In which city did the first Olympic Games take place? Olympic Games
Olympic Games are international sports competitions that are held every four years in different cities. Thousands of athletes from all over the world compete against each other in individual and team sports. More than 1 billion people watch games on TV.
Modern Olympic Games
The first Olympic Games were held in Greece in 776 BC. They were called ancient games and continued until the 4th century AD. Modern Olympic Games began in 1896, when Frenchman Pierre de Coubertin revived the games to bring peace and friendship to the world. There are summer and winter games. Until 1994, both games were played in the same year, but now they are staged two years apart from each other.
The modern Olympic Games begin with an opening ceremony. Athletes from all participating countries enter the stadium. Greece comes out first because it was the first country to host the Olympics and the host of the competition comes out last. The Olympic flag is raised and the selected athlete lights the Olympic flame. It is a symbol of spirit, knowledge and life. The fire burns from the opening until the end of the games.
The Olympic rings were created in 1913 and represent the five continents (Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia and South America). All athletes must take the Olympic oaths. One of them must promise that all athletes will compete in a fair manner. After each event, medals are given to the first three athletes. They receive gold, silver and bronze medals. Their flags are raised and the national anthem of the victorious country is played.
International Olympic Committee
The IOC is the organization that governs the modern Olympic Games. He decides what sports and events will be held at the games. The IOC also selects the host city for the summer and winter games. Cities that want to host the games must show that they have enough stadiums for all events, they have enough space for all athletes, they can provide safety for athletes, they can transport athletes and spectators from one event to another. They also need to build an Olympic village where all the athletes will live during the games.
How can athletes participate?
As a rule, each country decides which athletes will take part. Athletes must be eligible for the Games by winning competitions held before the start of the Olympic Games. Athletes who are sent to games from their country must be citizens of that country. For many years, only amateurs could compete in the games, but in the modern Olympic Games today the majority of athletes are professionals who earn money through the sport.
Ancient games
The ancient Olympic Games were held in Olympia and Greece every four years. They were held in honor of the god Zeus. Back then, only Greek men were allowed to participate. The games consisted of races, wrestling, boxing, pentathlon and horse racing. The last were, as a rule, chariot races. When the Romans conquered Greece in 140 BC, the games began to lose their religious meaning and in 393 the Roman Emperor banned the event.
Summer Games take place during the summer season in the host country. They lasted 16 days. Today there are more than 270 competitions. More than 15,000 athletes from 190 countries take part in them.
The first Winter Olympic Games were held in France in 1924. They usually took place in February. Currently, the Winter Olympic Games include more than 60 competitions. Athletes from more than 60 countries participate in them.
The modern Olympic Games have become very successful, and more and more people can watch them on television, with television stations spending more and more money to broadcast the games. The IOC is making more money than ever before. With this money they help athletes in poor countries.
Sochi 2014 Olympic Flame Lighting Ceremony
But the administration of Athens and the Greek government expressed doubts that the necessary funds would be allocated to hold competitions of this rank. The government motivated this attitude by the fact that Athenians are poorly versed in sports and that the city does not have the necessary sports facilities, and the financial situation of Greece does not allow inviting representatives from many countries to the Olympics. Many prominent government and political figures supported the government's statement. For example, the influential political figure Stephonos Dratomis wrote that Greece was unable to realize the magnificent idea of Pierre de Coubertin and the Games were best postponed until 1900, as part of the World Exhibition in Paris.
But Pierre de Coubertin, as well as the Greek Crown Prince Constantine, who supported him, believed that they could only count on help from private individuals. The Crown Prince created a special commission to facilitate the holding of the Olympic Games. He appointed the former mayor of Athens, Philemon, as secretary general of the commission, and also appealed to the people to donate funds to the Olympics preparation fund. Money began to come not only from the residents of Greece, but also from London, Marseille, Istanbul (Constantinople) and other cities where rich Greek colonies existed. With funds received from Alexandria from Georg Averoff, the ancient Olympic stadium was restored. A velodrome and a shooting range were also built in Athens. Tennis courts are located in the city center. Athletes were provided with pavilions with boathouses and locker rooms for rowing competitions.
The preparation of the Olympic venues was carried out by the Greek National Olympic Committee, which managed to complete all the preparatory work in one year. The International Olympic Committee and national committees of other countries selected participants for the Games, which turned out to be a difficult task. Here is what Pierre de Coubertin wrote about this: “Most of the gymnastic associations in Germany, France and Belgium are filled with the consciousness of their own exclusivity: the members of these associations do not intend to tolerate in the program of the Games those sports that they do not cultivate. They especially hate the so-called “English” sports... Other associations were ready to send their representatives to Athens only after providing them with information regarding the interest the planned sports festival was arousing... The German press, to top it all off, declared, that the Olympics are an exclusively Franco-Greek enterprise. Meanwhile, Mr. Kemen in Hungary, Major Balck in Sweden, General Butovsky in Russia, Professor Sloan in the USA, Lord Ampthill in Great Britain and Dr. Gut-Jarkovsky in Bohemia (modern Czech Republic) did everything possible to create interest in the upcoming competitions."
The competition was originally planned to take place in the stadium at Olympia, site of the Ancient Greek Olympic Games. But this idea had to be abandoned because the stadium needed serious restoration. It was decided to hold the Games at the Athens stadium, where athletes competed in ancient times. The opening of the Games took place on April 6 at the Marble Stadium in Athens; the opening ceremony was watched by about 80 thousand spectators (a record figure before the 1932 Olympic Games). After the King of Greece announced the Games of the First Olympiad, a choir of 150 voices performed the Olympic Ode, written especially for this occasion by the Greek composer Samara.
311 athletes from 13 countries took part in the competition: Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Hungary, Germany, Greece, Denmark, USA, France, Chile, Switzerland, Sweden. However, more than 70% of the participants competed for Greece. The teams of Germany (21 athletes), France (19), and the USA (14) were quite representative.
Russian athletes were actively preparing for the Olympics, but due to lack of funds, the Russian team was unable to attend. Several athletes from Odessa, eager to participate in the Games, decided to travel to Athens on their own, but due to financial problems they had to return back. Kiev resident Nikolai Ritter, however, managed to get to Athens and even applied to participate in wrestling and shooting competitions. But he did not compete, later withdrawing his application.
Only men took part in the competition.
The program of the first modern Olympic Games included competitions in Greco-Roman wrestling, cycling, gymnastics, athletics, swimming, shooting (bullet), tennis, weightlifting, and fencing, in which 43 sets of medals were competed. Rowing competitions were also planned, but due to a lack of applications they did not take place.
According to ancient tradition, the Games were started by track and field athletes. The first Olympic champion was the American athlete James Connolly, who won the triple jump with a score of 13 m 71 cm. The champion was a full meter ahead of his closest rival Alexandre Tuffer from France. Harvard University student Connolly arrived at the Olympics without official permission from the administration; moreover, professors and teachers disapproved of the willfulness of the future champion. But after James returned with an Olympic gold medal, the pundits changed their anger to mercy. He was later even awarded an honorary doctorate from Harvard. Connolly became famous not only in sports, becoming the first Olympic champion of our time, but also in journalism, he also has 25 popular novels to his credit.
The second gold medal was also won by the American athlete, discus thrower Robert Garrett, who literally snatched the highest Olympic award from the hands of the Greek Panagiotis Paraskevopoulos. This circumstance shocked the Greek fans - after all, the Greeks were considered beyond competition in discus throwing!
The happy American told the startled journalists an entertaining story of his victory. While a student at Princeton University, Garrett learned that the Games program included discus throwing, and decided to take part in it. Since in America they knew about this sport only by hearsay, he decided that at the Olympics they would use the same discus that ancient athletes used.
After delving into books, Garrett ordered a similar disc for himself and, having familiarized himself with the technique, began training. Already in Athens, he discovered that modern equipment was so much lighter and more convenient that it was not difficult for him to beat the favorites with a score of 29 m 15 cm.
The next day, fortune once again smiled on the lucky American: in the absence of the main contender, world record holder Dennis Horgan (Ireland), Garrett won another gold medal in the shot put with a result of 11 m 22 cm. Garrett went down in the history of the Olympic Games by paying trip of three athletes of their team.
The central competition was the marathon. The winner, the Greek postman Spyridon Louis, became a national hero and received high honors. In addition to the Olympic awards, he received a gold cup established by the French academician Michel Breal, who insisted on including marathon running in the program of the Games, a barrel of wine, a voucher for free food for a year, free tailoring of a dress and the use of a hairdresser throughout his life, 10 centners of chocolate, 10 cows and 30 rams.
Pierre de Coubertin described the victory of Spyridon Louis this way: “When Louis appeared at the stadium, the 60 thousand spectators who were waiting for him jumped out of their seats, overcome with extraordinary excitement. A flock of pigeons released from cages took off again... Some spectators, who were closest to Louis, tried to make their way to him in order to carry him out of the field in triumph. Louis would have been strangled in his arms if the Crown Prince and Prince George had not escorted him from the arena.”
The first serious violation of sports ethics was associated with the marathon. Immediately after the finish, the Hungarian athlete Deze Kellner, who came fourth, protested, demanding the disqualification of the Greek runner S. Vasilakos. Kellner claimed that third-place finisher Vasilakos mysteriously disappeared during the marathon and appeared in front of him a few hundred meters before the finish line. The investigation showed that the enterprising Greek covered almost the entire distance on a cart in order to appear at the finish line in the glory of a winner. The Hungarian athlete received his rightful bronze medal, as well as a gold watch, along with an apology from the organizers.
For fraud, Vasilakos was deprived of the right to wear the national costume, he was publicly condemned and disqualified for life.
The outstanding French athlete Paul Masson turned out to be unattainable in the sprint race on the track, as well as at distances of 2000 and 10,000 m. At the first Games, he won the most gold medals. Another French athlete Leon Flament demonstrated an example of sportsmanship and fair fight. Leading the 100-kilometer race, he suddenly noticed that his main rival Georgios Koletis was forced to stop due to a bicycle breakdown. The Frenchman, as a sign of solidarity, decided to wait for the Greek cyclist and resumed the race only after Koletis was able to continue. And despite the delay, Flamand was the first to reach the finish line. He became not only an Olympic champion, but also one of the most popular athletes of the Olympics.
There were no divisions into weight categories in wrestling competitions. All the more honorable was the victory of the athlete from Germany Carl Schumann, who was the lightest of all the participants. In addition to the victory in wrestling, Schumann won 3 more gold medals in gymnastics competitions - vault, as well as in the team championship in exercises on parallel bars and horizontal bar.
In the weightlifting competition, the Englishman Launceston Elliott distinguished himself with a result of 71 kg in the exercise with one arm and the Dane Viggo Jensen (111.5 kg with both arms).
In the shooting competitions, Greek athletes were out of competition, winning 3 medals in exercises with a military rifle. In Revolver 2 shooting, the Americans won the highest awards.
The Hungarian swimmer Alfred Hajos won a striking victory. In stormy weather, he managed to get ahead of the other contenders and won the 1200 m swim. Hajos remained in the Olympic annals not only as the first swimming champion: 28 years after his victory in Athens, he again took part in the Olympic Games and won a silver medal in the arts competition in the architecture section - for the stadium project.
Of course, not everything at the Games of the 1st Olympiad, despite the enormous enthusiasm and efforts of the organizers, went smoothly. The result would have been more significant if representatives from not 13, but a larger number of the 34 invited countries had participated in the competition. A number of countries sent weak teams to the Olympic competitions, and some of the strongest athletes did not come to the Games.
However, it is difficult to overestimate the importance of the first international competitions of this scale. Coubertin praised them, noting: “As far as Greece is concerned, the result of the Games seems to be twofold: sporting and political... If we realize the influence that physical education can have on the future of the country and on the spiritual forces nation as a whole, the question involuntarily arises: did not a new era of development begin for Greece in 1896? It would be interesting if sport became one of the factors that could influence the solution of the Eastern question!.. These are hypotheses, and the future will confirm or refute the correctness of our forecasts...”
The winners were awarded on the closing day of the Games - April 15. In accordance with the ancient ceremony, the Olympic champion was crowned with a laurel wreath, he was given an olive branch cut from the sacred grove of Olympia, as well as a medal and diploma. Since 1896, the tradition of playing national anthems and raising state flags in honor of the winners has been established.
At the Games of the 1st Olympiad, Greek athletes won the largest number of medals - 46 (10 gold, 19 silver and 17 bronze); US Olympians received 19 medals (respectively, 11, 7, 1); German athletes - 14 medals (7, 5, 2). The Olympians of Bulgaria, Chile and Sweden were left without medals.
After the successful hosting of the Games of the First Olympiad, Greece hoped that subsequent Olympic Games would be held in Athens, which would become a modern Olympia. However, the International Olympic Committee decided to give the Games a truly international character and hold them alternately in different countries and on different continents. The International Olympic Committee did not object to major international competitions being held in Greece between the Games. Such competitions were planned to be held in 1898, and then in 1902. But for organizational and financial reasons they did not take place.
The beginning of the Olympic Games was laid back in 1896. From the very beginning, games were played in both summer and winter of the same year. We will look at how the modern Olympic Games are held in this article.
Already in the 20th century, the gap between the winter and summer games was two years. used to take place in Olympia and were of great importance to local residents. Previously, the games had only one competition - sprinting. A little later they began to hold competitions for horses and running in full uniform. Only local residents and Mediterranean guests could take part in the games. We all know very well how the modern Olympic Games are held today: athletes from all over the world take part in the competitions.
The Olympic Games are held each time in a new place. A certain country and city are selected and all athletes go there to compete. There are cases when competitions are held again in certain countries, for example in Greece. Since it was in Greece that such competitions originated, after a certain period the Olympiad is held there again. Athens is a fabulous city, which is why the locals have been hosting the Olympic Games with pride and dignity since 1896 (the first competitions were held here).
How the modern Olympic Games are conducted is known to all spectators, but they should know one thing - the current version is very different from the past. Today the Olympic Games are the most exciting and largest in the world. The programs are constantly changing, improving and mainly consist of twenty or more different sports. As a rule, personal records and achievements are set at competitions. The potential of a certain team is very rarely assessed; basically, it’s every man for himself. Games are judged by three medals: gold, silver and bronze.
As for the comparative characteristics of the games, previously only Greeks and Mediterranean guests took part, but now all well-proven athletes from all over the world took part. Today women compete equally with men and have the right to fight for it, but in Greece this was simply impossible. At the Olympic Games, athletes compete for awards, the honor of their country, showing their physical abilities, and in ancient times they were even awarded for spiritual abilities. Nowadays it is considered a competition, but in the past this was not the case. When the games were held at Olympia, all hostilities ceased and all time was devoted to competitions. As before, the games are held every four years, but the break between the summer and winter games is two years.
Everyone has the opportunity to watch the modern Olympic Games on TV and read about the results in the newspaper. Visiting the country that hosts them is the dream of every sports fan. We were luckier, because in Greece almost everyone knew about the games, but only a few could get there, but now the doors of the Olympic Games are open to all interested spectators!
If yes, you might be very interested to know impressive details of the origins of the Olympic races. The history of the Olympic Games is fascinating and full of surprises. So, let's dive into the uncharted waters of the world Olympiads?
How it all began
The famous Olympic Games in honor of Olympian Zeus originated in Ancient Greece and were held from 776 BC. e. every 4 years in the city of Olympia. Sports competitions were such a great success and of great importance for society that for a while OlimpiyskOuchthe races stopped the wars and ekehiriya - a sacred truce - was established.
People flocked to Olympia from everywhere to watch the competition: some traveled on foot, some on horseback, and some even sailed by ship to distant lands just to get a glimpse of the majestic Greek athletes. Entire tent settlements grew up around the city. To watch the athletes, spectators completely filled the hillsides around the Alpheus River valley.
After the solemn victory and the award ceremony (presentation of a wreath of sacred olives and a palm branch), the Olympian lived happily ever after. Holidays were held in his honor, hymns were sung, statues were made, and in Athens the winner was exempted from taxes and burdensome public duties. And the winner was always given the best seat in the theater. In some places, even the children of an Olympian enjoyed special privileges.
Interesting, that women were not allowed to participate in Olympic competitions under penalty of death.
The brave Hellenes competed in running, fist fighting (which Pythagoras once won), jumping, javelin throwing, and so on. However, the most dangerous were the chariot races. You won’t believe it, but the winner of equestrian competitions was considered the owner of the horses, and not the poor cab driver who risked his life to win.
There are many legends associated with the Olympic Games. One of them says that the first competitions were allegedly organized by Zeus himself in honor of the victory over his father. Whether this is true or not, it was Homer who first mentioned the Olympic Games of Ancient Greece in literature in the poem “The Iliad.”
Archaeological excavations indicate that in Olympia, 5 rectangular or horseshoe-shaped stadiums with stands for fans were built specifically for the competition.
Unfortunately, nothing is currently known about the time of the champions. It was enough to be the first to reach the finish line to gain the right to light the sacred fire. But legends tell us about Olympians who ran faster than hares, and just look at the talent of the Spartan Ladas, who left no traces on the sand while running.
Modern Olympic Games
Modern international sports competitions, known as the Summer Olympics, have been held every four years since 1896. The initiator was the French baron Pierre de Coubertin. He believed that it was insufficient physical training that prevented French soldiers from winning the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871. Young people should measure their strength on sports grounds, not on battlefields, the activist argued.
The first Olympic Games were held in Athens. To organize the competition we created International Olympic Committee, whose first president was Demetrius Vikelas from Greece.
Since then, the holding of the World Olympiad has become a good tradition. With the backdrop of impressive excavations and archaeological finds, the idea of Olympism spread throughout Europe. Increasingly, European states organized their own sports competitions, which were watched by the whole world.
What about winter sports?
To fill the gap in winter sports competitions, which were technically impossible to hold in the summer, The Winter Olympic Games have been held since January 25, 1924. The first were organized in a French city Chamonix. In addition to figure skating and hockey, athletes competed in speed skating, ski jumping, etc.
293 athletes, including 13 women, from 16 countries of the world expressed a desire to compete for championship in the competition. The first Olympic champion of the Winter Games was C. Jutrow from the USA (speed skating), but in the end the leaders of the competition were the teams of Finland and Norway. The race lasted 11 days and ended on February 4.
Attributes of the Olympic Games
Now the symbol and emblem The Olympic Games have five intertwined rings that symbolize the unification of the five continents.
Olympic motto, proposed by the Catholic monk Henri Dido: “Faster, higher, stronger.”
At the opening ceremony of each Olympics they raise flag- white cloth with the emblem (Olympic rings). Lights up throughout the Olympics Olympic fire, which is brought to the venue every time from Olympia.
Since 1968, each Olympiad has its own.
The 2016 Olympic Games are planned to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where the Ukrainian team will present their champions to the world. By the way, the first Olympic champion of independent Ukraine was a figure skater Oksana Baiul.
The opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games are always a vibrant spectacle, which once again emphasizes the prestige and planetary importance of these worldwide competitions.
Only running competitions were held over a distance of one stadium (from the Greek stade = 192 m). Gradually the number of sports increased and the games became an important event for the entire Greek world. It was a religious and sports holiday, during which obligatory “sacred peace” was declared and any military actions were prohibited.
The history of the first Olympics The period of truce lasted a month and was called ekeheiriya. It is believed that the first Olympics took place in 776 BC. e. But in 393 AD. e. Roman Emperor Theodosius I banned the Olympic Games. By that time, Greece lived under the rule of Rome, and the Romans, having converted to Christianity, believed that the Olympic Games, with their worship of pagan gods and the cult of beauty, were incompatible with the Christian faith. The Olympic Games were remembered at the end of the 19th century, after excavations began in ancient Olympia and the ruins of sports and temple buildings were discovered. In 1894, at the International Sports Congress in Paris, the French public figure Baron Pierre de Coubertin (1863-1937) proposed organizing the Olympic Games on the model of the ancient ones. He also came up with the Olympians’ motto: “The main thing is not victory, but participation.” De Coubertin wanted only male athletes to compete in these competitions, as in Ancient Greece, but already in the second Games women also participated. The emblem of the Games was five multi-colored rings; We chose the colors that are most often found on the flags of various countries around the world.
The first modern Olympic Games took place in 1896 in Athens. In the 20th century The number of countries and athletes participating in these competitions grew steadily, and the number of Olympic sports also increased. Today it is difficult to find a country that does not send at least one or two athletes to the Games. Since 1924, in addition to the Olympic Games, which take place in the summer, winter Games began to be organized so that skiers, skaters and other athletes who engage in winter sports can compete. And since 1994, the Winter Olympic Games are held not in the same year as the Summer Olympics, but two years later.
The history of the first Olympics is the most interesting facts.
Sometimes the Olympic Games are called the Olympics, which is incorrect: the Olympics is a four-year period between successive Olympic Games. When, for example, they say that the 2008 Games are the 29th Olympics, they mean that from 1896 to 2008, 29 periods of four years each passed. But there were only 26 Games: in 1916, 1940 and 1944. There were no Olympic Games - world wars interfered. The Greek city of Olympia today attracts crowds of tourists who want to look at the ruins of the ancient city excavated by archaeologists with the remains of the temples of Zeus and Hera and visit the Archaeological Museum of Olympia. otvetkak.ru
