Did you know the IFBB tried to get bodybuilding in the Olympics?
Is Bodybuilding a Sport?
Some prefer the quantifiably objective measure of who won or lost alluded to in the Olympic motto, "citius, altius, fortius." But how do we define who has won or lost in bodybuilding? Others have taken the original words of Baron De Coubertin to heart--"O Sport, you are Beauty"--and prefer to remind us that sport's beauty is in the eye of the spectators and participants. Still others are caught up in the quixotic task of safeguarding the sport's sacrosanctity against those who would tarnish its perceived purity. And like it or not, bodybuilding has a tarnished image.
So what is sport? In Sociology of Sport (1973), Edwards arrayed play, recreation, contest, game and sport (in that order of progression), clarifying the differences between each. According to Edwards, as one progresses along the continuum from play toward sport, the following dynamics manifest themselves:
Activity becomes less subject to individual prerogative, with spontaneity severely diminished.
Formal rules and structural role and position relationships and responsibilities within the activity assume predominance.
Separation from the rigors and pressures of daily life become less prevalent.
Individual liability and responsibility for the quality and character of his behavior during the course of the activity is heightened.
The relevance of the outcome of the activity and the individual's role in it extends to the groups and collectivities that do*not participate directly in the act.
Goals become diverse, complex, and more related to values emanating from outside of the context of the activity.
The activity consumes a greater proportion of the individual's time and attention due to the need for preparation and the*degree of seriousness involved in the act.
Given these social dynamics, Edwards defined sport as:
...involving activities having formally recorded histories and traditions, stressing physical exertion through competition within limits set in explicit and formal rules governing role and position relationships, and carried out by actors who represent or who are part of formally organized associations having the goal of achieving valued tangibles or intangibles through defeating opposing groups.
Edwards' definition is widely quoted to this day. But there are others. Luschen (1972) defined sport as "an institutional type of competitive physical activity located on a continuum between play and work." Kupfer (1975) viewed sport as "structured stress." Still yet, Yiannakis et. al. (1976) chose to view sport as a more global activity (playful to some, recreation for some, and work to others), rather than imposing definitional boundaries.
By whatever definition you choose, bodybuilding and all other sports currently under the Olympic umbrella qualify as sport, notwithstanding the fact that the Executive Committee recognizes bodybuilding as a sport.
Bodybuilding as an Olympic Sport?
