Uses the Sydney Olympics as a prism through which to explore recent Olympic scandals, media coverage, reform efforts, and controversies.

Despite International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samarach's proclaiming the Sydney 2000 Olympics as the "best ever," the truth of the matter is much less one-sided. In The Best Olympics Ever? Helen Jefferson Lenskyj discloses what the Sydney 2000 Olympic industry suppressed: the real costs and impacts.

Dr. Helen Jefferson Lenskyj is Professor of Sociology at the University of Toronto. Her other publications include Out on the Field: Gender, Sport, and Sexualities (Women's Press, 2003), Out of Bounds: Women, Sport, and Sexuality (Women's Press, 1986), Inside the Olympic Industry: Power, Politics, and Activism (SUNY Press, 2000), and Best Olympics Ever? The Social Impacts of Sydney 2000 (SUNY Press, 2002). She was one of the recipients of the 2004 City of Toronto Persons Day Honours. She was recognized as one of 75 women in Toronto who have made a significant contribution to women's equality.

Helen Jefferson Lenskyj's profile page

"A solid and comprehensive analysis of the 'hidden' side of Sydney 2000, this book is bound to provoke controversy. It is hard to think of any other event that could be justified on the basis that it will make the nation feel good for a couple of weeks and to hell with the expense and the practice of democratic procedures. Lenskyj includes a range of topics that are usually 'written out' of accounts of the Olympics." — Jim McKay, University of Queensland

"The Best Olympics Ever? is provocative, stimulating, and challenging. In the best tradition of radical literature, it forces us to confront our assumptions and stereotypes and in so doing we are served well?especially with regard to the Olympic Games, an institution shrouded in myth and illusion." — Jeff Segrave, Skidmore College