The Olympic Games

The Olympic Games

The Ancient Olympics
The ancient Greeks dedicated the Olympic Games to the god Zeus. The original games were held on the plain of Olympia in  Greece.

The Greeks held the first Olympic games in the year 776 BC (over 2700 years ago), and had only one event, a sprint (a short run that was called the "stade"). The race was run by men who competed in the nude. A wreath of olive branches was placed on the winner's head (in Greek, this is called a kotinos). The olive tree was the sacred tree of Athens, Greece. 

Women were neither allowed to compete in the games nor to watch them, because the games were dedicated to Zeus and were therefore meant for men.

The four-year period between the Olympic games was called an olympiad. Every four years, for 1,170 years, the Greeks held an Olympics, which continued to grow and change. Many other sports were added, including other races, wrestling, boxing, pentathlon (five events, including the long jump, javelin throw, discus throw, foot race, and wrestling), and equestrian events (events with horses and people, like chariot races and horse races) .

The Olympic Games were banned by the Byzantine Emperor Theodosius II in the year AD 394 for being a pagan festival (the Olympics celebrated the Greek god Zeus).

The Modern Olympic Games

 

Over 1500years later, Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin (1863-1937) (a French educator and sportsman) revived the Olympic Games. When he was young, Coubertin was a very keen sportsman. As he grew older he developed a passionate belief that sport could encourage peace throughout the world and bring people from all over the world together.

Coubertin was inspired by the ancient Olympic Games and travelled around the world, spending his own money, trying to persuade people to revive them. Eventually he managed to bring together representatives of many different countries in Paris, in 1894, and the Olympic Movement was begun.

An all-male Olympic games were held in 1896, in Athens, Greece. The first winter Olympics were held in 1924, in Chamonix, France.

Did women compete in this first modern Olympic Games?

Women began to compete in 1900. For many years there were problems for the women athletes about what to wear, because it was considered very rude to show any part of the body or even the shape of the body!

Who supervises the Olympic Games?

When Baron de Coubertin founded the Olympic Movement he established the International Olympic Committee (the IOC) to supervise it, in 1894. He himself served as its president for 29 years, and there have been 8 presidents since then. There were originally 14 members but the Committee has now grown to over 130 members, all of whom must speak either French or English. Existing members elect new members as required. The IOC is based in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Jacques, Count Rogge of Belgium origin is the current president of IOC.

Who selects each country's team of athletes?
Each country has their own National Olympic Committee (NOC). The NOCs represent their countries at the Olympic Games and select their own national teams.

What is the aim of the Olympic Movement?
"The goal of the Olympic Movement is to contribute to building a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport practiced without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play."

The Flag of the Olympic Games

The flag of the Olympic Games has five interlocking rings (blue, yellow, black, green, and red) on a white ground. The rings represent the five parts of the world that were joined together in the Olympic movement: Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australia and Europe. Baron de Coubertin designed the flag of the Olympics in 1913-1914.

The Olympic flag was first used in the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp, Belgium. The Olympic flag is paraded during the opening ceremony of each Olympic Games. At the end of an Olympics, the mayor of the host-city presents the flag to the mayor of the next host-city. The flag will remain in the town hall of the next host-city until the next Olympic Games, four years later. 

History of the Olympic Flame
The tradition of the Olympic flame began during the ancient Olympic Games, over 2700 years ago in Greece. A flame was lit for each Olympics, every four years, and it burned throughout the games. The flame symbolized the death and rebirth of Greek heroes. There was no torch relay in the ancient Olympics. The first torch relay took place at the 1936 games in Berlin, Germany. 

The Torches of the Olympics

For each Olympics, a new flame is started in the ancient Olympic stadium in Olympia,  Greece, using a parabolic mirror to focus the rays of the Sun. This flame begins its Olympic Torch Relay by touring Greece. The flame is normally taken to the country where the games will be held (usually by airplane). Following that, the flame is then carried around the country where the games are to be held, using a series of torches carried by people running, walking, riding horses and camels, scuba diving, and using other means of human conveyance. The last runner uses a torch to light the large Olympic torch which burns throughout the games. The flame is extinguished during the closing ceremony. A new Olympic torch is designed for each of the games. In 2000, the torch traveled underwater for the first time, as a diver brought it past the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

The Olympic Motto:
The Olympic motto is, "Citius, Altius, Fortius," which means "Swifter, Higher, Stronger."

Olympic Events:
The events in the Summer Olympics include: archery, badminton, baseball, basketball, boxing, canoeing, cycling, diving, equestrian, fencing, football (soccer), gymnastics, handball, hockey, judo, kayaking, marathon, pentathlon, ping pong, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, taekwando, tennis, track and field (many running, jumping, and throwing events), triathlon, volleyball, water polo, weightlifting, wrestling (freestyle and Greco-Roman). Cricket is not part of Olympics.

The events in the Winter Olympics include: ice hockey, figure skating, speed skating, snowboarding, luge, bobsleigh, skeleton (a type of sledding), curling, cross-country skiing, freestyle skiing, slalom, downhill (Alpine) skiing, ski jumping, Nordic combined (skiing plus ski jumping), and biathlon (skiing and shooting). 

Olympic Medals

At the Ancient Olympics, a wreath of olive branches was placed on the winner's head (in Greek, this is called a kotinos).

At the modern Olympics, each first-place winner receives a gold medal, each second-place winner receives a silver medal, and each third-place winner receives a bronze medal (the bronze medal was introduced in 1904). Different medals are designed for each new Olympics. Certificates called victory diplomas are also given to many top winners in each sport.

The gold medals were solid gold until 1912, but are now silver covered with a thin layer of gold.

The Opening Ceremony

The opening ceremony of the games usually is a dramatic celebration involving hundreds of people. The opening ceremony begins with the raising of the flag of the host country and the singing of its national anthem. There is then a performance involving music, dance and colorful costumes, along with a high-tech lighting and special effects show. After that, every athlete marches into the stadium under the banner of his country. At the end of the opening ceremony, the Olympic torch is passed to the last carrier, who lights a huge fire to open the games.

Other Olympic Games

The Paralympic Games are held just after both the summer and winter games and are for athletes with a physical disability. The Special Olympics is a competition held every two years and all athletes are intellectually disabled.

2012 London Olympics

The 2012 Summer Olympics were held in London, England, Great Britain from July 27, 2012 to August 12, 2012.                                                                                    

London, in the UK, hosted the 2012 Summer Olympics.

The motto of the London Olympics is 'Inspire a generation'.

 

The opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics was held on 27 July and called "Isles of Wonder. Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle was its artistic director. The Games were officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II. Around 10,500 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) took part in London Olympics.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II listens as the President of the International Olympic Committee Jacques Rogge speaks at Buckingham Palace, in London.

 

Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Brunei entered female athletes for the first time, meaning every country had sent a female competitor to at least one Olympic Games. With women's boxing included, the Games became the first at which every sport had female competitors.

 


The Indian Olympic Association had sent a total of 83 athletes to compete in 13 sports making it the largest contingent India has ever sent to an Olympic Games.
The Indian effort to prepare for the games consisted of funds from the Indian Government to the tune of $48.1 million and an additional $11 million in private sponsorships.^[2] Sushil Kumar was the flag bearer in the opening ceremony and Mary Kom was the flag bearer at the closing ceremony.
India has won 6 medals including 2 silver and 4 bronze which is by far the best performance by India in terms of number of medals won at any single Olympic games.
Gagan Narang won the country's first medal at the Games, a bronze in the 10 metre air rifle event

Medalists

 

Medal	Name	Sport	Event	Date
2Silver	Vijay Kumar	Shooting	Men's 25 m rapid fire pistol	3 August
Silver	Sushil Kumar	Wrestling	Men's 66kg Freestyle	12 August
Bronze	Gagan Narang	Shooting	Men's 10 m air rifle	30 July
Bronze	Saina Nehwal	Badminton	Women's singles	4 August
3Bronze	Mary Kom	Boxing	Women's flyweight	8 August
Bronze	Yogeshwar Dutt	Wrestling	Men's 60kg Freestyle	11 August

 

Next Olympic games will be conducted in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil