Thematic　trends　and　challenging　issues　in　Olympic　research　are　analyzed　based　on　the　metadata　of　1515　research　papers　indexed　in　Science　Citation　Index　(SCI)　database　between　1990　and　2007.　The　following　issues　are　specifically　addressed　as　1)　all　-　time　prominent　challenges　in　Olympic　research,　2)　a　trend　of　progression　in　Olympic　research,　3)　the　structure　and　dynamics　of　the　Olympic　research　community.　CiteSpace,　a　progressive　domain　visualization　tool,　is　utilized　to　identify　and　visualize　the　movement　of　research　fronts　and　intellectual　bases,　persistent　clusters　of　papers,　and　the　evolution　of　co-authorship　networks　as　well　as　citation　networks.　The　result　contributes　an　in　-　depth　analysis　of　a　major　forum　of　Olympic　research　and　a　systematic　and　streamlined　method　to　keep　abreast　of　the　history　and　the　state　of　the　research　of　Olympic　papers.