Highlights of the Olympics - Term Paper Example

HISTORY OF OLYMPICS DATE History of Olympics Sports a vital component of the Olympic Games can be traced back to the evolving man. The resemblance of certain sports to activities like hunting, archery, javelin, wrestling. These activities though later used for entertainment marked the survival tactic of the early man. It was survival to stay safe and prevent attacks by wild animals and also to look for food. Sticks were the main components for making weapons thus; arrows and javelins thus, sharpened enough to be able to pierce through the skin of an animal. This continued for a period of time until man was able to domesticate animals and protect themselves by building houses with fences to keep of the wild animals. These activities later improved. Since at that time, man had little knowledge of other activities the survival skills therefore created entertainment activities. They would wrestle to determine who is strongest in the community and they would be chosen as leaders because of their strength. Division of the small societies due to disagreement created the need for improvement of these skills. To prevent fights between these communities Heracles created peaceful sports. Olympic Games founder was the son of Zeus. Dedication of these games was to the Olympian gods and staged at the ancient plains of Olympia. Herakles initiated the Olympic Games so as to reunite warring nations. Individuals who would be caught with weapons at Olympia would fall under Zeus’s wrath. Soldiers and may others joined this noble cause. Sport then became competitive with awards given to winners with acknowledgment of their families. This created interest and desire as many athletes used this to uplift their families’ names. The games were every four years, in a span called the Olympiad. There were no rules in this games and most focused on proving masculinity. Athletes competed as individuals. Cheating was not part of the game, and those caught cheating fined heavily, and the money used to build the Zanes; statues of Zeus.   Games in this period concentrated only on single races. A naked runner Coroebus who was a runner from Elis won the Stade; a run of approximately 192 meters which by then was the only event in the Olympics. After the stade run, different sports came into existence including the Hoplitodrome. This was a footrace while the athletes wore their full armor. Another sport was the pentathlon which like the name suggests the athletes competed in different sports during the same event, these included wrestling, jumping, discus, sprinting and, javelin. A sport called the pancration, which was brutal and had no rules, came into existence in 648 B.C. This sport combined boxing and wrestling and, winning was when one athlete conceded or one of the athletes laid down unconscious it started in 648 B.C. ( Durant 7). The Olympic Games gained popularity after and continued for at least 1200 years after. These games thus remained in existence and played every four years from 776B.C to A.D. 394. Olympic Games then banned women participation even watching the games. However, there was notable exception for single women. The others would have faced a penalty of death. The roman emperor Theodosius I, abolished the Olympic Games, he was a Christian and considered the games to have a lot of pagan influences. Coubertin of French origin revived the Olympics after a passion which he had internally pursued subdued him. This he announced during a party held on November 25th of 1892. He emphasized the need for making sports an international event. After travelling and seeking support from around the world, the British offered Coubertin exactly that and he then brought up the discussion emphasizing amateurism (Guttmann 8). Before then, only the rich could exercise amateurism. In fact, a rule existed specifically stating no one who engaged in manual labor was to practice amateurism. The excuse was that these individuals were not sophisticated thus could not easily just do something for fun as all their motives were to gain money or payment after working (Guttmann 12). Coubertin fought to change that and include sports, Olympic sports not for status uplift but for personal and communal internal satisfaction. The Olympic being an amateur event thus, even the members of the IOC did not get payment. This group being the committee in charge of the Olympics had to pay their own airfare and even contribute in the committee events. Thus, only wealthy individuals form the participating countries could chair the committee. Coubertin wanted the committee to be independent as much as possible. Coubertin desired to use the Olympic Games to equalize this had so many barriers. One of them was that the poor could not afford to participate in a sport that was competitive and win without some form of pay. Practice on its own required payment to cater for training wear, food, and also these groups of individuals could not skip work to engage in activities that would not feed or clothe their families’. Thus, individuals who engaged in sports were either well off or in the military. The movement by Coubertin saw the revival of Olympic Games in different countries all over the world. Amateurism created a sense of humanity in the games for a certain period of time before the events became competitive and for personal gain. Origin of Olympic Games rose as a result of man hunting down the less sensible and critical creature the wild animal. The instinct of the animal was to survive and this at some point also meant forgetting the aspect of family. Man despite all the critical capabilities almost succumbed to this. These however, led to development of different sports, which have currently offered carrier opportunities so many individuals. On the other hand, it begs the question, how equal is man to animal? Games during the old days were for displaying strength and wittiness, but if clearly studied it was to mark territories. Same thing is still in existent up to date, athletes exercise hard and long to let the world know that they rule in a certain sport. Thus, the animal aided in the introduction of modern day sport and some animals still participating in different sports like bull fighting and horse racing. Animals are therefore, a crucial component of the Olympic Games whether directly or indirectly. To make a sport interesting, attention of the spectators had to be caught. In the old days, they used blood so as to gain the attention of the spectators. Despite the ward off of weapons during the Olympic Games, the crude nature of the sports still stood. Athletes competing in games like wrestling and the pancration aimed at making sure the opponent was down and weak as they had no other means of depicting the winner. This being so explains the exclusion of amateurism in the old time games. An individual would get hurt with no compensation yet they would have to stay and nurse for a period of time. Amateurism thus was for the rich who mingled only for the fun of it using different games. Modern day Olympic made its debut in 1612 in England in an athletic festival in Captains Robert Dover. The activities then involved wrestling, leaping and fencing. Captain Dover was a catholic of roman descent and the he often set up the festivals to counter the movement of Puritanism that was wide spread during that period. These stopped however, after his death. England led to the introduction of ball games in the Olympics. The Greeks did not dare play any ball game in their games as they considered it child play. The English on the other hand, used cricket to relax; for entertainment and since Coubertin the reviver of Olympic Games sought England’s support this led to the rapid spread of ball games as the English were all around the world as colonizers and army men. Olympic Games are now competitive and the standards set are always changing as the athletes keep breaking their own records and setting new ones. Introduction of activities like gymnastics which in the old days prepared the children for jobs as soldiers so that ready for war, nowadays they prepare one for future professional athletes. Olympics has embraced the intended desire by its proponent; internationalization. This is not only by country but also in terms of status in the society, religion, and wealth. Nowadays there are scholarships for individuals from poor families who cannot afford to participate in certain sports. There is flexibility in terms of uniforms and the women form the Islamic community can dress as per their custom in certain sports. Almost each country has a sport in which they are skilled at. Competitions have thus become global and friendly. Scientists each day engage in research to determine why specific sports are excelling in certain countries and not in other countries. These studies have led to discoveries of improved ways of living and increased emphasis of physical activity for longer life. Olympics games might have started with a crude animalistic nature, but they have evolved and help seek peace between warring nations, foster international awareness, and working relationships between countries. The development of sport has been so widespread and innovative that it gives the anticipation of eagerly awaiting for the next invention. Works cited Durant, John. Highlights of the Olympics: From Ancient Times to the Present. New York: Hastings House Publishers, 1973. Print Guttmann, Allen. The Olympics: A History of the Modern Games. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1992. Print Henry, Bill. An Approved History of the Olympic Games. New York: G. P. Putnams Sons, 1948.Print Read More