Where were the Olympic ones? How the Olympic Games began
Not every athlete could become a participant in the games. The law prohibited slaves and barbarians from performing at the Olympics, i.e. to foreigners. Athletes from among free-born Greeks had to register with the judges a year before the opening of the competition. Immediately before the opening of the Olympic Games, they had to provide evidence that they had been preparing for the competition for at least ten months, keeping in shape daily exercise. Only exceptions were made for the winners of previous Olympic Games. The announcement of the upcoming Olympic Games caused extraordinary excitement among the male population throughout Greece. People were heading to Olympia in droves. True, women were prohibited from attending the games under penalty of death.
Program of the ancient Olympics
Gradually, more and more new sports were added to the games program. In 724 BC. Diaul was added to the race of one stage (stadiodrome) - a race over a distance of 384.54 m, in 720 BC. – dolichodrome or 24-stage run. In 708 BC. The program of the Olympic Games included the pentathlon, consisting of running, long jump, wrestling, discus and javelin throwing. At the same time, the first wrestling competitions took place. In 688 BC. The program of the Olympics included fist fighting, after two more Olympics - a chariot competition, and in 648 BC. - most cruel look competitions - pankration, which combined wrestling and fist fighting techniques.
The winners of the Olympic Games were revered as demigods. Throughout their lives, they were given all kinds of honors, and after their death, the Olympian was ranked among the host of “small gods.”
After the adoption of Christianity, the Olympic Games began to be perceived as one of the manifestations of paganism, and in 394 BC. Emperor Theodosius I banned them.
Revived Olympic movement only at the end of the 19th century, thanks to the Frenchman Pierre de Coubertin. And, of course, the first revived Olympic Games took place on Greek soil - in Athens, in 1896.
In Hellas ( Ancient Greece) were one of the most revered holidays, and later not only of Hellas, but of the entire ancient world. Well, today you can hardly meet a person who has not heard at least something about these games. In this article we will look at the history of the Olympic Games briefly but to the point. According to Greek mythology, the founder of the game was the equally famous hero Hercules. The first reliable sources about the games include records of the names of the winners of the games that took place in 776 BC. The games were held in the Altis district, which was sacred to the ancient Greeks, also called Olympia. The games were held every four years, and they lasted five days. According to tradition, they began with a pompous procession, as well as a sacrifice for the god Zeus. And finally, on a measured field (“stadium” in Greek), which could accommodate 40,000 spectators, the sports.
The competition program included: fist fights, running, running with weapons, throwing a javelin, throwing a discus and competing in chariots drawn by four horses. Later, from the 4th century BC, not only athletes, but also speakers, historians, poets, musicians, playwrights and actors began to participate in the games. Not everyone could attend the games, much less participate in them. Slaves, women, and persons on trial for certain crimes could not take part in the games, even as spectators. Once it turned out that the famous fist fighter was trained by his mother, wearing men's clothing, and since then athletes and coaches were required to appear completely naked at competitions.
Those who won the Olympic Games received great respect and honor. Monuments were erected to the winners, poets composed laudatory odes in their honor, they were pompously greeted in their homeland and awarded with wreaths made from olive branches. But the privileges did not end there; they were provided with food for life at state expense, exempted from taxes and given large financial sums. During the games, any hostilities between the warring Greek powers ceased. These were considered a real holiday of peace and served to strengthen cultural ties among the Greek states.
The Olympic Games continued until 394 AD, and were banned as a pagan holiday by the Roman Emperor Theodosius I, at the insistence of the Christian clergy.
However, in 1894, the rebirth of the Olympic Games took place, it was then that the International Sports Congress took place in Paris. 34 countries were represented at the congress (including Russia). At the congress it was decided to resume the Olympic Games. As a result, the new Olympic Games opened in Athens on April 5, 1896, which have since been held every 4 years. However, due to wars, some of them did not take place: in 1916, 1940, 1944.
The modern Olympic Games are the largest complex event these days. There is no permanent program of games, as it changes regularly. As a rule, the program contains more than 20 summer sports. For example, the program of the XVI Games for men included: gymnastics, athletics, freestyle and classic wrestling, diving, weightlifting, swimming, boxing, rowing, modern pentathlon, kayaking and canoeing, skeet and bullet shooting, equestrianism, water polo, cycling, fencing, sailing, basketball, football, grass hockey. And the women competed in fencing, kayaking, swimming, diving, gymnastics, and athletics.
This is the history of the Olympic Games briefly outlined in this article. It should also be noted that in these games there is no official team championship, but only competitions. The winner in any sport becomes the owner of a gold medal, the one who takes second place receives a silver medal, and for third place a bronze medal is given.
The first modern Olympic Games were held in the Greek city of Athens from April 6 to April 15, 1896.
The decision to hold the First Olympic Games
June 23, 1894, city of Paris, Sorbonne University - 1st Congress of the International Olympic Committee(IOC). initiated an event to announce a project to revive the Ancient Greek Olympic Games. At the suggestion of the writer and translator Demetrius Vikelas (who later became the First President of the IOC), it was decided to hold new Olympic Games in the city of Athens (Greece). According to the organizers of the Olympics, such a decision would indicate the continuity of the Olympic Games with the modern traditions of Ancient Greece and, moreover, there was only one big stadium throughout Europe. Unfortunately, the idea of holding the Games in Olympia had to be abandoned due to the enormous costs of reconstructing the stadium.
Opening ceremony of the First Olympic Games
On Easter Monday of Christianity (Catholicism, Orthodoxy and Protestantism) and, moreover, on Greek Independence Day, April 6, 1896, the opening ceremony of the First Summer Olympic Games of our time took place. On the day of the ceremonial start of the competition, more than 80 thousand spectators were present at the stadium in Athens. The ceremony was also attended by the Greek royal family. King George I from the rostrum solemnly declared the First International Olympic Games in the city of Athens open.
From this day the first olympic traditions: The head of state where the competition is taking place opens the Games, and the Olympic anthem is played at the Games ceremony. True, such Olympic traditions as the fire lighting ceremony, the parade of participating countries, and the recitation of the oath have not yet been established.
Participants of the First Olympic Games
More than two hundred and forty male athletes took part in the first Olympic competitions. Forty-three sets were drawn Olympic medals such Olympic sports sports: wrestling, Athletics, cycling, swimming, shooting, gymnastics, tennis, fencing, weightlifting.
According to the IOC, representatives of fourteen countries participated in the First Olympics of our time, their athletes were delegated by: Australia, Bulgaria, Austria, Great Britain, Germany, Hungary, Greece, Cyprus, Egypt, Izmir, Italy, Denmark, USA, Chile, France, Sweden and Switzerland .
The Olympic Games are held once every four years - that's what they're called. sport competitions, in which the best athletes from around the world participate. Each of them dreams of becoming an Olympic champion and receiving a medal as a reward - gold, silver or bronze. Almost 11 thousand athletes from more than 200 countries came to the 2016 Olympic competitions in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro.
Although in these sports games It's mostly adults who participate, but some sports, as well as the history of the Olympic Games, can also be very exciting for children. And, probably, both children and adults would be interested to know when the Olympic Games appeared, how they got their name, and also what types sports exercises were at the very first competitions. In addition, we will find out how the modern Olympic Games are held and what their emblem means - five multi-colored rings.
History of the Olympic Games
The birthplace of the Olympic Games is Ancient Greece. The earliest historical records of the ancient Olympic Games were found on Greek marble columns, where the date 776 BC was engraved. However, it is known that sports competitions in Greece took place much earlier than this date. Therefore, the history of the Olympics goes back about 2800 years, which, you see, is quite a long time.
Do you know who, according to history, became one of the first Olympic champions? - This was ordinary cook Koribos from the city of Elis, whose name is still engraved on one of those marble columns.
The history of the Olympic Games is rooted in the ancient city of Olympia, where the name of this sports festival. This settlement is located in a very beautiful place - near Mount Kronos and on the banks of the Alpheus River, and it is here that from ancient times to the present day the ceremony of lighting the torch with the Olympic flame takes place, which is then passed along the relay to the city of the Olympic Games.
You can try to find this place on a world map or in an atlas and at the same time test yourself - can I find Greece first and then Olympia?
History of the Olympic Games (briefly, in 3 minutes!)
How were the Olympic Games held in ancient times?
At first, only local residents, but then everyone liked it so much that people from all over Greece and its subordinate cities began to come here, even from the Black Sea itself. People got there as best they could - some rode on horseback, some had a cart, but most people walked to the holiday. The stadiums were always crowded with spectators - everyone really wanted to see sports competitions with their own eyes.
It is also interesting that in those days when the Olympic competitions were going to be held in Ancient Greece, a truce was declared in all cities and all wars stopped for about a month. For ordinary people, it was a calm, peaceful time when they could take a break from everyday affairs and have fun.
The athletes trained for 10 months at home, and then another month in Olympia, where experienced trainers helped them prepare as best as possible for the competition. At the beginning of sports games, everyone took an oath, the participants - that they would compete fairly, and the judges - that they would judge fairly. Then the competition itself began, which lasted 5 days. The start of the Olympic Games was announced with a silver trumpet, which was blown several times, inviting everyone to gather in the stadium.
What sports were at the Olympic Games in ancient times?
These were:
- running competitions;
- struggle;
- long jump;
- javelin and discus throwing;
- hand-to-hand combat;
- Chariot racing.
The best athletes were given an award - a laurel wreath or an olive branch, the champions solemnly returned to hometown and until the end of their lives they were considered respected people. Banquets were held in their honor, and sculptors made marble statues for them.
Unfortunately, in 394 AD, the holding of the Olympic Games was banned by the Roman emperor, who really did not like such competitions.
Modern Olympic Games
The first Olympic Games of our time took place in 1896, in the ancestral country of these games - Greece. You can even calculate how long the break was - from 394 to 1896 (it turns out 1502 years). And now, after so many years in our time, the birth of the Olympic Games became possible thanks to one famous French baron, his name was Pierre de Coubertin.
Pierre de Coubertin- founder of the modern Olympic Games.
This man really wanted to more people engaged in sports and proposed resuming the Olympic Games. Since then, sports games have been held every four years, preserving the traditions of ancient times as much as possible. But now the Olympic Games have begun to be divided into winter and summer, which alternate with each other.
Olympic Games: history, symbolism, how it all originated and how it came to winter Russia
Olympic Games – pictures
Traditions and symbolism of the Olympic Games
Olympic rings
Probably each of us has seen the emblem of the Olympics - intertwined colored rings. They were chosen for a reason - each of the five rings means one of the continents:
- blue ring - a symbol of Europe,
- black - African,
- red - America,
- yellow - Asia,
- the green ring is the symbol of Australia.
And the fact that the rings are intertwined with each other means the unity and friendship of people on all these continents, despite different skin colors.
Olympic flag
The official flag of the Olympic Games was a white flag with the Olympic emblem. White color is a symbol of peace during Olympic competitions, just like in the times of Ancient Greece. At each Olympics, the flag is used at the opening and closing of the sports games, and then handed over to the city where the next Olympics will take place in four years.
Olympic flame
Even in ancient times, the tradition of lighting a fire during the Olympic Games arose, and it has survived to this day. The ceremony of lighting the Olympic flame is very interesting to watch; it is reminiscent of an ancient Greek theatrical performance.
It all starts in Olympia a few months before the start of the competition. For example, the flame for the Brazilian Olympic Games was lit in Greece back in April of this year.
In the Greek Olympia, eleven girls gather, dressed in long white dresses, as they used to be in Ancient Greece, then one of them takes a mirror and, with the help of the sun's rays, lights a specially prepared torch. This is the fire that will burn throughout the entire period of Olympic competition.
After the torch lights up, it is handed over to one of the best athletes, which will then carry it first through the cities of Greece, and then deliver it to the country in which the Olympic Games will be held. Then the torch relay passes through the cities of the country and finally arrives at the place where the sports competitions will be held.
A large bowl is installed at the stadium and a fire is lit in it with the torch that arrived from distant Greece. The fire in the bowl will burn until all sports competitions are over, then it will go out, and this symbolizes the end of the Olympic Games.
Opening and closing ceremony of the Olympics
It is always a bright and colorful sight. Each country hosting the Olympic Games tries to surpass the previous one in this component, sparing neither effort nor money on the presentation. The latest achievements of science and technology are used for production, innovative technologies and development. In addition, a large number of people are involved - volunteers. The most are invited famous people countries: artists, composers, athletes, etc.
Awards ceremony for winners and runners-up
When the first Olympic Games took place, the winners received a laurel wreath as a reward. However, modern champions are no longer awarded laurel wreaths, but medals: first place - Golden medal, second place - silver, and third - bronze.
It is very interesting to watch the competitions, but it is even more interesting to see how the champions are awarded. The winners stand on a special pedestal with three steps, according to occupied places, they are awarded medals and raised the flags of the countries from which these athletes came.
That’s the whole history of the Olympic Games; for children, I think, the above information will be interesting and useful. You can supplement your story with a presentation about the Olympic Games.
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