University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications (UFCJC) Media Production, Management, and Technology (MPMT) Associate Professor and Chair Roxane Coche was featured in “How the 1924 Paris Olympics Paved the Way for Modern Traditions” published online in University of Florida News on June 20.

In the story, Coche reflects on her research focusing on the impact of the 1924 Olympic Games. With funding from the Académie Nationale Olympique Francaise and the Broadcast Education Association, she examined the measures taken by the Olympic organizers and the French government to create an event that reshaped the concept of the spectacle and a business model that included establishing exclusive rights to photograph and film the Games.

“The 1924 Paris Olympics hold a special place in history,” said Coche. “So many traditions we recognize in the Olympics today were started in those Games.”

“The Paris Games in 1924 were successful in many ways. There was a significant increase in the number of nations and athletes taking part and in worldwide media exposure — including live radio coverage for the first time,” said Coche. “Its influence continues today, as the organizers created a business model driven by new technology, which helped the Olympic movement and media thrive over the past century.”

“To this day, that is what funds the Olympics,” Coche said. “Few people know that the 1924 Games were the first to create this kind of exclusivity of image, which didn’t go over very well back then, but it’s been in place for a century now.”

Coche’s research also involves comparing the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics and Paralympics for all Games hosted by the United States and France since 1984, including the upcoming Paris Games. She recently published a study on gender-based media representation of Olympic athletes.

Posted: June 24, 2024
Category: College News, Sports
Tagged as: 1924 Paris Olympics, MPMT, Roxane Coche