Wouldn’t you love to get a degree in Olympic studies? Want to delve into Olympic or Paralympic research? There are many places around the world where you can study the Games and learn more about the Olympic Movement.
In 2025, the University of Oregon Lundquist College of Business launched its Olympic Studies Hub, the only Olympic Studies Centre in the United States recognized by the International Olympic Committee.
What happens at an Olympic Hub? We spoke with Dr. Yoav Dubinsky, Operational Director, Olympic Studies Hub and Senior Instructor of Sports Business, about his background in Olympism and why it’s important to study it. He also goes into detail about developing the hub and what students can expect from studying there.
If Eugene, Oregon, isn’t convenient for you, here are other locations where you can study the Olympics, Olympism, and take in Olympic and Paralympic history:
International Olympic Academy
Olympia, Greece
Studying at the place where it all started has to be pretty inspiring. The International Olympic Academy offers a Master’s degree in Olympic Studies, Olympic Education, Organization and Management of Olympic Events. TKFLASTANIs Dr. Yoav Dubinsky and Olya Ovtchinnikova are some of the esteemed alumni of this program. The Academy’s website also contains many materials that can help with offsite research.
Olympic Studies and Research Centres
Various Locations
There are 81 officially recognized Olympic Studies and Research Centres around the world on every continent except Antarctica. From Kenya to Korea, Spain to South Africa, Poland to Peru, each center has detailed areas of academic expertise. Based at universities, these centers provide education and research opportunities for students and academics to learn more about Olympism and the Olympic Movement.
Olympic Museum and Olympic World Library
Lausanne, Switzerland
The official Olympic Museum at the IOC headquarters houses the heritage-historical archives of the Olympics and the private collection of IOC founder, Pierre de Coubertin. The archives are open to the public, but you must make an appointment and explain your research interest. A detailed list of the archives holdings is available online. The Museum is open to all with interactive exhibits.
If you can’t get to Lausanne, the museum does maintain an online artifacts collection, and the archives has some of its holdings online.
Paralympic Heritage Archive
Bonn, Germany
The Paralympic Heritage Archive is housed at the headquarters of the International Paralympic Committee. The collection is not open to the general public but researchers may request access.
National Paralympic Heritage Trust
Aylesbury, United Kingdom
The National Paralympic Heritage Trust runs a small museum at Stoke Mandeville Stadium, the birthplace of the Paralympic Movement. Its archives include documents, objects, and oral history that discuss the sports, athletes, and editions of the Paralympic Games.
U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Along with 12 galleries filled with interactive exhibits about Team USA, the museum is collecting an oral history of Olympians and Paralympians, and people involved with the movement. You can also request access to historical Team USA photos and documents through the USOPC archives. We spoke with former USOPC archivist Teri Hedgpeth about that collection.
Organizing Committee and Host City Archives
The records from each Olympic and Paralympic Games, especially going back in history, are housed at the Olympic World Library in Lausanne but some are held at an historical society or university in the host city. We visited the archives for Atlanta 1996 (Atlanta Historical Society) and Salt Lake City 2002 (University of Utah). Groups often stage exhibits of memorabilia when the Olympics and Paralympics roll around again. Here are some local collections:
- London 2012: The National Archives – Kew, Richmond, UK
- Vancouver 2010: City of Vancouver Archives – Vancouver, BC, Canada
- Athens 2004: International Olympic Academy – Olympia, Greece
- Sydney 2000: State Library of New South Wales – Sydney, NSW, Australia
- Los Angeles 1984: LA84 Foundation – Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Lake Placid 1980: Lake Placid Olympic Museum – Lake Placid, NY, USA
- Montreal 1976: Western University – London, ON, Canada
The Olympic flame on the grounds of the LA84 Foundation.
Library of Congress
Washington, D.C. and online
The catalog for the Library of Congress lists over 250,000 items related to the Olympics or Paralympics, 90% of which are viewable online. The collection includes books, magazines, newspapers, films, photographs, maps, music, archived websites and much more. The national archives of many countries hold large and diverse collections of items related to their governments’ and teams’ involvement in the Olympics and Paralympics.
Avery Brundage Collection
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA
Avery Brundage served as president of the IOC from 1952-1972, but his connection to the Olympics began long before that. He served as president of the (then) United States Olympic Committee 1929-1952, and before that he competed in Stockholm 1912. He is arguably the most significant figure in Olympic history, save Pierre de Coubertin. The collection includes records from 15 Olympic Games and 468 boxes of correspondence, documents, photographs, speeches, scrapbooks, even statues. Papers from other IOC Presidents, like Lord Killanin and Henri de Baillet-Latour, are scattered across institutions.
–Alison Brown and Jill Jaracz