In the podcast Wait a minute!, we are talking about sports, a few days before Euro football and the Tokyo Olympics. We explore the domination of certain countries in a few particular sports. Why does Cuba shine in boxing, when does the United States rule basketball? Why and how did China build its hegemony over table tennis, badminton and diving, when the Netherlands are the kings of speed skating?
Boxing culture in Cuba
Why has France become so strong in handball and épée? What does it pay for a country to dominate a discipline? How do you implement a “star” sport, such as judo in Japan, or luge in Germany? To answer it, Guillaume Evin, journalist, author, who publishes this Wednesday Little stories of sport domination to the
editions of the Rock (17.90 euros).
A book in which we discover the historical, political and cultural causes of the hegemonies of artistic swimming in Russia, water polo in Hungary or squash in Egypt. The author returns to the strategic choices and the means of the federations to perpetuate these sports dominions which assure them, sometimes, at a lower cost, a place among the nations.
“Sport is a land of clashes”
“To exist peacefully in the concert of nations, countries have several levers. They can send men to Mars, discover vaccines, win Nobel Prizes, win Oscars, and of course, glean medals in major competitions. Sport is a land of clashes for all these countries, ”recalls the author in this episode.
All the explanations and anecdotes of Guillaume Evin can be listened to, for free, in the podcast above.
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