Do the Olympic Games really live up to their glowing reputation? As the biggest global sport mega-event, the Olympic Games command public and media attention, while Olympic mythology and ritual obscure their underlying function as a profit-making business enterprise.

Chapter 1. Introduction and Background Chapter 2. Olympic Resistance Chapter 3. 'Sport and Politics Don't Mix' Chapter 4. Olympic Industry Impacts Chapter 5. Reform: 'To Restore Reputation' Chapter 6. Athletes, Politics, and Protest Chapter 7. 'Educating Youth Through Sport' Chapter 8. Athletes' Rights, Athletes' Lives Chapter 9. Gender Policies: Challenges and Responses Chapter 10. The Olympics: 'Not a Welfare Program but a Business Venture'

Helen Jefferson Lenskyj is Professor Emerita, University of Toronto. Her work as a researcher and activist on gender and sport issues began in the 1980s, and her critiques of the Olympic industry include Inside the Olympic Industry and Olympic Industry Resistance.