The Summer Olympics
By: Omar Al Mansoori
H00234758
Introduction
A highly recognized term among the sports enthusiasts
“Olympic” came from the word “Olympia” that is named after a city in Greece. Summer Olympics is a multi-sports event
conducted internationally and about
300 different types of sports competition are held in the mega event of Olympics. Athletes from all over the world participate in this event as representatives of their countries and the gold, silver and bronze medals are awarded to the players who secure first, second or third positions in particular sports competitions respectively. Olympics are the most famous sports
event in the world, and the
International Olympic Committee
(IOC) organizes this event every four years.
Around 10,000 athletes from 205 nations
participate in the Olympics, and
it is the dream
of every athlete to participate and represent
his country in this global gala of sports.
History
The Olympic Games started
from Greece around 3000 years ago.
Athletic competitions were started
in Greece’s cities in 800B.C and
historical findings suggest that these
games were held
during the months of August and September every four years (World atlas, 2014). Olympics
were considered as very prestigious games in Greece and only freeborn Greeks were allowed to participate in these games. In 200B.C Romans conquered Greece and the Olympics faced a decline due
to Roman influence. The
Olympics terribly suffered
under the Roman influence, but they some
way or other
remained active till 400A.D when the Roman Emperor ordered to truncate these games.
The revival of ancient Olympic Games is credited
to Pierre de Coubertin from France. He put his efforts for
the promotion of physical education. Pierre de Coubertin was a great supporter
of cultural and national understanding through sports. He for
the first time
presented the idea of reviving the
Olympic Games in the international
sports conference. In this conference, he
convinced delegations of 44 organizations
of nine different countries and got a high
number of votes in favor of the Olympic Games. The delegates eventually agreed to start the Olympics from
Paris in the year of 1900. Apart from agreeing to the commencement of Olympics Games in
Paris, the delegates also decided
to initially conduct this event in
the Athens, which in the sports history
is recognized as the first mega games event held in Athens, Greece in the year of 1896.
During the summer of 1896, Olympics took place in Athens. Just 245 competitors participated in this event from 13 nations and among the participants, most were Greek (A&E Television
Networks, 2014). This event
of 1896 is regarded as
the biggest achievement in the history of global sports. Crowds of thousands of people highly appreciated the inauguration of this first mega event
of history; even the stadium overflowed, and the event was
initiated with the ancient
Greek marathon. This event successfully gained the attention of many
other nations and several countries
decided to take part in the Olympics of 1900 in
Paris. The International Olympic Committee was also established. The second season
of Olympic Games attracted many
more athletes from around the world, and
the athletes also included twenty women who were
for the first time allowed to participate in Olympic
Games. In the year of 1904,
Olympic Games were held in
St. Louis, Missouri, USA. The number
of competitors dropped for the second
Olympics mainly because the long sea journey to USA was difficult for
European competitors. In 1908, the 4th
Olympic Games were
held in England, and the event was
a success. The marathon of the 4th Olympics took place at today’s standard
distance of 42 Km (Previous 40Km).
In the year 1912, Olympic Games were held in Stockholm. Almost 2500 competitors from all over the world participated
in this mega event. The games in Stockholm are regarded as a true picture of Pierre de Coubertin’s
vision. For the first time in the history,
competitors participated
from all five continents of the world. The
games of 1916 were cancelled due to the
World War I; however, in the year 1920, despite the effects of the First World War, the number of competitors
was high in the event. This
time, it was
held in a war-affected Belgium. In 1924, about 3000 competitors participated in the
Olympics held in Paris. In 1928, Olympic Games were held in Amsterdam and for the
first time, female competitors were allowed to participate
in track and field sports. The
Olympics of 1932 in Los Angles hosted a very low number
of competitors due to the time of the Great Depression. The Olympics of 1936 were held in Germany, and the 1940 and
1944 Games were cancelled due to 2nd World War.
The post Second
World War games took place in 1948 in London; in this session of the games;
Japan and Germany were excluded. In 1952 the USSR team dominated the
games which were held in Helsinki. In 1956 games were held
in Melbourne. The 1960 Olympic Games were held in Rome and in 1964, these
games were held in Tokyo. This was the
first time when
advanced technology to broadcast
the games all
over the world was used.
In 1968 Games were held in
Mexico and in 1972, they were held in Munich Germany. The nest event took
place in 1976 in Montreal, and
the event is regarded as the most expensive
Olympic event ever known to man. In 1980, games were held
in Moscow, and 66 countries including USA and Germany boycotted these games
due to Soviet Union’s invasion
of Afghanistan. Later in 1984
event, Soviet Union and 13 of
his allied countries boycotted the Los Angles Olympic games.
In 1988 games were held in Seoul followed by 1992 session held in Barcelona, in 1996
Atlanta and in 2000
Sydney. The Sydney games were regarded
as the games of the millennium. In the year of 2004, Olympics were once again held
in Athens. Beijing hosted Olympics of 2008 and in 2012, for the
third times Olympics were held
in London.
Host countries
The Olympic Games were hosted by Greece,
France, United Kingdom, USA, Australia, Germany, Belgium, China, Finland,
Italy, Japan, Mexico, Neither land, South Korea,
Spain and Sweden. Out of these host
countries, The United States hosted
Summer Olympic Games four times, United Kingdom for three times, Australia,
Germany, France and Greece hosted
this event for
two times in the history. All other
countries organized this event for
one time. The 2016 Olympic
Games will be held in
Rio de Janeiro South America.
Games included in the Olympics
The sports included in Olympics
are; athletics, archery, badminton, basketball, baseball, cricket, boxing, croquet,
cycling, diving, equestrian, fencing, football, golf, Gymnastics,
Handball, Hockey, Jeu de Paume, Judo, lacrosse, table tennis, modern
pentathlon, swimming, polo, rackets, rhythmic gymnastics, Roque,
rowing, rugby, canoeing and kayaking, sailing, shooting, softball, taekwondo,
tennis, trampoline,
triathlon, tug of war, volleyball, water polo, water motorsports,
weightlifting and wrestling.
Cost of Olympic Games
It is a normal estimate that
about 4 to 5 billion USD are spent
on conducting an Olympics event.
The 1976’s Olympics were the most expensive games
in history. These games were over budgeted
and exhibited repeatedly reported incidents of corruption and frauds.
Awards and prizes in the Summer Olympic Games
The awards and prizes are deeply rooted in the ancient manuscripts of Greece. In the old times,
winners of the games were awarded,
cauldrons, tripods, oxen and women
(Compare Info base Ltd., 2013). In the
contemporary Olympics, winners
are awarded gold, silver and bronze medals.
First position holders are awarded gold medals second
place holders get silver, and third
position holders get bronze medals.
Apart from them, various cash prizes and
other gifts are also granted to the
runner-ups.
Winners of the Summer Olympics
With 976 Gold medals,
USA is the leading country with distinction of holding largest number
of gold medals throughout the history of Olympics. The past nation
Soviet Union is in the second
position with 395 gold medals. England is in the third position with 236 Gold Medals
and France with 202 Gold Medals is fourth. China is at the
fifth place with 201 Gold Medals (Pearson Education,
2013).
2016 Summer Olympics
The 2016 Olympic Games will
be hosted by Brazil in Rio de Janeiro. The games will last 17 days with the
opening ceremony on August 5, 2016 and the closing on August 21, 2016 (Olympic.org,
2014).
A committee has been put in
place to oversee the preparation for the games that is, the Rio de Janeiro
Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (Rio2016, 2014). A few officials of
the committee have resigned from their positions during the preparation period,
creating some challenges for the host city. However, the Olympic movement did
an inspection and indicated that everything is well on schedule. The games will
take place is more than 32 venues across the city. Major infrastructure
development and renovations are being done in preparation. There have been
concerns about security, but the Rio authorities have put in place measures
like community policing to curb criminal activities. The preparations are
deemed to be running behind schedule. Funding for the games is through the
federal government, municipal government, state government, and donations.
According to the
(Olympic.org, 2014) the 2016 Summer Olympic program will feature “28 sports, 41
disciplines, and 306 events.” There are new sporting activities introduced like
Rugby Sevens. There are 204 countries belonging to the National Olympics
Committees, but only 56 have already qualified for participation as of now.
Gupo
Grobo was given the broadcast rights for the Olympics; they further sold
free-to-air rights and partial free-to-air rights to other broadcasters like
Rede Records. The awards at the Olympics are usually a gold medal for the
winner, a silver medal for the first-runner-up and a bronze medal for the
second-runner-up.
References
References
A&E
Television Networks. (2014). The Olympic Games - Facts & Summary -
HISTORY.comb. Retrieved from http://www.history.com/topics/olympic-games
Compare
Infobase Ltd. (2013). Ancient Olympic Prizes - Maps of the world.
Retrieved from http://www.mapsofworld.com/olympics/ancient-olympics/ancient-olympic-games-prizes.html
Pearson
Education. (2013). Summer Olympics Through The Years | Infoplease.com.
Retrieved from http://www.infoplease.com/ipsa/A0114335.html
World
atlas. (2014). olympic games summer and winter locations and history of the
games. Retrieved from http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/olympic.htm
Olympic Movement. (2014). Rio De Janeiro 2016. Retrieved from http://www.olympic.org/rio-2016-summer-olympics
