This paper draws on original rigorous research conducted in an extensive range of local, national and international state archives, sporting repositories and personal papers. In focus is the 1948 London Olympic Games, the Olympic movement and a ‘new’ phase in Irish–British relations involving international sport. Here, for the first time, we elucidate the role of non-state sportive diplomats who, acting as cultural intermediaries, were involved in the production of ideas about the normative rules governing international jurisdiction and identity that prevented nations/states from being recognized on their own terms. The intricate details revealed here are made possible by a rigorous two-way traffic between sensitizing concepts and evidence: specifically, the quest for exciting significance by non-state actors, soft power struggles and ‘patriot games’ via the medium of international Olympic and athletic movements. The paper also makes two other important contributions: to sport in/and international relations and the politics of Olympic protests.

本文借鉴了在广泛的地方、国家和国际国家档案馆、体育资料库和个人论文中进行的原始严谨研究。焦点是 1948 年伦敦奥运会、奥林匹克运动和涉及国际体育的爱尔兰-英国关系的“新”阶段。在这里，我们第一次阐明了非国家体育外交官的作用，他们作为文化中介，参与了有关管理国际管辖权和身份的规范性规则的想法的产生，这些规则阻止了国家/国家在他们的自己的条款. 这里揭示的错综复杂的细节是通过敏感概念和证据之间严格的双向交流才成为可能的：特别是，非国家行为者通过国际奥林匹克和体育为媒介寻求激动人心的意义、软实力斗争和“爱国运动”动作。该论文还做出了另外两个重要贡献：体育/国际关系以及奥林匹克抗议的政治。