(1) The Olympics have a very long history. They began in 776 BC, and took place for nearly 1 200 years at Olympia, Greece. The citizens of all the Greek states were invited to take part in the games. The prizes were wreaths made of branches of olive trees. Ancient Olympic Games were a great athletic festival and included many different kinds of sports: running, boxing, discus throwing, wrestling, the pentathlon (five different sports) and others. In 394 AD the games were stopped by the Roman Emperor Theodosius.

         Only fifteen hundred years later, in 1894, a Frenchman, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, managed to persuade people from fifteen countries to start the Olympics again.

The International Olympic Committee was set up in 1894, and the first of modern series of the Games took place in Athens two years later, in 1896. There were competitions in many kinds of sports: running, jumping, boxing. All the nations of the world were invited to send their athletic teams. From then the Olympic Games have been international and the number of events on the program have increased.

     In these games only amateurs or non-professional athletes can take part. Each country sends teams for as many different events as possible. The winners of each event are given a certain number of points. The International Olympic Committee decides where each Olympics will take place. They ask a city (not a country) to be the host.

     The Olympic Games are attended by thousands and thousands of people every time they are held. They provide an opportunity for lovers of sports of all nations to meet together.(1)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(2) The Olympic Games bring together thousands of the world's finest athletes to compete against one another. No other sports event attracts so much attention. Several million people attend the games, and hundreds of millions throughout the world watch them on television.

The Olympic Games consist of the Summer Games and the Winter Games. The Summer Games are held in a major city, and the Winter Games are held at a winter resort. The Olympics have normally been held every four years, with both the Summer Games and the Winter Games taking place the same year. Beginning from 1994, the Summer Games and the Winter Games are scheduled to occur on a four-year cycle two years apart. For example, the Winter Games were held in 1994 and 1998, and the Summer Games in 1996 and 2000.

Colourful ceremonies combined with athletic competitions are to create the special feeling of excitement that surrounds the Olympics. The opening ceremony is particularly impressive. The athletes of Greece march into the stadium first, in honour of the original Olympics held in ancient Greece. The other athletes follow in alphabetical order, depending on the spelling of each nation's name in the language of the host country. The athletes of the host country enter last.

The head of state of the host country declares the Games open. The Olympic flag is raised, trumpets play, and cannons boom in salute. Hundreds of doves are released into the air as a symbol of peace.

The most dramatic moment of the opening ceremony is the lighting of the Olympic flame. Runners in cross-country relays bring a lighted torch from the valley of Olympia, Greece, where the ancient Olympics were held. Thousands of runners take part in the journey, which starts four weeks before the opening of the Games. They represent Greece and each country that lies between Greece and the host nation. Planes and ships transport the torch across mountains and seas. The final runner carries the torch into the stadium, circles the track, and lights the Olympic flame. The flame is kept burning until the end of the Games. This custom started in 1936.

The modern Olympics were organized to encourage world peace and friendship and to promote amateur athletics. The Olympic symbol consists of five interlocking rings that represent the continents of Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and North and South America. The rings are black, blue, green, red, and yellow. The flag of every nation competing in the games has at least one of these colours. The Olympic motto is Faster, Higher, Stronger.(2)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(3) Each national committee provides uniforms for its country's athletes while they prepare for and compete in the Games. Each committee also furnishes transportation for its team to the Games and back. The host country provides food and housing for all the athletes. Most countries use government funds to pay the expenses.

Every country represented in the Olympics has a National Olympic Committee that selects the athletes who compete in the Games. Each committee is responsible for ensuring that the athletes meet the Olympic and international sports federation eligibility requirements.

An athlete who represents a country in the Olympics must be a citizen of that country. Until 1988, only amateur athletes competed in the Games. Professional athletes are now eligible to compete in basketball, ice hockey, football, and tennis. In addition, the IOC voted in 1974 to allow national Olympic committees to pay athletes during an unlimited training period before the Olympic Games. Each athlete may receive expense money, plus the equivalent of the salary that he or she would earn by working instead of training.

In many countries, athletes qualify by winning, or finishing high, in competitions called selection trials. Participation in most of these trials is by invitation only.

In some Olympic sports, a nation may enter as many as three athletes in each individual event and one team in each team event. Five sports — archery, athletics, shooting, swimming, and weightlifting — require athletes to meet a minimum standard of performance if their country enters more than one competitor in an event within the sport.

Up to 12 teams can compete in each men's team sport, except football, which involves 16 teams. No more than 20 teams take part in each team sport that has competition for both men and women. If more than the maximum number of nations want to compete in sport, a qualifying tournament is held before the Olympics. Such tournaments are the responsibility of the international governing body of the sport involved.

Several methods of judging are used in various Olympic events. For example, the eight fastest athletes qualify for the finals in most swimming and athletics events. The medals in diving, figure-skating, and gymnastics are awarded on the basis of points given by judges. In bobsleighing and luge, each contestant or team makes a certain number of timed runs down the course, and the lowest total time wins. Speed-skaters are timed as they race, two at a time, over a course. The placing in shooting is based only on accuracy. In wrestling, each man competes against at least two opponents. In boxing, each man remains in competition only until he loses one bout.

The top three athletes in each Olympic event receive a medal and a diploma. The next five receive only a diploma. The first- and second-place medals are made of silver, but the first-place medal has a gold coating. The third-place medal is made of bronze. All the members of a winning relay team get a medal. In team sports, all the members who have played in at least one of their team's games receive one. The design of the medals for the Winter Olympics is different from the design for the Summer Games. The design is changed for each Olympic Games.

The winners receive their medals at an impressive ceremony held after the event. The three medal winners stand to attention while the flags of their countries are raised. A band plays a short version of the national anthem of the homeland of the gold medal winner.

Olympic competition is intended to test the skill and strength of individuals, not nations. Therefore, the IOC does not keep an official score among the competing countries. No nation "wins" the Olympics. However, newspaper and television reporters from all parts of the world tell the public how many gold, silver, and bronze medals have been won by each country.(3)