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OLYMPIC GAMES.
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History of ancient & modern games. Purpose of prizes. Olympic problems incl. Steroid use & security.... More...
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Paper Abstract:
History of ancient & modern games. Purpose of prizes. Olympic problems incl. Steroid use & security.
Paper Introduction:
INTRODUCTION
The Olympic Games began in ancient Greece in 776 BC and continued until 395 AD. The games were held at Olympia on the Peloponnesse and attracted visitors from all over the Greek world. The central attraction was the games, of course, but Olympia, the site of the games, was also a reason many visitors came just to see this huge architectural achievement. The games were revived a century ago and have become a major business enterprise televised around the world, and countries compete for the right to host both the winter and summer games.
The ancient games were held in honor of Zeus, the supreme god in Greek mythology, and visitors to Olympia were making a pilgrimage to Zeus's most sacred place, the grove known as Altis (Swaddling 7). There are several legends regarding the origin
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The track was of levelclay lightly covered with sand. Respect was given to Olympic victorsthroughout the world. CONCLUSION The primary link between the ancient games and the modern games is inwhat attracted Baron Pierre de Coubertin to the Olympics in the first place--the celebration of the Olympic spirit through athletic competitioncelebrating individual and team achievement and putting other politicaldifferences on hold for the duration. It is estimated by one competitor that only about onepercent of strongmen have never used anabolic steroids, while another saysthe number is closer to fifty percent. The site had been chosen originally for its strategicposition but was destroyed by natural forces peculiar to that area, such asearthquakes and winter storms. The IOC banned the use of anabolic steroids in1976, and the American College of Sports Medicine produced a study in 1984that examined the use of anabolic steroids. That was theculture for the sport and to an extent still is. Official delegates came from France, England,the United States, Greece, Russia, Sweden, Belgium, Italy, and Spain, andHungary, Germany, Bohemia, Holland, and Australia sent proxies or letters.There were 79 delegates representing a total of 49 organizations. The effects of the Franco-PrussianWar affected the debate as well, since the French Gymnastic Union statedthat if Germany were admitted to the congress, it would not participate.Germany failed to send an official delegation, which reduced the tensionsthat might have developed. It had anelaborate mechanism for starting the horse races (Swaddling 3 -31). Canadian weightlifter Jacques Demers explained why he felt it necessary to use steroids: To go to international competitions, you have to meet international standards and those are based on what the Russians and Bulgarians do. The prizes in the modern games are described in the charter. Works CitedAssociated Press and Grolier. "Weightlifting: Titans Of Testosterone." Sports Illustrated (18 October 1999), 98.Swaddling, Judith. He ingested enormous quantitiesof carbs and calories and got as big and strong as possible. The aforementioned Palaistra was where trainingin combat and jumping took place, and it also served as a sort of socialclub. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press, 198 . In particular, someathletes use performance-enhancing drugs, which the International OlympicCommittee has also banned. Weight liftingis such a sport. Danbury, Connecticut: Grolier, 1979.Dyment, P.G. The stadium wasthus removed from the sacred area and set apart. He set his idea more explicitly in writtenform in 1894, stating, Above all things it is important to preserve the noble and chivalrous qualities in athletics that have characterized it in the past, in order that it may continue effectively to play the part in modern education that the ancient Greeks attributed to it (Henry 22).A congress was convened, and the only country that actively opposed theidea at the congress was Belgium, which organized violent propaganda amonggymnastic organizations all over Europe. and they take steroids. Variousstudies show that seven percent of high-school male athletes use anabolicsteroids, as do fifteen percent of male college athletes, six percent offemale college athletes, and about fifty percent of those playing the powerpositions in professional football (meaning offensive and defensive linesand linebackers). Inindividual events, the first prize is a silver-gilt or gold medal and adiploma; the second prize is a silver medal and a diploma; and the thirdprize is a bronze medal or a diploma. . Uponreturning to his home city, the victor would usually be greeted with allthe honor accorded a victorious warrior. Hethen injected juice or took it in capsules to add strength and to enablehim to train through injuries and fatigue. The building called Pheidias' Workshop was used by the sculptor forthe creation of the gold and ivory statue of Zeus that marked the site.The ancient sports complex served as the lactation for the games. Thedelegates wanted to move as fast as possible and moved the original date of19 up so that the first games would start in Athens, Greece in 1896: The games should be held every four years in the leading cities of the world, the program should be exclusively modern, and an International Olympic Committee of fifteen should be named to have supreme authority over the celebration (Henry 24).The games have been held every four years since, with the exception ofduring the First and Second World Wars. A more believable version is that Lycurgus, the great Spartan lawyer,joined with Iphetus, king of Elis, to restore the festival. They are the best weight lifters in the world . Since the Olympic Games are not considered contestsbetween nations, no scoring by nation is recognized (The Associated Press32). The site must have beenextremely impressive in its time, with monumental buildings and outsidesports arenas showing the political power of the Greeks as well as theiraesthetic sensibilities. The sport was developed in an erawhen anabolic steroids were an accepted part of training. The first record of Olympic victors dates from 776 BCwith the name of Coroebus of Elis, a cook; the list then continues until394 AD when Theodosius, emperor of Rome, abolished the games (Henry 11-12). The site contained more than two dozenmajor buildings and structures around the hill of Knossos, and theseincluded religious and civic monuments as well as sports stadiums and thelike. INTRODUCTION The Olympic Games began in ancient Greece in 776 BC and continueduntil 395 AD. Modern games have encountered political pressure and politicalaction as well. . Much remains speculative because of changes in the topography anda lack of direct evidence or even written plans. The Olympia site as it exists today is only a shadow of what oncestood there, and models show more of the nature of the area than the siteitself. When Philipus of Croton,another Olympic victor, was killed in battle, his enemies erected a shrineover his grave (Henry 13). American winners in particular mayachieve considerable fame and fortune as a result of winning in the OlympicGames, for they may gain contracts for endorsement of products, come torepresent some company related to their field, or achieve some similarsuccess in the public eye. The gymnasium was quite long because it housed a doublerunning track 192.28.meters long, the same size as the track in thestadium. A magnificent gymnasium was built during the second century BCadjacent to the Palaistra, and both buildings were probably used by thecompetitor only. However, Coubertin began to make his dreamcome true when he announced it at a meeting of the Athletic Sports Union atthe Sorbonne in Paris in 1892. Thestadium did not exist in the early years but was built around 35 BC, bywhich time the games were fully established. A platform at the southern edge of thecourse served as the judges' stand (Swaddling 24-25). Other awards accrue to modern winners as well, depending on whatcountry they represent. The ancient games were held in honor of Zeus, the supreme god inGreek mythology, and visitors to Olympia were making a pilgrimage to Zeus'smost sacred place, the grove known as Altis (Swaddling 7). OLYMPIC PROBLEMS The ancient Olympic Games were best by problems associated with warsand other political disturbances, though they also seem to have managed toovercome such issues to a great extent in order to hold the games onschedule. In the second century, the Eleans added a majestic, triple-archedgateway to the gymnasium. Such rewards are not likely in countries lessshaped by media and advertising, but there are similar options for athletesin Europe. Full-scale excavations would not be carriedout until 1875 (Swaddling 13). Pindar told the story that the games extended back to thetime when Heracles was given the task of cleaning out the Augean stables.When Heracles cleaned out the stables by diverting two rivers, King Augeasrefused to pay him, so Heracles killed the king and his entire family, theninstituted the Olympic games in celebration. PRIZES The ancient Olympic Games were often an opportunity to display wealthas much as to display athletic prowess. The Ancient Olympic Games. Whatinformation there is must be pieced together like a huge puzzle to suggestwhat the games were like (Swaddling 33). Rulers would use the chariot eventas a way of showing wealth, for instance. Dorieus fought for Sparta against Athens; when hewas captured, he was released with ransom in recognition of the fact thathe had won three Olympic victories in succession. Since that time,security has been a primary issue and has extended beyond the gamesthemselves to the city and even the country in which they are held. Athletes use drugs to increase their intensity, endurance, orstrength, and they do this in spite of their illegality and harmful sideeffects. So if I go to the Olympics, I must take steroids (Eitzen 3 6). However, public opinionhas turned against steroid use in this sport as in others (McCallum 98). The games were held at Olympia on the Peloponnesse andattracted visitors from all over the Greek world. & Goldberg, B. Kis Angeles: The Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games, 1981.McCallum, James. Some sports involve a higher use of steroids than others, usuallybecause bulk is an important element along with strength. Each competitor inthe Olympic Games is awarded a diploma and a commemorative medal, and thenames of all winners are inscribed on the walls of the main stadium wherethe games are held. Diplomas alone are awarded for the fourth, fifth,and sixth places. An Approved History of the Olympic Games. TheOlympic Committee distributes medals and diplomas to the winners. MODERN GAMES The modern Olympic Games were founded by Baron Pierre de Coubertin.He had read about the ancient games and wanted to revive them, but he foundit difficult to get others to share his dream. In warlike Sparta, the winner wasawarded the post of honor in battle. The Olympia site was rediscovered in 1766 by Richard Chandler, anEnglish antiquarian. Indeed, competitions were held onan annual basis before 776 BC on an unofficial basis. Anabolic steroid use isassociated with a variety of toxic effects, from adverse effects on theliver to effects on the male reproductive system (Dyment and Goldberg 127). The area also had bathingfacilities and a water supply (Swaddling 26-29). Winners are certainly celebrated in their homecountries and may attain other rewards. Athletes in weight lifting, body building, and weightthrowing (meaning the shot put, discus, hammer, and javelin) are almostrequired to take steroids if they want to be successful. Pursuit of Excellence: The Olympic Story. For one thing, the end ofthe nineteenth century was a period in which many European nations wereengaged in wars and skirmishes and were best by other tensions involved inbuilding a national identity. The ancient games were held every four years for 12 years, andthough they were beset by sectionalism, professionalism, jealousies, andwars, they survived: At their height, the games were the embodiment of all that made Greece the mistress of the Mediterranean. Clearly, the two World Wars were too extensive for much ofthe world to consider reducing tensions long enough to hold games, so thegames in 1916, 194 , and 1944 were not held. There were once textbookscontaining exercises for physical prowess, but these have been lost. In 1972, Arab terroristsattacked and killed 11 Israeli athletes in Munich, the most devastatingpolitical action regarding the games in their history. The central attractionwas the games, of course, but Olympia, the site of the games, was also areason many visitors came just to see this huge architectural achievement.The games were revived a century ago and have become a major businessenterprise televised around the world, and countries compete for the rightto host both the winter and summer games. ANCIENT GAMES All that we know of the games derives from scenes on pottery,accounts by observers, statues of athletes (including Roman copies of Greekoriginals), and various literary sources. All participants in a tie for first, second, and thirdplace are entitled to receive a medal and a diploma. Other social problems besetting the world also affect the games, andthe worldwide drug problem has affected the games. Whatever the true story, thegames from earliest times had a religious significance, "and there is somereason to believe that they were a gradual development of the custom ofcommon sacrifice by neighboring communities, which prevailed as Greeceemerged from the pugnaciousness of the heroic age" (Henry 11). A hippodrome was builtsomewhere to the east of Altis and south of the stadium, though changes inthe direction of the river have washed away all features of it. "The Paradox of Sport: The Contradictory Lessons Learned." The World & I (July 1, 1996), 3 6.Henry, Bill. The American College ofSports Medicine condemned the use of these drugs. The individualworked in the gym for four, five, six hours a day of intense training. "Anabolic Steroids and the Adolescent Athlete." Pediatrics (January 1989), 127.Eitzen, David S. One of the legendsinvolved the Delphic Oracle calling for the reinstitution of the gamesafter a period of civil war, and the idea of the Olympic Truce would becomea major instrument in the unification of the Greek states and colonies(Swaddling 9). As early as the games of the 61st Olympiad,victors were permitted to erect statue in their own honor in Olympia,though this would not occur as a rule until they had won three times. The medal bears the name of thesport involved and is fastened to a detachable chain or ribbon hung aroundthe neck of the athlete. Theycelebrated the festival at the town of Olympia, located in Pisatas, and thegames were most certainly originally under the control of the Pisatans.The Eleans and Spartans then took joint charge and operated the games in abusinesslike and fair manner, enforcing the truce that had to prevailduring the games. The Palaistra at Olympia was built in the third century BC followinga standard design for this type of building. The site was started as areligious facility dedicated to Zeus and developed into a central sportsfacility, with the Olympic Games every four years the primary eventbringing people from all over the Greek world. However, the media in each country often extols the number of awardswon by representatives from their and other countries and so makes thecontest seem as if it were between countries rather than individuals. The primary prize was the olivewreath accorded the winner in each game, but there were other awards thataccrued to the winner as well. The most commonly used drugs are anabolic steroids, which havethe effect of making athletes bigger, stronger, and faster. The study found that anabolicsteroids contributed to increased body weight and could increase muscularstrength in some athletes under proper conditions. Zeus had originally beenglorified in the games for granting powers of strength and physicalendurance to the athletes, but now the athletes were becoming professionaland were achieving the level of cult figures themselves. Politics has intruded on the gamesin a number of ways over the years, including the terrorist attack in 1972,the decision on the part of the United States not to participate in 198 because of the war in Afghanistan, and tensions between specific countries. There areseveral legends regarding the origin of the games, and the date ascribed tothat event is traditional but uncertain. The simple religious festival in which they had their beginning developed into a seven-day carnival of culture and athletic prowess with all the color and pageantry of those classic days (Henry 1 ).
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