Olympics Essay, Research Paper

The Olympics were open to any free-born Greek in the world. There were separate men s and boys divisions for the events. Women were not permitted to compete in the Olympic games themselves. However, they could enter equestrian events as the owner of a chariot team or and individual horse, and win victories that way. The winner of the first Olympic chariot and pair race is listed as Belistiche a woman from the seaboard of Macedonia. Athletic games also were an important part of many religious festivals from very early in ancient Greece culture. In the Iliad, the famous warrior Achilles holds games as a part of the funeral services for his best friend Patroclus. The events in the funerals consist of chariot racing, a foot race, a discus match, boxing and wrestling. The foot race was the sole event for the first thirteen (13) Olympiads. Over time, the Greeks added longer foot races, and separate events. The pentathlon and wrestling events were the first new sports to be added, in the 18th Olympiad. One myth says that the guardians of the infant god Zeus held the first foot race, or that Zeus himself started the Games to celebrate his victory over his father Cronus for control of the world. Athletics and the spirit of competition in contests sprang in the Mediterranean long before the Olympic games became an institution in Greece of the 8th century B.C.

THE OLYMPIC FLAG

The Olympic flag has a plain white background with no border. In the center are five rings forming two rows of three rings above and two below. The rings of the upper row are, from left to right, blue, black and red. The rings of the lower row are yellow and green. The rings are thought to symbolize the five continents: Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and America. It is widely believed that the colors of the rings were chosen because at least one of them can be found in the flag of every nation, though this has never been confirmed as the intention of the designer. The flag was presented by Game founder Baron de Coubertin at the 1914 Olympic Congress, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the founding of the IOC. It was first flown in Alexandria, Greece, but made its Olympic debut at the 1920 Antwerp Games. This well-worn flag was finally retired after the 1984 Games, and a new one flown at the 1988 Seoul Games.

At the Closing Ceremonies of the Olympic Games, the mayor of the current Olympic Host City presents the flag to the mayor of the next Host City. The flag is then kept in the town hall of the Host City until the next Olympic Game.

THE OLYMPIC FLAME

The Olympic flame is a symbol carried over from the ancient Olympics, where a sacred flame burned at the altar of Zeus throughout competition. It was finally re-introduced at the 1924 Amsterdam Games, and again burned in 1932. Carl Diem, chairman of the organizing committee for the 1936 Berlin Games, proposed that the flame be lit in Greece and transported to Berlin via a torch relay. The idea was adopted, and continued at every Olympic Game since 1952. The flame is lit at the ancient site of Olympia by the natural rays of the sun reflected off a curved mirror. It is lit at a ceremony by women dressed in robes resembling those worn in ancient times, who then pass it to the first relay runner.

THE OLYMPIC MOTTO

“Citius, altius, fortius” is a Latin phrase meaning “swifter, higher, stronger”, which Baron de Coubertin borrowed from Father Henri Martin Dideon of Paris. Dideon was headmaster of Arcueil College, and used the phrase to describe the athletic achievements of students at the school. He had previously been at the Albert Le Grand School, where the Latin words were carved in stone above the main entrance.

OLYMPIC OATH

“In the name of all competitors, I promise that we shall take part in these Olympic Games, respecting and abiding by the rules that govern them, in the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of sport and the honor of our teams.” Written by Baron de Coubertin, the oath is taken by an athlete from the host nation while holding a corner of the Olympic flag. The athletes’ oath was first taken by Belgian fencer Victor Boin at the 1920 Antwerp Games. A judge from the host country also speaks the oath, with slightly different wording.

OLYMPIC CREED

The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph, but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered, but to have fought well.”

There have been many permutations of this basic message throughout Games history, though this is the current creed, which appears on the scoreboard during the Opening Ceremony. Baron de Cobertin adopted, and later quoted, this creed after hearing the Bishop of Central Pennsylvania, Ethelbert Talbot, speak at a service for Olympic athletes during the 1908 London Games.

In London for the Fifth Conference of Anglican Bishops, Talbot’s exact words at the service on July 19, 1908 were: “The important thing in these Olympics is not so much winning as taking part.”

The Sydney 2000 Games celebrates the 100th anniversary of women’s Olympic participation with the introduction of twenty-three female events and a record number of women participants. At the Paris 1900 Olympic games, 19 women that were competing in tennis and golf were the first females to play in any Olympic games. Before Paris women had been banned from, competing in any Olympic sporting event as the Games had been declared “no place for women”. A century later for the first time, sports are now required to include women’s events to enter the Olympic Games. Women will now be competing in all Olympic-sporting events besides boxing, wrestling and baseball, and will compete exclusively in softball, synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics. Out of 300 events on the program, 168 are for men, 120 for women and there are 12 mixed events. Women make up a record 42% of all participants.

That was a deed that had never been done before and which man had never heard of ..except in the case of the King who is rich on Glory

- Engraved on a stone from Giza