Beyond the host nation: an investigation of trickle-down effects in the ‘Hometowns’ of Canadian athletes who competed at the London 2012 Olympic Games
2021
Research question: Can evidence of trickle-down-effects be observed among youth living in
the hometowns of Canadian athletes that competed and/or won medals at the London 2012
Olympic Games?
Research methods: Leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) rates of male and female youth
were extracted from the Canadian Community Health Survey (n > 1,000,000) for 110 health
regions during the pre-Olympic (2009/2010), Olympic (2011/2012), and post-Olympic
(2013/2014) year periods. The health regions were treated as panel units and, beyond
Canadian athletes and medallists, the panel data analysis incorporated population size and
previous Olympic hosting as control variables in the model.
Results and Findings: The panel analysis revealed that the number of Canadian athletes
representing youths’ hometowns at the London 2012 Olympic Games was negatively
associated with LTPA rates when considering the full sample of youth, and male youth in
particular. Interestingly however, winning medals (of any colour) was positively associated
with hometown LTPA rates among the full sample of youth and male youth. Hometown
population size was negatively associated with LTPA rates for the full sample of youth and
female youth specifically. Winning a gold medal and hosting previous Olympic/Paralympic
Games were not significantly associated with hometown LTPA rates when considering the
full sample of youth or male and female youth separately.
Implications: Our study demonstrates a need for researchers and sport managers to consider
the spatial reach and scope of trick-down-effects beyond that which can occur within a host
nation. These effects have the potential to be a global phenomenon.
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