hairless17
2008-08-12, 19:05
http://www.platinumplanet.co.uk/images/media/Olympic%20Games%20-%20Beijing.jpg
Ancient Olympics
Athletes trained in this Olympia facility in ancient times.
Main article: Ancient Olympic Games
There are many myths surrounding the origin of the ancient Olympic Games, the most popular of which identifies Heracles as the creator of the Olympic Games. According to the legend, Heracles built the Olympic stadium and surrounding buildings as an honor to his father Zeus, after completing his 12 labors. After he built the stadium he walked in a straight line for 400 strides and called this distance a "stadion" (Greek: στάδιον, Latin: stadium, "stage") that later also became a unit of distance. This is also why a modern stadium track is 400 meters in circumference — the distance a runner travels in one lap (1 stadium = 400 m). Another myth associates the first Games with the ancient Greek concept of ἐκεχειρία (ekecheiria), Olympic truce. The date of the Games' creation was based on a four year cycle. The most widely held estimate for the inception of the Ancient Olympics is 776 BC, although scholars' opinions diverge between dates as early as 884 BC[citation needed] and as late as 704 BC.[citation needed]
From then on, the Olympic Games quickly became much more important throughout ancient Greece, reaching their zenith in the 6th and 5th centuries BC. The Olympics were of fundamental religious importance, contests alternating with sacrifices and ceremonies honouring both Zeus (whose colossal statue stood at Olympia), and Pelops, divine hero and mythical king of Olympia, who was famous for his legendary chariot races with King Oenomaus of Pisatis, and in whose honour the games were held. The number of events increased to twenty, and the celebration was spread over several days. Winners of the events were greatly admired and were immortalised in poems and statues.[8] The Games were held every four years, and the period between two celebrations became known as an Olympiad. The Greeks used Olympiads as one of their units of time measurement. The most famous Ancient Olympic athlete lived during the sixth century BC: the wrestler Milo of Croton is the only athlete in history to win a victory in six Olympics.[9]
The Games gradually declined in importance as the Romans gained power in Greece. After Emperor Theodosius I proclaimed Christianity the religion of the Empire in AD 393 and banned pagan rites, the Olympic Games were outlawed as a pagan festival. [10] The Olympics were not seen again until their rebirth 1,500 years later.
During the ancient times normally only young men could participate.[9] The sportsmen usually competed nude. This was due in part to the weather and also because the festival was meant to be a celebration of the achievements of the human body. Upon winning the event, the victor would have not only the prestige of being in first place but would also be presented with a crown of olive leaves. The olive branch is a sign of hope and peace.[11] While the symbol of the olive branch has carried through from the Ancient Games to the modern reinvention, many other current Olympic symbols are unique to the Modern Olympics. The bearing of a torch, for example, formed an integral part of Greek ceremonies but the Ancient Games did not include a torch-lighting ceremony, nor was there a symbol formed by interconnecting rings.
Revival
Although, the revival of the Olympic Games began in the mid-19th Century, many sports events with titles such as "Olympick" or "Olympian" Games were held before that and as early as the 16th Century. These sports events should not be confused with the re-establishment of the Olympic Games in modern times. These included an "Olympick Games" sports festival that was run for several years at Chipping Campden in the English Cotswolds. The present day local Olympick Games trace their origin to this festival.
In 1833, the poet, Panagiotis Soutsos mentions a revival of the ancient Olympic Games in modern times in his poetry.
In 1850, an "Olympian Class" was begun at Much Wenlock in Shropshire, England. This was renamed "Wenlock Olympian Games" in 1859 and continues to this day as the Wenlock Olympian Society Annual Games. The Wenlock Olympian Society was founded in 1860. A national Olympic Games in Great Britain was organised by their founder, William Penny Brookes, at Crystal Palace in London, in 1866. This national Olympic Games was the first games to actually resemble an Olympic Games to be held outside of Greece.
Meanwhile Evangelos Zappas, a wealthy Greek philanthropist, sponsored the first modern revival of the Olympic Games.[3] The first modern international Olympic Games was held in an Athens city square in 1859. Zappas paid for the refurbishment of the ancient Panathenian Stadium. This first modern international Olympic Games to be hosted in a stadium was hosted there in 1870, followed by a second 1875. The same stadium was refurbished a second time and used for the Athens 1896 Games. The revival, of the Olympic Games, sponsored by Zappas was a dedicated Olympic Games composed of athletes from two countries: Greece and the Ottoman Empire.
The interest in reviving the Olympics as an international event grew further when the ruins of ancient Olympia were uncovered by German archaeologists in the mid-nineteenth century. At the same time, Pierre de Coubertin was searching 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 desired to improve this. Coubertin also sought a way to bring nations closer together, to have the youth of the world compete in sports, rather than fight in war. In 1890 he attended the "Olympian Games" of the Wenlock Olympian Society, and decided that the recovery of the Olympic Games would achieve both of his goals.
Baron Pierre de Coubertin built on the ideas of Brookes and the foundations of Evangelis Zappas. His aim was to globalize the Olympic Games and to that end he established the International Olympic Committee. In a congress at the Sorbonne University, in Paris, France, held from June 16 to June 23, 1894 he presented his ideas to an international audience. On the last day of the congress, it was decided that the first IOC Olympic Games would take place in 1896 in Athens, in the country of their birth. To organise the Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was established, with the Greek Demetrius Vikelas as its first president. The Panathenian Stadium used for the Olympic Games of 1870 and 1875 was refurbished a second time in readiness for the 1896 Games.
The total number of athletes at the the first IOC Olympic Games, was less than 250, which is minuscule by modern standards, but at that time the games were the largest international sports event ever held. This first Modern Olympics had only nine disciplines: Athletics, Cycling, Fencing, Gymnastics, Shooting, Swimming, Tennis, Weightlifting, and Wrestling. All nine of these events have been held in Olympic competition in every Olympics since 1896. The Greek officials and public were very enthusiastic about hosting the inaugural games, and at one point offered to host the Olympic Games permanently. The IOC decided differently, however, and the second Olympic Games took place in Paris, France. It was at the Paris Games that women were allowed to compete.
Modern Olympics
Main articles: Summer Olympic Games and Winter Olympic Games
The United States Olympic Committee's training facilities at their headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
After the initial success, the Olympics struggled. The celebrations in Paris (1900) and St. Louis (1904) were overshadowed by the World's Fair exhibitions, which were held at the same time and ********. The 1906 Intercalated Games (so-called because they were the second games held within the third Olympiad) were held in Athens, as the first of an alternating series of Athens-held Olympics. Although originally the IOC recognised and supported these games, they are currently not recognised by the IOC as Olympic Games, which has given rise to the explanation that they were intended to mark the 10th anniversary of the modern Olympics. The 1906 Games again attracted a broad international field of participants (in 1904, 80% of the athletes had been American) and generated great public interest, thereby marking the beginning of a rise in both the popularity and the size of the Games.
From the 241 participants representing 14 nations in 1896, the Games have grown to nearly 11,100 competitors from 202 countries at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. The scope and scale of the Winter Olympics is much smaller than that of their Summer counterpart. For example, Turin Italy hosted 2,633 athletes from 80 countries competing in 84 events during the 2006 Winter Olympics. As participation in the Olympics has grown, so has its profile in the international media. The Olympic Games are one of the world's largest media events. At the Sydney Games in 2000, there were over 16,000 broadcasters and journalists, and an estimated 3.8 billion viewers watched the games on television. The sale of broadcast rights has turned into an integral part of the formula by which countries recoup some of the costs incurred by hosting the Games.
Financing the Olympics is one of the largest problems faced by the IOC and host countries 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 organize the Olympics. For example, the 2012 Summer Olympics (which will be held in London), is expected to have a budget of over £9 billion—one of the largest budgets for an Olympics to date. One of the biggest problems prospective host countries face is the financial burden their economy will be forced to cope with. Corporate sponsorships do lighten the load in terms of the debt that these countries take on, but as the Games continue to grow the IOC and host countries will have to address the ever-increasing price tag that comes with the honor of hosting an Olympic Games.
A method of deferring the costs is to hold some events in different cities and even in different countries. Despite the Olympics usually being associated with one host city, most of the Olympics have had events held in other cities, especially the football and sailing events. There have been three Olympics in which events were held in a different country: during the 1920 Antwerp Olympics two sailing races were held in the Netherlands; and during the 1956 Melbourne Olympics equestrian events were held in Sweden. The 2008 Beijing Olympics will mark the third time that Olympic events will be held in the territories of two different NOC's: equestrian events will be competed in Hong Kong (which competes separately from mainland China).
203 countries currently participate in the Olympics. This is a noticeably higher number than the number of countries belonging to the United Nations, which is only 193. The International Olympic Committee allows nations to compete which do not meet the strict requirements for political sovereignty that many other international organizations demand. As a result, many colonies and dependencies are permitted to host their own Olympic teams and athletes even if such competitors also hold citizenship in another member nation. Examples of this include territories such as Puerto Rico, Bermuda, and Hong Kong, all of which compete as separate nations despite being legally a part of another country. Also, since 1980, Taiwan has competed under the name "Chinese Taipei," and under a flag specially prepared by the IOC. Prior to that year the People's Republic of China refused to participate in the Games because Taiwan had been competing under the name "Republic of China." The Republic of the Marshall Islands was recognised as a nation by the IOC on February 9, 2006, and will compete in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.[12]
Youth Olympic Games
Main article: Youth Olympic Games
The Youth Olympic Games (YOG)[13] are planned to be a "junior" version of the Games, complementing the current "senior" Games,[14] and will feature athletes between the ages of 14 and 18.[15] The idea for such an event was conceived by IOC president Jacques Rogge,[16] in 2001. At the 119th IOC session in Guatemala City in July 2007, the IOC approved the Games.[17]
The Youth Games versions will be shorter: the summer version will last at most twelve days; the winter version will last a maximum of nine days.[18][19] The IOC will allow a maximum of 3,500 athletes and 875 officials to participate at the summer games, while 970 athletes and 580 officials are expected at the winter games.[17] Each participating country will be allowed to send at least four athletes. The sports contested at these games will be the same as those scheduled for the traditional Games,[16] but with a limited number of disciplines and events, and including some with special appeal to youth. Education and culture are also key components to this Youth edition.
Estimated cost for the games are currently $30 million for the summer and $15–$20 million for winter games.[20] It has been stated that the IOC will "foot the bill" for the Youth Games.
The first host city will be Singapore in 2010; the bidding for the first Winter edition in 2012 is underway.
Ancient Olympics
Athletes trained in this Olympia facility in ancient times.
Main article: Ancient Olympic Games
There are many myths surrounding the origin of the ancient Olympic Games, the most popular of which identifies Heracles as the creator of the Olympic Games. According to the legend, Heracles built the Olympic stadium and surrounding buildings as an honor to his father Zeus, after completing his 12 labors. After he built the stadium he walked in a straight line for 400 strides and called this distance a "stadion" (Greek: στάδιον, Latin: stadium, "stage") that later also became a unit of distance. This is also why a modern stadium track is 400 meters in circumference — the distance a runner travels in one lap (1 stadium = 400 m). Another myth associates the first Games with the ancient Greek concept of ἐκεχειρία (ekecheiria), Olympic truce. The date of the Games' creation was based on a four year cycle. The most widely held estimate for the inception of the Ancient Olympics is 776 BC, although scholars' opinions diverge between dates as early as 884 BC[citation needed] and as late as 704 BC.[citation needed]
From then on, the Olympic Games quickly became much more important throughout ancient Greece, reaching their zenith in the 6th and 5th centuries BC. The Olympics were of fundamental religious importance, contests alternating with sacrifices and ceremonies honouring both Zeus (whose colossal statue stood at Olympia), and Pelops, divine hero and mythical king of Olympia, who was famous for his legendary chariot races with King Oenomaus of Pisatis, and in whose honour the games were held. The number of events increased to twenty, and the celebration was spread over several days. Winners of the events were greatly admired and were immortalised in poems and statues.[8] The Games were held every four years, and the period between two celebrations became known as an Olympiad. The Greeks used Olympiads as one of their units of time measurement. The most famous Ancient Olympic athlete lived during the sixth century BC: the wrestler Milo of Croton is the only athlete in history to win a victory in six Olympics.[9]
The Games gradually declined in importance as the Romans gained power in Greece. After Emperor Theodosius I proclaimed Christianity the religion of the Empire in AD 393 and banned pagan rites, the Olympic Games were outlawed as a pagan festival. [10] The Olympics were not seen again until their rebirth 1,500 years later.
During the ancient times normally only young men could participate.[9] The sportsmen usually competed nude. This was due in part to the weather and also because the festival was meant to be a celebration of the achievements of the human body. Upon winning the event, the victor would have not only the prestige of being in first place but would also be presented with a crown of olive leaves. The olive branch is a sign of hope and peace.[11] While the symbol of the olive branch has carried through from the Ancient Games to the modern reinvention, many other current Olympic symbols are unique to the Modern Olympics. The bearing of a torch, for example, formed an integral part of Greek ceremonies but the Ancient Games did not include a torch-lighting ceremony, nor was there a symbol formed by interconnecting rings.
Revival
Although, the revival of the Olympic Games began in the mid-19th Century, many sports events with titles such as "Olympick" or "Olympian" Games were held before that and as early as the 16th Century. These sports events should not be confused with the re-establishment of the Olympic Games in modern times. These included an "Olympick Games" sports festival that was run for several years at Chipping Campden in the English Cotswolds. The present day local Olympick Games trace their origin to this festival.
In 1833, the poet, Panagiotis Soutsos mentions a revival of the ancient Olympic Games in modern times in his poetry.
In 1850, an "Olympian Class" was begun at Much Wenlock in Shropshire, England. This was renamed "Wenlock Olympian Games" in 1859 and continues to this day as the Wenlock Olympian Society Annual Games. The Wenlock Olympian Society was founded in 1860. A national Olympic Games in Great Britain was organised by their founder, William Penny Brookes, at Crystal Palace in London, in 1866. This national Olympic Games was the first games to actually resemble an Olympic Games to be held outside of Greece.
Meanwhile Evangelos Zappas, a wealthy Greek philanthropist, sponsored the first modern revival of the Olympic Games.[3] The first modern international Olympic Games was held in an Athens city square in 1859. Zappas paid for the refurbishment of the ancient Panathenian Stadium. This first modern international Olympic Games to be hosted in a stadium was hosted there in 1870, followed by a second 1875. The same stadium was refurbished a second time and used for the Athens 1896 Games. The revival, of the Olympic Games, sponsored by Zappas was a dedicated Olympic Games composed of athletes from two countries: Greece and the Ottoman Empire.
The interest in reviving the Olympics as an international event grew further when the ruins of ancient Olympia were uncovered by German archaeologists in the mid-nineteenth century. At the same time, Pierre de Coubertin was searching 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 desired to improve this. Coubertin also sought a way to bring nations closer together, to have the youth of the world compete in sports, rather than fight in war. In 1890 he attended the "Olympian Games" of the Wenlock Olympian Society, and decided that the recovery of the Olympic Games would achieve both of his goals.
Baron Pierre de Coubertin built on the ideas of Brookes and the foundations of Evangelis Zappas. His aim was to globalize the Olympic Games and to that end he established the International Olympic Committee. In a congress at the Sorbonne University, in Paris, France, held from June 16 to June 23, 1894 he presented his ideas to an international audience. On the last day of the congress, it was decided that the first IOC Olympic Games would take place in 1896 in Athens, in the country of their birth. To organise the Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was established, with the Greek Demetrius Vikelas as its first president. The Panathenian Stadium used for the Olympic Games of 1870 and 1875 was refurbished a second time in readiness for the 1896 Games.
The total number of athletes at the the first IOC Olympic Games, was less than 250, which is minuscule by modern standards, but at that time the games were the largest international sports event ever held. This first Modern Olympics had only nine disciplines: Athletics, Cycling, Fencing, Gymnastics, Shooting, Swimming, Tennis, Weightlifting, and Wrestling. All nine of these events have been held in Olympic competition in every Olympics since 1896. The Greek officials and public were very enthusiastic about hosting the inaugural games, and at one point offered to host the Olympic Games permanently. The IOC decided differently, however, and the second Olympic Games took place in Paris, France. It was at the Paris Games that women were allowed to compete.
Modern Olympics
Main articles: Summer Olympic Games and Winter Olympic Games
The United States Olympic Committee's training facilities at their headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
After the initial success, the Olympics struggled. The celebrations in Paris (1900) and St. Louis (1904) were overshadowed by the World's Fair exhibitions, which were held at the same time and ********. The 1906 Intercalated Games (so-called because they were the second games held within the third Olympiad) were held in Athens, as the first of an alternating series of Athens-held Olympics. Although originally the IOC recognised and supported these games, they are currently not recognised by the IOC as Olympic Games, which has given rise to the explanation that they were intended to mark the 10th anniversary of the modern Olympics. The 1906 Games again attracted a broad international field of participants (in 1904, 80% of the athletes had been American) and generated great public interest, thereby marking the beginning of a rise in both the popularity and the size of the Games.
From the 241 participants representing 14 nations in 1896, the Games have grown to nearly 11,100 competitors from 202 countries at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. The scope and scale of the Winter Olympics is much smaller than that of their Summer counterpart. For example, Turin Italy hosted 2,633 athletes from 80 countries competing in 84 events during the 2006 Winter Olympics. As participation in the Olympics has grown, so has its profile in the international media. The Olympic Games are one of the world's largest media events. At the Sydney Games in 2000, there were over 16,000 broadcasters and journalists, and an estimated 3.8 billion viewers watched the games on television. The sale of broadcast rights has turned into an integral part of the formula by which countries recoup some of the costs incurred by hosting the Games.
Financing the Olympics is one of the largest problems faced by the IOC and host countries 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 organize the Olympics. For example, the 2012 Summer Olympics (which will be held in London), is expected to have a budget of over £9 billion—one of the largest budgets for an Olympics to date. One of the biggest problems prospective host countries face is the financial burden their economy will be forced to cope with. Corporate sponsorships do lighten the load in terms of the debt that these countries take on, but as the Games continue to grow the IOC and host countries will have to address the ever-increasing price tag that comes with the honor of hosting an Olympic Games.
A method of deferring the costs is to hold some events in different cities and even in different countries. Despite the Olympics usually being associated with one host city, most of the Olympics have had events held in other cities, especially the football and sailing events. There have been three Olympics in which events were held in a different country: during the 1920 Antwerp Olympics two sailing races were held in the Netherlands; and during the 1956 Melbourne Olympics equestrian events were held in Sweden. The 2008 Beijing Olympics will mark the third time that Olympic events will be held in the territories of two different NOC's: equestrian events will be competed in Hong Kong (which competes separately from mainland China).
203 countries currently participate in the Olympics. This is a noticeably higher number than the number of countries belonging to the United Nations, which is only 193. The International Olympic Committee allows nations to compete which do not meet the strict requirements for political sovereignty that many other international organizations demand. As a result, many colonies and dependencies are permitted to host their own Olympic teams and athletes even if such competitors also hold citizenship in another member nation. Examples of this include territories such as Puerto Rico, Bermuda, and Hong Kong, all of which compete as separate nations despite being legally a part of another country. Also, since 1980, Taiwan has competed under the name "Chinese Taipei," and under a flag specially prepared by the IOC. Prior to that year the People's Republic of China refused to participate in the Games because Taiwan had been competing under the name "Republic of China." The Republic of the Marshall Islands was recognised as a nation by the IOC on February 9, 2006, and will compete in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.[12]
Youth Olympic Games
Main article: Youth Olympic Games
The Youth Olympic Games (YOG)[13] are planned to be a "junior" version of the Games, complementing the current "senior" Games,[14] and will feature athletes between the ages of 14 and 18.[15] The idea for such an event was conceived by IOC president Jacques Rogge,[16] in 2001. At the 119th IOC session in Guatemala City in July 2007, the IOC approved the Games.[17]
The Youth Games versions will be shorter: the summer version will last at most twelve days; the winter version will last a maximum of nine days.[18][19] The IOC will allow a maximum of 3,500 athletes and 875 officials to participate at the summer games, while 970 athletes and 580 officials are expected at the winter games.[17] Each participating country will be allowed to send at least four athletes. The sports contested at these games will be the same as those scheduled for the traditional Games,[16] but with a limited number of disciplines and events, and including some with special appeal to youth. Education and culture are also key components to this Youth edition.
Estimated cost for the games are currently $30 million for the summer and $15–$20 million for winter games.[20] It has been stated that the IOC will "foot the bill" for the Youth Games.
The first host city will be Singapore in 2010; the bidding for the first Winter edition in 2012 is underway.