events this expose was grounded in some serious factual information.
It may be argued that Jennings and Simson presented a simplistic and unrealistic vision of world sport and amateurism, and I find their construct of the Olympics belonging to the people being a bit too naive. The Olympics have always belonged to elites, whether they be political, commercial and/or (of course) sporting. It's also a bit of an issue for the authors to make too many claims for the 'goodness' of the Olympics pre-Samaranch; Berlin 1936 was hardly a shining moment in the IOC's history.
However when push comes to shove 'Lords of the Rings' was THE book that finally put the wily old Falangist Juan Antonio Samaranch, and his cronies, on notice. It took some time, plus a few internal defections and US senate hearings, but Jennings and Simson were vindicated in outlining how venal world sport was (and advisedly still is).
In some respects 'Lords of the Rings' is obsolescent due to the events being superseded and/or the main protagonists retired or dead. However the overall issues addressed by this book, such as the corporatism of the games, the empire building and political warfare that goes on within world sport administration, the problems of doping, the social cost of the great world sports festivals are all still with us today. It would be fair to say that the IOC has attempted to engage in some reforms, though they did not occur because of a self-examination brought on by the airing of their dirty laundry by Jennings and Simson. However those reforms have been patchy and not negated the problems that Samaranch, Nebiolo, Havelange and other members of 'the club' exacerbated during their ascendancy.
There are some concerns with this book in hindsight, re the varying quality of attributions made by the authors to the accusations they raise. At times 'Lords of the Rings' reads like a tabloid expose; however as shown by later events this expose was grounded in some serious factual information.
It may be argued that Jennings and Simson presented a simplistic and unrealistic vision of world sport and amateurism, and I find their construct of the Olympics belonging to the people being a bit too naive. The Olympics have always belonged to elites, whether they be political, commercial and/or (of course) sporting. It's also a bit of an issue for the authors to make too many claims for the 'goodness' of the Olympics pre-Samaranch; Berlin 1936 was hardly a shining moment in the IOC's history.
However when push comes to shove 'Lords of the Rings' was THE book that finally put the wily old Falangist Juan Antonio Samaranch, and his cronies, on notice. It took some time, plus a few internal defections and US senate hearings, but Jennings and Simson were vindicated in outlining how venal world sport was (and advisedly still is).
April 12, 2023
O livro é bem interessante afinal o mesmo consegue de uma forma única demostrar um lado oculto das olimpíadas mostrando como se ocorrem diversos desvios da verba,diversos exames do dopping são mal ou não são ultilizados,como diversos elementos presentes na mídia não são tais como demostrados e também como as olimpíadas em si são muito mais sujas do que demostrado na Grande mídia
Sendo assim esse é um ótimo livro para aqueles que visam conhecer mais a fundo as olimpíadas por outro lado e também ter uma visão mais crítica sobre os esportes de alto rendimento e elementos relacionados aos mesmos
Nos termos técnicos o livro consegue se apresentar bem afinal o mesmo tem uma linguagem bastante fácil de se compreender e é um livro que a leitura do mesmo é interessante valendo assim ler o mesmo ao longo das suas páginas apesar de que a história se torna um pouco cansativa a partir de um certo ponto e é um pouco complicado de se manter a leitura do mesmo até o final o livro vale muito a pena de ser consumido por aqueles que estão afim de conhecer um lado oculto do COI(Comitê olímpico internacional) e muitas coisas que o cercam além dos valores que são demostrados na mídia e o mundo utópico que nos levam a crer que existe em volta do mesmo
Nota:8/10
Sendo assim esse é um ótimo livro para aqueles que visam conhecer mais a fundo as olimpíadas por outro lado e também ter uma visão mais crítica sobre os esportes de alto rendimento e elementos relacionados aos mesmos
Nos termos técnicos o livro consegue se apresentar bem afinal o mesmo tem uma linguagem bastante fácil de se compreender e é um livro que a leitura do mesmo é interessante valendo assim ler o mesmo ao longo das suas páginas apesar de que a história se torna um pouco cansativa a partir de um certo ponto e é um pouco complicado de se manter a leitura do mesmo até o final o livro vale muito a pena de ser consumido por aqueles que estão afim de conhecer um lado oculto do COI(Comitê olímpico internacional) e muitas coisas que o cercam além dos valores que são demostrados na mídia e o mundo utópico que nos levam a crer que existe em volta do mesmo
Nota:8/10
November 26, 2023
Interesante conocer las cochinadas en el deporte
January 12, 2026
Despite this book being 30 years old, its story of corruption in Sports could have been written yesterday.
Depressing
Depressing
October 30, 2008
If you enjoy the splashy feel-good aspect of the Olympics don't read this book. I personally would suggest that you check out the Para-Olympics for a better idea of what the spirit of the Olympics used to be.
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August 12, 2013Li um livro com esse nome, mas era do Andrew Jennings (ou algo parecido)
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews