Austin Duckworth, a graduate student in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, was recently awarded the 2018 North American Society for Sport History (NASSH) Graduate Essay Prize.
Duckworth’s essay, “Decisive Political Means: The 1988 Seoul Olympic Games,” deals with how the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the South Korean government, the United States, and other international agencies and governments were forced to work together to secure the 1988 Olympics following a direct threat from North Korea to the Games’ safety. It is a complex and richly-sourced paper on a topic—sport security—that has heretofore been little studied but is, obviously, both timely and important. Duckworth will present his essay at the national convention in Winnipeg, Canada. His essay will also be reviewed for potential publication in the Journal of Sport History.
Duckworth is the third recipient from Texas since 2012 to receive this award. He is also a consecutive winner from Texas, as the 2017 Graduate Essay Prize was awarded to Ben Pollack, Department of Kinesiology, for his essay “Hot Body for a Cool Medium: Debbie Drake, Television, and the Sexualization of Exercise in Postwar America.” Duckworth’s advisor is Thomas Hunt, an associate professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education.
