The Olympic World Library, run by the Olympic Studies Centre, is part of the iconic International Olympic Committee Headquarters, which features their own unique publications and includes articles, books and selected dissertations from academics and professionals from all over the world to make Olympic knowledge accessible and easy to share.
Helen completed her doctoral thesis in 2021, and on the first day back at the start of the term of 2022, she received an email out of the blue from the Olympic Studies Centre in Lausanne, Switzerland, who wanted to place her doctoral thesis in the Olympic World Library to add to the body of work on Olympic Education.
This international request was because of the research’s unique historical, political, and educational research lens of the Soft Legacy timeframe between 2005-2015, and England's association with the International Olympic Committee since its inauguration in 1896.
The email noted that Helen’s doctoral research had been highlighted as adding to the ‘unique collection of institutional and academic resources on the Olympic knowledge,’ and the Centre was ‘very interested in this important work which they would like to reference in the Olympic World Library and make available to our researchers.’
Dr. Helen Bushell-Thornalley, said: “I’m both astonished and delighted that my doctoral thesis is being recognised by the International Olympic Committee.
“I have a long understanding of elite sport and its power, both from playing Hockey for England and Great Britain in European and World competitions, but also as an Academic Director for Physical Education and Sport at a university in London during the London 2012 Olympic Games.
“It’s a complete honour for my thesis to add to a platform of Olympic knowledge that is easily accessible to researchers across the world.”
Thesis title:
Bushell-Thornalley, H. (2021): Old Wine New Bottle: The political narratives of governments between 2005-2015 on what the soft legacy of the London 2012 Olympic Games afforded the subject of Physical Education School Sport. University of Leicester (10/09/2021).