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Emerald Sports Magazine
Wednesday, May 23, 1984
Olympic Congress: limitless choices
By MIKE DUNCAN
Hosted by the University’s College
of Human Development and Perfor
mance, the 1984 Olympic Scientific
Congress convenes in Eugene on Ju
ly 19-26.
“The Congress,” says Michael
Ellis, chairperson of the associative
program commission, “is the tradi
tional scientific and cultural festival
that precedes each of the Olympic
games.”
Approximately 3,000 delegates and
sports scientists from around the
world will assemble to share ideas
and latest developments in fields
ranging from biomechanics to sports
medicine to sport psychology.
The meetings of the scientists will
take place on campus in the morning
sessions of the week-long congress
and will focus on the well-established
disciplines of sport science.
“As of right now, we’re expecting
the presentation of about 400 papers
by scientists from 57 different coun
tries. The topics are very specific and
are aimed at fellow scientists within
the same area of interest,” says Ellis.
Of the 800 scientists and sport
scholars, 34 are from universities and
institutes in Washington and Oregon.
These disciplinary meetings will be
organized and administered by the
appropriate national and interna
tional scientific societies and
associations. The three major
categories of the disciplinary
meetings are physical sciences,
neurobehavorial sciences and social
cultural disciplines.
Topics within the meetings of the
Physical Sciences will include
biomechanics, the assessment and
prediction of human performance in
sport, work and daily activities; kinan
thropometry, the study of size, shape,
proportionality, body composition,
and maturation and gross function as
pertaining to the human form; and
sports medicine and exercise
science, focusing on athletic trauma,
cardio-respiratory physiology, en
drocrine systems, epidemiology and
preventive medicine.
Topics within the meetings of the
neurobehavorial sciences will include
motor control, motor development,
and sport psychology — all of which
concern the central nervous system’s
control of human movement,'
neuromuscular patterns during
athletic performance, acquisition of I
fine neuromuscular control and per
sonal and social factors influencing
participation in sports.
Topics within the meetings of the
social-cultural disciplines will in
clude sport history, a survey of
physical education and the Olympic
Games; sport pedagogy, the interac
tions between teacher and student,
coach and athlete; sport philosophy,
a discussion of ethical, aesthetic and
ontological dimensions of sport and
play; and sport sociology, a look at
group dynamics, social cohesion and
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