Размещено на http://www.allbest.ru/

Content

• Introduction.
• 1. History of The Olympic Games
• 2. Summer Olympic Games
• Conclusion.
• References

Introduction

People all over the world are fond of sports and games. Sport makes people healthy, keeps them fit, more organized and better disciplined. It unites people of different classes and nationalities.

Many people do sports on their personal initiative. They go in for skiing, skating, swimming, volleyball, football, bodybuilding, etc. All necessary facilities are provided for them: stadiums, sport grounds, swimming pools, skating rinks, skiing stations, football fields. Sport is paid much attention to in our educational establishments. Gymnastics is a part of children's daily activity in the kindergartens. Physical culture is a compulsory subject at schools and colleges.

Actuality of the research subject due to the fact that professional sport is given considerable attention, too and one of the greatest professional international sport event in the world is the Olympic Games, in which thousands of athletes compete in different types of sports. The Olympic idea means friendship, fraternity and cooperation among the people of the world.

The main purpose is the study Summer Olympic Games and the objectives of the work are to explore the history of the Olympic Games and describe the Summer Olympics kinds of sport.

1. History of The Olympic Games

The Olympic Games are an international sports festival that began in ancient Greece. The earliest reliable date that recorded history gives for the first Olympics is 776 B.C., although virtually all historians presume that the Games began well before then.

These games were part of a festival held every fourth year for several hundred years, until they were abolished in the early Christian era in the town called Olympia on the highly civilized eastern coast of the Peloponnesian peninsula.

It was a great athletic festival, including competitions in wrestling, foot racing and chariot racing, rowing and others.

That festival remained a regularly scheduled event, taking place during the pre- Christian golden age of Greece. As a testimony to the religious nature of the Games, which were held in honor of Zeus, the most important god in the ancient Greek pantheon, all wars would cease during the contests. According to the earliest records, only one athletic event was held in the ancient Olympics-a foot race of about 183 m (200 yd), or the length of the stadium. A cook, Coroibus of Elis, was the first recorded winner. The first few Olympics had only local appeal and were limited to one race on one day; only men were allowed to compete or attend. A second race-twice the length of the stadium-was added in the 14th Olympics, and a still longer race was added to the next competition, four years later. When the powerful, warlike Spartans began to compete, they influenced the agenda. The 18th Olympics included wrestling and a pentathlon consisting of running, jumping, spear throwing, discus throwing, and wrestling. Boxing was added at the 23rd Olympiad, and the games continued to expand, with the addition of chariot racing and other sports. In the 37th Olympiad the format was extended to five days of competition.

The Olympic Games were very important for ancient world. In the period of Games all wars were stopped. The Games were accompanied by atrs festivals. Poets recited their poems, singers sang hymns -- all this in honour of God Zeus and the sacred Games.

All athletes competed naked. The modern word “gymnastics” originates from the Greek word “gymos” that means “naked”.

Only men could take part in the Olympic Games. Greek women were forbidden not only to participate but also to watch the Games. But there existed Games for women named Gerai (called after goddess Gera).

The Olympic Games took place from the 8th century BC till the 4th century AD. In 394 AD the Roman Emperor Theodosius banned the Olympic Games because he decided that these competitions are, in essence, pagan festival.

The revival of the Olympic Games took place in 1896, and since then they have been staged every fourth year, except during World War I and World War II. Perhaps the basic difference between the ancient and modern Olympics is that the former was the ancient Greeks' way of saluting their gods, whereas the modern Games are a manner of saluting the athletic talents of citizens of all nations. The original Olympics featured competition in music, oratory, and theater performances as well. The modern Games have a more expansive athletic agenda, and for two and one-half weeks they are supposed to replace the rancor of international conflict with friendly competition. In recent times, however, that lofty ideal has not always been attained.

The growth of the Games fostered “professionalism” among the competitors, and the Olympic ideals waned as royalty began to compete for personal gain, particularly in the chariot events. Human beings were being glorified as well as the gods; many winners erected statues to deify themselves. In AD 394 the games were officially ended by the Roman emperor Theodosius, who felt that they had pagan connotations.

The revival of the Olympic Games in 1896, unlike the original Games, has a clear, concise history. Pierre de Coubertin, a young French nobleman, felt that he could institute an educational program in France that approximated the ancient Greek notion of a balanced development of mind and body. The Greeks themselves had tried to revive the Olympics by holding local athletic games in Athens during the 1800s, but without lasting success. It was Baron de Coubertin's determination and organizational genius, however, that gave impetus to the modern Olympic movement. In 1892 he addressed a meeting of the Union des Sports Athletiques in Paris. Despite meager response he persisted, and an international sports congress eventually convened on June 16, 1894. With delegates from Belgium, Britain, France, Greece, Italy, Russia, Spain, Sweden, and the United States in attendance, he advocated the revival of the Olympic Games. He found ready and unanimous support from the nine countries. De Coubertin had initially planned to hold the Olympic Games in France, but the representatives convinced him that Greece was the appropriate country to host the first modern Olympics. The council did agree that the Olympics would move every four years to other great cities of the world.

Thirteen countries competed at the Athens Games in 1896. Nine sports were on the agenda: cycling, fencing, gymnastics, lawn tennis, shooting, swimming, track and field, weight lifting, and wrestling. The 14-man U. S. team dominated the track and field events, taking first place in 9 of the 12 events. The Games were a success, and a second Olympiad, to be held in France, was scheduled. Olympic Games were held in 1900 and 1904, and by 1908 the number of competitors more than quadrupled the number at Athens-from 311 to 2,082.

The Games are currently held every two years, with Summer and Winter Olympic Games alternating. The evolution of the Olympic Movement during the 20th century forced the IOC to adapt the Games to the world's changing social circumstances. Some of these adjustments included the creation of the Winter Games for ice and snow sports, the Paralympic Games for athletes with physical disabilities, and the Youth Olympic Games for teenage athletes.

The Olympic motto is “Citius, Altius, Fortius”, which is Latin for “Swifter, Higher, Stronger”. The motto was proposed by Pierre de Coubertin and was introduced in 1924 at the Olympic Games in Paris.

A more informal but well known motto, also introduced by De Coubertin, is “The most important thing is not to win but to take part!”

The symbol of the Olympic Games is composed of five interlocking rings, colored blue, yellow, black, green, and red on a white field. This was originally designed in 1912 by Baron Pierre de Coubertin. These five rings represent the five continents of the world: America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia.

The Olympic idea means friendship, fraternity and cooperation among the people of the world.

2. Summer Olympic Games

The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Games of the Olympiad, are an international multi-sport event organized by International Olympic Committee every four years. Different countries named United States, United Kingdom, Australia, France, Germany, Greece, Belgium, Canada, Finland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, South Korea, Spain, Soviet Union, Sweden, and China have hosted the Summer Olympics. The United States has hosted four Summer Olympics, more than any other nations. Australia, France, Germany, Greece, and United Kingdom have hosted two Summer Olympic Games.

For purposes of Olympic competition, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) makes a distinction between sports and disciplines. A sport, in Olympic terms, is a single or group of disciplines as represented by an international governing body, namely an International Federation.[3] For example, aquatics, represented at the Olympic level by the International Swimming Federation, is a sport at the Summer Olympics that includes the swimming, diving, synchronized swimming and water polo disciplines.

At the first Olympic Games, nine sports were contested.[4] Since then the number and kinds of events may change slightly from one Olympiad to another. For most of the 20th century, demonstration sports have been included in many Olympic Games, usually to promote a non-Olympic sport popular in the host country, or to gauge interest and support for the sport.[2] The number of sports contested at the Summer Olympic Games has gradually risen to twenty-eight on the program from 2000-2008. Some such sports, like curling, were subsequently added to the official Olympic program. This changed when the International Olympic Committee decided in 1989 to eliminate demonstration sports from Olympics Games after 1992.[5] Although no demonstration sports have been included since then, as an alternative, the Beijing Organizing Committee received permission to organize a wushu tournament for the 2008 Summer Olympics.[1]

At the 2012 Summer Olympics, however, the number of sports will fall back to twenty-six following an IOC vote in early 2006 deciding the removal of baseball and softball from the Olympic program. These remain recognized sports nonetheless, with the possibility of a return to the Olympic program in future games.[9] At the 121st IOC Session in Copenhagen on 9 October 2009, the IOC voted to simultaneously reinstate both golf and rugby to the Olympic program, meaning that for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, the number of official Olympic sports that will be contested will be back up to 28 again, two more than the 26 sports that constitute London's program.[5]. As of 2012, the Summer Olympics will include 26 sports with 36 disciplines and 302 event.

Bikes. The Olympic sport of cycling includes four different disciplines: mountain bike, road bike, track and BMX. The mountain bike competition began in 1996 -- exactly 100 years after the road bike and track competitions first debuted at the 1896 Olympic Games in Athens. The BMX competition was first introduced at the 2008 Olympic games, and is the newest cycling discipline to gain acceptance.

Balls and Pucks.Olympic team sports include basketball, beach volleyball, hockey, football, handball. Two team sports -- baseball and softball -- were dropped from the Olympic Games after the 2008 Olympics. Two additional sports -- rugby and golf -- will make their official debut in 2016.

Horses.The equestrian competition is made up of three separate disciplines: dressage, jumping and eventing. Dressage is a demonstration of a horse and rider's overall skills, while jumping is a competition that involves jumping a horse over a series of obstacles. Eventing is a four-day test of an athlete's equestrian abilities that includes competitions in jumping and dressage.

Individual and Team Sports.Wrestling, weightlifting, triathlon, taekwondo, tennis, shooting, judo, modern pentathlon, fencing, athletics and archery are all featured in the Summer Olympic Games. Athletics includes various track and field disciplines like running, walking, jumping, pole vaulting and the javelin and discus throws. The modern pentathlon is an event that combines horseback-riding, shooting, running, swimming and fencing, while the triathlon event involves swimming, running and biking.

Gymnastics is a perennial crowd favorite, and includes three different disciplines: artistic, rhythmic and trampoline. The artistic competition includes events such as the pommel horse, rings, balance beam and uneven bars, while the rhythmic competition has female athletes performing gymnastic routines using rings, ropes, hoops and balls. Trampoline is a relatively new sport, making its Olympic debut in the 2000 games.In order for a sport or discipline to be in included in the Summer Olympics program (but not necessarily be contested at the Olympics), it must be widely practiced by men and women, in at least 75 and 50 countries, respectively, spread over four continents.

The following sports were previously part of the Summer Olympic Games program as official sports, but are no longer on the current program. The numbers in each cell indicate the number of events for each sport that were contested at the respective Games; a bullet denotes that the sport was contested as a demonstration sport.

Baseball

Basque pelota

Cricket

Croquet

Golf

Lacrosse

Jeu de paume

Polo

Rackets

Roque

Rugby union

Softball

Tug of war

Water motorsports

Figure skating

Ice hockey

The following sports or disciplines have been demonstrated at the Summer Olympic Games for the years shown, but have never been included on the official Olympic program:American football (1904 and 1932)

Australian rules football (1956)

Ballooning (1900)

Bowling (1988)

Boules (1900)

Budф (1964)

Finnish baseball (1952)Glima (1912)

Gliding (1936)

Kaatsen (1928)

Korfball (1920 and 1928)

La canne (1924)

Surf lifesaving (1900)

Longue paume (1900)Motorsport (1900)

Roller hockey (1992)

Savate (1924)

Swedish (Ling) gymnastics (1948)

Weight training with dumbbells (1904)

Water skiing (1972)

Conclusion

The Olympic Games have a very long history. It is a very old tradition in the world of sports. History tells us that the tradition began more than two thousand years ago, in Greece.

All the cities sent their best athletes to the city of Olympus to compete in the games. During the Olympic Games all wars between the cities stopped and the people lived in peace.

The Olympic Games are the favourite sports of all countries -- running, high -- jumping, gymnastics, football, basket -- ball, swimming, and other summer kinds of sports that young people in all countries go in for.

The Olympic Games take place every four years. The Olympic Games Committee decides the place of the Olympic Games and the sports that the athletes will compete in.

References

summer olympic games

1. Names of the Summer Games in the Olympic Games // http://www.livestrong.com/article/362563-names-of-the-summer-games-in-the-olympic-games/

2. Olympic Sports // http://www.netglimse.com/holidays/the_olympics/ olympic_sports.shtml

3. Olympic Sports, Disciplines & Events // http://www.hickoksports.com/ history/olsports.shtml

4. Summer Olympic Games // http://www.londonolympicsgame2012.com/p/ olympic-games.html

5. The Olympic Games // http://www.topendsports.com/events/summer/index. htm

Размещено на Allbest.ru