The CEO-UAB at IRE-UAB hosts European researchers to strengthen international cooperation in Olympic studies

CEO-UAB will replicate this research in Spain to compare how Generation Z experiences and interprets the Olympic Games across different European countries.

The Sports Research Institute (IRE-UAB), through its Olympic Studies Centre (CEO-UAB), hosted a visit by Dr. Zsuzsanna Bukta, Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Education and Psychology at Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) in Budapest, researcher at the Institute of Health and Sport Sciences, and lecturer at the International Olympic Academy (IOA), alongside Minori Hara, PhD candidate at Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1.

The visit aimed to strengthen international cooperation among the participating institutions and explore new collaboration pathways in Olympic studies, both in research and teaching. Among the proposed initiatives, key highlights include developing joint activities within the Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Programmes (BIP) framework, as well as future international research projects. During her stay, Dr. Bukta presented findings from the study After Paris 2024 – The Zoomers and the Olympic Games, which examines Generation Z's consumption habits, perceptions, and relationship with the Olympic Games after Paris 2024.

The research combines a quantitative survey with semi-structured interviews to understand how young audiences follow, interpret, and value the Olympic event within today's media ecosystem. As part of this collaboration, a team of faculty and researchers affiliated with CEO-UAB will replicate the study in the Spanish context, adapting methodological tools to facilitate international comparisons. This new phase will allow for analyzing similarities and differences in Gen Z Olympic consumption habits across various European countries, broadening knowledge regarding modern sports audiences.