1、1The Olympic GamesThe Olympic Games , is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games are considered to be the worlds foremost sports competition and more than 200 nations participate. The G
2、ames are currently held biennially, with Summer and Winter Olympic Games alternating, meaning they occur every four years within their respective seasonal games. Originally, the ancient Olympic Games were held in Olympia, Greece, from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD. Baron Pierre de Coubert
3、in founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894. The IOC has since become the governing body of the Olympic Movement, whose structure and actions are defined by the Olympic Charter.The evolution of the Olympic Movement during the 20th and 21st centuries has resulted in several changes t
4、o the Olympic Games. Some of these adjustments include the creation of the Winter Games for ice and winter sports, the Paralympic Games for athletes with a physical disability, and the Youth Olympic Games for teenage athletes. The IOC has had to adapt to the varying economic, political, and technolo
5、gical realities of the 20th century. As a result, the Olympics shifted away from pure amateurism, as envisioned by Coubertin, to allow participation of professional athletes. The growing importance of the mass media created the issue of corporate sponsorship and commercialization of the Games. World
6、 Wars led to the cancellation of the 1916, 1940, and 1944 Games. Large boycotts during the Cold War limited participation in the 1980 and 1984 Games.The Olympic Movement consists of international sports federations (IFs), National Olympic Committees (NOCs), and organizing committees for each specifi
7、c Olympic Games. As the decision-making body, the IOC is responsible for choosing the host city for each Olympic Games. The host city is responsible for organizing and funding a celebration of the Games consistent with the Olympic Charter. The Olympic program, consisting of the sports to be conteste
8、d at the Games, is also determined by the IOC. The celebration of the Games encompasses many rituals and symbols, such as the Olympic flag and torch, as well as the opening and closing ceremonies. Over 13,000 athletes compete at the Summer and Winter Olympics in 33 different sports and nearly 400 ev
9、ents. The first, second, and third place finishers in each event receive Olympic medals: gold, silver, and bronze, respectively.The Games have grown in scale to the point that nearly every nation is represented. Such growth has created numerous challenges, including boycotts, doping, bribery, and te
10、rrorism. Every two years, the Olympics and its media exposure provide unknown athletes with the chance to attain national, and in some cases, international fame. The Games also constitute a major opportunity for the host city and country to showcase themselves to the world.Symbols The Olympic Moveme
11、nt uses symbols to represent the ideals embodied in the Olympic Charter. The Olympic symbol, better known as the Olympic rings, consists of five intertwined rings and represents the unity of the five inhabited continents (America, Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe). The colored version of the ringsblu
12、e, yellow, black, green, and redover a white field forms the Olympic flag. These colors were chosen because every nation had at least one of them on its national flag. The flag was adopted in 1914 but flown for the first time only at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium. It has since been ho
13、isted during each celebration of the Games.The Olympic motto is Citius, Altius, Fortius, a Latin expression meaning “Faster, Higher, Stronger“. Coubertins ideals are further expressed in the Olympic creed:The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most
14、important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.Months before each Games, the Olympic flame is lit in Olympia in a ceremony that reflects ancient Greek rituals. A female 2performer, acting as a priestess, ignites a tor
15、ch by placing it inside a parabolic mirror which focuses the suns rays; she then lights the torch of the first relay bearer, thus initiating the Olympic torch relay that will carry the flame to the host citys Olympic stadium, where it plays an important role in the opening ceremony. Though the flame
16、 has been an Olympic symbol since 1928, the torch relay was introduced at the 1936 Summer Games, as part of the German governments attempt to promote its National Socialist ideology.The Olympic mascot, an animal or human figure representing the cultural heritage of the host country, was introduced i
17、n 1968. It has played an important part on the Games identity promotion since the 1980 Summer Olympics, when the Russian bear cub Misha reached international stardom.The mascots of the most recent Summer Olympics, in Beijing, were the Fuwa, five creatures that represent the five fengshui elements im
18、portant in Chinese culture.Olympic Games ceremonyOpening A scene from the opening ceremony of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.As mandated by the Olympic Charter, various elements frame the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. Most of these rituals were established at the 1920 Summer Olympi
19、cs in Antwerp. The ceremony typically starts with the hoisting of the host countrys flag and a performance of its national anthem. The host nation then presents artistic displays of music, singing, dance, and theater representative of its culture.The artistic presentations have grown in scale and co
20、mplexity as successive hosts attempt to provide a ceremony that outlasts its predecessors in terms of memorability. The opening ceremony of the Beijing Games reportedly cost $100 million, with much of the cost incurred in the artistic segment.After the artistic portion of the ceremony, the athletes
21、parade into the stadium grouped by nation. Greece is traditionally the first nation to enter in order to honor the origins of the Olympics. Nations then enter the stadium alphabetically according to the host countrys chosen language, with the host countrys athletes being the last to enter. During th
22、e 2004 Summer Olympics, which was hosted in Athens, Greece, the Greek flag entered the stadium first, while the Greek delegation entered last. Speeches are given, formally opening the Games. Finally, the Olympic torch is brought into the stadium and passed on until it reaches the final torch carrier
23、often a well-known and successful Olympic athlete from the host nationwho lights the Olympic flame in the stadiums cauldron.Closing Athletes gather in the stadium during the closing ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics.The closing ceremony of the Olympic Games takes place after all sporting events h
24、ave concluded. Flag-bearers from each participating country enter the stadium, followed by the athletes who enter together, without any national distinction. Three national flags are hoisted while the corresponding national anthems are played: the flag of Greece, to honor the birthplace of the Olymp
25、ic Games; the flag of the current host country, and the flag of the country hosting the next Summer or Winter Olympic Games.The president of the organizing committee and the IOC president make their closing speeches, the Games are officially closed, and the Olympic flame is extinguished. In what is
26、known as the Antwerp Ceremony, the mayor of the city that organized the Games transfers a special Olympic flag to the president of the IOC, who then passes it on to the mayor of the city hosting the next Olympic Games. After these compulsory elements, the next host nation briefly introduces itself w
27、ith artistic displays of dance and theater representative of its culture.Medal presentation A medal ceremony is held after each Olympic event is concluded. The winner, second and third-place competitors or teams stand on top of a three-tiered rostrum to be awarded their respective medals. After the
28、medals are given out by an IOC member, the national flags of the three medalists are raised while the national anthem of the gold medalists country plays. Volunteering citizens of the host country also act as hosts during the medal ceremonies, as they aid the officials who present 3the medals and ac
29、t as flag-bearers. For every Olympic event, the respective medal ceremony is held, at most, one day after the events final. For the mens marathon, the competition is usually held early in the morning on the last day of Olympic competition and its medal ceremony is then held in the evening during the
30、 closing ceremony.Olympic sportsThe Olympic Games program consists of 35 sports, 30 disciplines and nearly 400 events. For example, wrestling is a Summer Olympic sport, comprising two disciplines: Greco-Roman and Freestyle. It is further broken down into fourteen events for men and four events for w
31、omen, each representing a different weight class. The Summer Olympics program includes 26 sports, while the Winter Olympics program features 15 sports. Athletics, swimming, fencing, and artistic gymnastics are the only summer sports that have never been absent from the Olympic program. Cross-country
32、 skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, Nordic combined, ski jumping, and speed skating have been featured at every Winter Olympics program since its inception in 1924. Current Olympic sports, like badminton, basketball, and volleyball, first appeared on the program as demonstration sports, and were la
33、ter promoted to full Olympic sports. Some sports that were featured in earlier Games were later dropped from the program.Olympic sports are governed by international sports federations (IFs) recognized by the IOC as the global supervisors of those sports. There are 35 federations represented at the
34、IOC. There are sports recognized by the IOC that are not included on the Olympic program. These sports are not considered Olympic sports, but they can be promoted to this status during a program revision that occurs in the first IOC session following a celebration of the Olympic Games. During such r
35、evisions, sports can be excluded or included in the program on the basis of a two-thirds majority vote of the members of the IOC. There are recognized sports that have never been on an Olympic program in any capacity, including chess and surfing.In October and November 2004, the IOC established an O
36、lympic Programme Commission, which was tasked with reviewing the sports on the Olympic program and all non-Olympic recognized sports. The goal was to apply a systematic approach to establishing the Olympic program for each celebration of the Games. The commission formulated seven criteria to judge w
37、hether a sport should be included on the Olympic program. These criteria are history and tradition of the sport, universality, popularity of the sport, image, athletes health, development of the International Federation that governs the sport, and costs of holding the sport. From this study five rec
38、ognized sports emerged as candidates for inclusion at the 2012 Summer Olympics: golf, karate, rugby union, roller sports and squash. These sports were reviewed by the IOC Executive Board and then referred to the General Session in Singapore in July 2005. Of the five sports recommended for inclusion
39、only two were selected as finalists: karate and squash. Neither sport attained the required two-thirds vote and consequently they were not promoted to the Olympic program. In October 2009 the IOC voted to instate golf and rugby union as Olympic sports for the 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympic Games.The 1
40、14th IOC Session, in 2002, limited the Summer Games program to a maximum of 28 sports, 301 events, and 10,500 athletes. Three years later, at the 117th IOC Session, the first major program revision was performed, which resulted in the exclusion of baseball and softball from the official program of t
41、he 2012 London Games. Since there was no agreement in the promotion of two other sports, the 2012 program will feature just 26 sports.The 2016 and 2020 Games will return to the maximum of 28 sports given the addition of rugby and golf.Acient Olympic GamesThe Ancient Olympic Games were a series of co
42、mpetitions held between representatives of several city-states and kingdoms in Ancient Greece. These games featured mainly athletic but also combat and chariot racing events. During the games, all conflicts among the participating city-states were postponed until the games were finished. The origin
43、of these Olympics is shrouded in mystery and legend, and one of the most popular myths identifies Heracles and his father Zeus as the progenitors of the Games. According to legend, it was Heracles who first called the Games “Olympic“ and established the custom of 4holding them every four years. A le
44、gend persists that after Heracles completed his twelve labors, he built the Olympic stadium as an honor to Zeus. Following its completion, he walked in a straight line for 200 steps and called this distance a “stadion“ , which later became a unit of distance. Another myth associates the first Games
45、with the ancient Greek concept of Olympic truce. The most widely accepted date for the inception of the Ancient Olympics is 776 BC; this is based on inscriptions, found at Olympia, listing the winners of a footrace held every four years starting in 776 BC. The Ancient Games featured running events,
46、a pentathlon (consisting of a jumping event, discus and javelin throws, a foot race, and wrestling), boxing, wrestling, pankration, and equestrian events. Tradition has it that Coroebus, a cook from the city of Elis, was the first Olympic champion.The Olympics were of fundamental religious importanc
47、e, featuring sporting events alongside ritual sacrifices honoring both Zeus (whose famous statue by Phidias stood in his temple at Olympia) and Pelops, divine hero and mythical king of Olympia. Pelops was famous for his chariot race with King Oenomaus of Pisatis. The winners of the events were admir
48、ed and immortalized in poems and statues. The Games were held every four years, and this period, known as an Olympiad, was used by Greeks as one of their units of time measurement. The Games were part of a cycle known as the Panhellenic Games, which included the Pythian Games, the Nemean Games, and
49、the Isthmian Games.The Olympic Games reached their zenith in the 6th and 5th centuries BCE, but then gradually declined in importance as the Romans gained power and influence in Greece. While there is no scholarly consensus as to when the Games officially ended, the most commonly held date is 393 CE, when the emperor Theodosius I decreed that all pagan cults and practices be eliminated. Another date commonly cited is 426 CE, when his successor, Theodosius II, ordered the destruction of all Greek temples. After the demise of the Olympics, they were not held again until the lat
