The Olympic Games, or Olympics, are a multi-sport event taking place every
fourth year. Originally held in ancient
Greece, they were revived by a French nobleman, Pierre Frédy, Baron de Coubertin
in the late 19th century. The Games of the Olympiad, better known as the Summer
Olympics, have been held every fourth year since 1896, with the exception of the
years during the World Wars. A special edition for winter sports, the Winter
Olympic Games, was established in 1924. Since 1994 these are no longer held in
the same year as the Games of the Olympiad.
The Ancient Olympic Games were an athletic and religious celebration held in
the Greek town of Olympia from at least 776 BC to 393.
Origin
The historical origins of the Ancient Olympic Games are lost in the fog of time,
but several legends and myths survive.
One of these tells of the hero Heracles, who won a race at Olympia and then
decreed that the race should be re-enacted every four years, while another
claims that deity Zeus had instated the festival after his defeat of the Titan
Cronus.
Another myth tells of King Iphitos of Elis, who consulted the Pythia – the
oracle of Delphi – to try and save his people from war in the 9th century BC.
The prophetess advised him to organise games in honour of the gods. The Spartan
adversary of Iphitos then decided to stop the war during these games, which were
called Olympic, after Mount Olympus, the mountain on which the Greek gods were
said to live.
Other Greeks claimed the games were held in honor of Pelops, king of Olympia and
eponymous hero of the Peloponnesus. King Oenomaus had challenged his daughter
Hippodamia's suitors to a race, under pain of killing the loser. The thirteenth
suitor, Pelops, invoked the help of Poseidon, his old lover, who provided him
with divine horses and chariot. Pelops then bribed Oenomaus' charioteer Myrtilus,
who pulled the lynchpins, killing Oenomaus. Pelops married the princess but not
before murdering Myrtilus, whose curse later resulted in the fall of the house
of Atreus and the suffering of Oedipus.
Whatever the origin, the games were held to be one of the two central rituals in
Ancient Greece, the other being the Eleusinian mysteries.
History
The Games were held in Olympia, a sanctuary site for the Greek gods near the
towns of Elis and Pisatis (both in Elis on the peninsula of Peloponnesos). The
Sanctuary of Zeus in Olympia housed a 12 metres high statue in ivory and gold of
Zeus, the father of the Greek gods, scuplted by Phidias. This statue was one of
the ancient Seven Wonders of the World.
The first written accounts of the Olympic Games date from 776 BC, although it is
sure that these Games were not the first ones to be held. The only competition
held then was the stadion race, a race over about 190 metres, measured after the
feet of Hercules. The word stadium is derived from this foot race. The Olympic
Games were held in four year intervals, and later the Greek method of counting
the years even referred to these Games, using the term Olympiad for the period
between two Games.
Several groups fought over control of the sanctuary, and hence the Games, for
prestige and political advantage.
The Greek traveller Pausanias writes that in 668 BC, Pheidon of Argos was
commissioned by the town of Pisa to capture the sanctuary from the town of Elis,
which he did and then personally controlled the Games for that year. The next
year Elis regained control.
The Athenian writer Xenophon in 364 BC gives a contemporary record of an Elean
attack during the Pentathlon final of the Games themselves, as the Pisans were
again in control. The Eleans pushed the defenders almost to the altar before
retreating due to missiles being thrown at them from the porticos. During that
night the defending Arcadians constructed defensive palisades, and the next
morning on seeing the strength of the defence the Elians retreated.
In 12 BC Herod the Great gave financial support to the Games to enable its
future survival.
The Olympic Games were part of the Panhellenic Games, four separate games held
at two- or four-year intervals but arranged so that there was at least one set
of games every year. The Olympic Games were the most important and most
prestigious of these.
Finally, in AD 394 the Olympic Games - one of the foundations of Greek religion,
with their polytheistic observances - fell victim to the religious campaign of
the Christian Roman emperor Theodosius I, which consisted of the violent
obliteration of all surviving Pagan institutions.
Events
Unlike the Modern Olympic Games, the Ancient Games only involved Greeks, rather
than being an "international" event. In order to be in the games one had to
qualify and one's name written down in the lists. It seems that only young
people were allowed to participate, as the Greek writer Plutarch relates that
one young man was rejected for seeming too mature, and only after his boyfriend
interceded with the king of Sparta, who presumably vouched for his youth, was he
permitted to participate.
Over the years, more events were added: boxing, wrestling, pankration
(combination of boxing and wrestling), chariot racing, several other running
events (the diaulos, hippios, dolichos, and hoplitodromos), as well as a
pentathlon, consisting of wrestling, stadion, long jump, javelin throw and
discus throw (the latter three were not separate events).
In the chariot racing event, it was not the rider but the owner of the chariot
and team who was considered to be the competitor, thus one man could win more
than one of the top spots - as was the case with Alcibiades. The addition of
events meant the festival grew from 1 day to 5 days, 3 of which were used for
competition. The other 2 days were dedicated to religious rituals. On the final
day, there was a banquet for all of the participants, consisting of 100 oxen
that had been sacrificed to Zeus on the first day.
The winner of an Olympic event was awarded an olive branch, and was often
received with much honor throughout Greece and especially in his home town,
where he was often granted large sums of money (in Athens, 500 drachma, a small
fortune). (See Milo of Croton.) Sculptors would create statues of Olympic
victors (see Ageladas), and poets would sing odes in their praise.
It is often said that wars were halted during the Games, but this is not true;
however, athletes, who were often soldiers, were permitted to leave the army to
participate in the Games, and were guaranteed safe passage through enemy
territory.
Although the games were nearly entirely men-only, women were allowed to
participate in the equestrian events. In 396 BC and again in 392 BC, a Spartan
princess named Cynisca won the four-horse race.
Revival of the Olympic Games
Pierre de Coubertin wanted better physical education and foreign relations and
so spurred the modern Olympic Games into existence. The Olympic Games did not
die in 393. Already in the 17th century a sports festival named after the
Olympic Games was held in England. Over the next few centuries, similar events
were organized in France and Greece, but these were all small-scale and
certainly not international. The interest in reviving the Olympics grew when the
ruins of ancient Olympia were uncovered by German archaeologists in the mid-19th
century.
At the same time, Pierre, Baron de Coubertin sought for a reason for the French
defeat in the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871). He thought the reason was that
the French had not received proper physical education, and sought to improve
this. Coubertin also thought of a way to bring nations closer together, to have
the youth of the world compete in sports, rather than fight in war. In his eyes,
the revival of the Olympic Games would achieve both of these goals.
In a congress at the Sorbonne university in Paris held from June 16 to June 23,
1894 he presented his ideas to an international audience. On the last day of the
congress, it had been decided that the first modern Olympic Games would take
place in 1896 in Athens, in the country of their birth. To organize the Games,
the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was established, with the Greek
Demetrius Vikelas as its first president.
The first modern Olympic Games were a success. Although the total number of
athletes did not exceed 250, they had been the largest international sports
event ever held. The Greek officials and public were also very enthusiastic, and
they even proposed to be allowed to have the monopoly on organizing the
Olympics. The IOC decided differently, however, and the second Olympic Games
took place in Paris, France.
After the initial success, the Olympics struggled. The celebrations in Paris
(1900) and St. Louis (1904) were overshadowed by the world's fair exhibitions in
which they were included. The so-called Intercalated Games (because of their
"off-year" status) were held in 1906 in Athens, marking the 10th anniversary of
the Modern Olympics. Although organized by the IOC, they are currently not
recognized by the IOC as Olympic Games. Most contemporary Olympic historians,
however, consider them to be official Olympic Games. Either way, the 1906 Games
again attracted a broad international field of participants — in 1904, 80% had
been American — and great public interest, thereby marking the beginning of a
rise in popularity and size of the Games.
Winter Olympics
When the IOC was established, one of the sports proposed for the programme
was ice skating, but no skating was conducted at the Olympics until the 1908
Summer Olympics in London, which featured four figure skating events. The idea
of separate Winter Games was proposed, but voted down by the Scandinavians, who
favored their own Nordic Games. Nevertheless, winter events were on the schedule
of the cancelled 1916 Games, and the 1920 Games.
For 1924, it was decided to organize a Semaine des Sports d'Hiver ("Winter
Sports Week") in Chamonix, France under the patronage of the IOC, and in
connection with the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris. This week proved a great
success, and in 1925 the IOC decided to create separate Winter Olympic Games,
not connected to the Summer Olympics. The 1924 events were retroactively
designated as the first Winter Olympics at the 1926 IOC Session. All sports
conducted at the Winter Olympics are all held on either ice or snow, as required
by the Olympic Charter, the IOC's constitution.
Until 1992, the Winter and Summer Olympics were held in the same year, but in
1986, the IOC voted to separate them, as to spread costs for all involved
parties. Because of this decision, the 1994 Winter Olympics were held only two
years after the previous edition.
Growth
From the 245 participants from 15 nations in 1896, the Games grew to more
than 10,500 competitors from 200 countries at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. The
number of competitors at the Winter Olympics is much smaller than at the summer
edition; 2,400 athletes competed at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City
in 78 events.
With over 16,000 broadcasters and journalists present in Sydney, the Olympics
are one of the largest media events, together with the Football World Cup. In
2000, an estimated 3.8 billion viewers watched the Olympics on television. The
growth of the Olympics is the largest problem the Olympics face today. Although
allowing professional athletes and attracting sponsorships from major
international companies solved financial problems in the 1980s, the large number
of athletes, media and spectators makes it difficult and expensive for host
cities to organise the Olympics.
Political interference
Despite what Coubertin had hoped, the Olympics did not stop wars from happening,
and the Olympics were interrupted twice — once due to World War I and again
during World War II. Politics also interfered with the Olympics on several other
occasions. The 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin were used as propaganda by the
German Nazis. In the 1970s and 1980s, boycotts plagued the Olympics. African
nations boycotted the 1976 Olympics because New Zealand's rugby team had played
in South Africa. The United States and several other Western nations refused to
compete at the Moscow Olympics in 1980 because of the Soviet invasion of
Afghanistan. The Soviet Union and its Eastern Bloc partners countered by
boycotting the next Olympics in Los Angeles, California.
One of the darkest chapters in Olympic history was written in 1972, when the
Summer Games were held in Munich, West Germany. Eleven members of the Israeli
Olympic team were taken hostage by Palestinian terrorists. A failed liberation
attempt led to the deaths of all of the athletes, five terrorists, and a
policeman. This event is known today as the Munich Massacre.
Future Olympic Games
The next celebration of the Games of the Olympiad, as the Summer Olympics are
formally called, will be August 2004 in Athens. Beijing will host the 2008
Games, while the bidding process to host the 2012 Olympics is currently in
progress.
In 2006 the next celebration of the Winter Olympics will take place, when the
Italian city of Turin hosts them. Vancouver will organize the 2010 edition.
[edit]
Olympic Movement
A number of organizations are involved in organizing the Olympic Games. Together
they form the Olympic Movement. The rules and guidelines by which these
organizations operate are outlined in the Olympic Charter.
At the heart of the Olympic Movement is the International Olympic Committee
(IOC), currently headed by Jacques Rogge. It can be seen as the government of
the Olympics, as it takes care of the daily problems and takes all important
decisions, such as the host city of the Games and the programme of the Olympics.
Three groups of organizations operate on a more specialized level:
International Federations (IFs), the governing bodies of a sport (e.g. FIFA, the
IF for football)
National Olympic Committees (NOCs), which regulates the Olympic Movement within
one country (e.g. USOC, the NOC of the United States)
Organizing Committees for the Olympic Games (OCOGs) which take care of the
organization of a specific celebration of the Olympics.
At present 202 NOCs and 35 IFs are part of the Olympic Movement. OCOGs are
dissolved after the celebration of the Games, when all subsequent paperwork has
been done.
More broadly speaking, the term Olympic Movement is sometimes also meant to
include everybody and everything involved in the Olympics, such as national
sport governing bodies, athletes, media and sponsors of the Olympic Games.
Criticism
In the past, the IOC has often been criticized for being a monolithic
organization, with several members remaining a member at old age, or even until
their deaths. Especially the leadership of IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch
has been strongly criticized. Under his presidency, the Olympic Movement made
great progress, but has been seen as autocratic and corrupt. Samaranch's ties
with the former fascist government in Spain, and his long term as a president
(21 years), until he was 81 year old, have also been points of critique.
In 1998, it became known that several IOC members had taken bribes from the
organizing committee for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, in exchange
for a vote on the city at the election of the host city. The IOC started an
investigation, which led to four members resigning, and six being expelled.
The scandal set off further reforms, changing the way in which host cities are
elected to avoid further bribes. Also, more active and former athletes were
allowed in the IOC, and the membership terms have been limited.
A BBC documentary aired in August 2004 entitled Panorama:"Buying the Games"
investigated the taking of bribes in the bidding process for the 2012 Summer
Olympics. The documentary claimed it is possible to bribe IOC members into
voting for a particular candidate city. In particular Bulgaria's member Ivan
Slavkov and Muttaleb Ahmad from the Olympic Council of Asia were implicated.
They denied the allegations.
Source (you can click this link to get more information)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympics
