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$15.00 a week to play baseball in a North Carolina league. Many other college
athletes were using assumed names and received remuneration but sadly, Thorpe,
unaware of the complication and out of naivety, registered in his own name. He
was forced to return his medals and the trophies.
During the Olympic Congresses of 1913 and 1921 the debate on the definition
of an amateur continued. In 1925 the clear enunciation was that "an amateur is
the one who devotes himself to sport for sport's sake without receiving directly his
means of existence." A caveat stated that no athlete was to receive "broken-time"
payments. Reverend Laffan of England said that this would be a blow for poor
people.
The issue of amateurism and athletes' motivation continued during 1928. The
American definition included massive subsidisation of college athletes and the
European definition incorporated "broken-time" payments. However, the British
establishment, representative of an upper-middle and affluent class, rejected both
the American and European versions.
The Coubertin version of amateurism was a concept of eighteenth century
England when English aristocracy played with each other. However, it became
outmoded as national pride motivated many countries to support their top
athletes.
The iron-fisted control of the Games during the presidency of Avery Brundage
(1952-1972) made it virtually impossible to modify the IOC Amateur Code.
After his departure Lord Killanin, the new IOC president, did liberalise the code
but with the line of demarcation between an amateur and a professional
becoming virtually non-existent the present Olympic Charter makes no mention
of amateurism.
Since 1988 there has been a massive integration of professional sport into
the Olympic Games. Today no sport on the Olympic Programme excludes
professionals, with the exception of boxing. This does not mean that Olympic
boxers do not receive remuneration. Professional boxing, as we know it today,
is made up of a plethora of organisations. At the last count there were 14 international
bodies awarding world championship titles. Hopefully this will change.
Commercialism and Television
Both commercialism and television are important components of the Modern
Games. As the Games grew in popularity it was inevitable that the international
social and economic forces of the day would permeate into the Olympic Games.
The popularity of the Games necessitated making the Games more grandiose.
By the end of the Second World War, and with the addition of competitors from
the former Soviet Union for the first time, the stage was set for the Olympics to
become an international spectacle of unprecedented visibility and importance.
The United States and the former Soviet Union emerged from the Second
World War as the world's two great imperial powers; and each was caught up in
a drive to expand its markets and its political philosophies. Sporting success gave
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