The problems of the Beijing Olympics - Week 9

The 2008 Beijing Olympic games is one of the most important events that ever happened in China. Millions of people in China are proud of hosting the Olympics this year and are preparing for it. However China still needs to fix a lot of problem such as: environmental protection, supporting facilities, food security, economic and financial security. If china can't deal with these problems then the Olympic may turn out to be a challenge for the participants.

The government is dealing with unusual weather which is snow. the snow in Beijing is is traveling like crazy these days. in late July to the beginning of august is when rain in Beijing is most popular. but last summer in Beijing; horrible traffic adversity happened last year due to the rain.

The Large-scale background of the dilemma is that:global warming goes on - 10 of the 11 hottest year in records occurred after 1995, possibly with the boost of the severe weather event at the local scale. Capacity-building for dealing with severe weather has increasingly been a problem for governments worldwide.

It's not only an immediate problem for the Beijing Olympics, but a long-term contest for the government of a developing country.

http://bbs.chinadaily.com.cn/viewthread.php?action=printable&tid=592517

Biathlon - Week 8

Biathlon is one of the winter Olympic sports. It's been an Olympic sport since 1960, and is regularly one of the most watched events for European sports fans. In Greek the word Biathlon means :the joining of two contests like skiing and running. Biathlon is skiing and shooting.

Biathlon participants have to ski for a certain distance usually between 3 - 5 km with 0.22 caliber rifles attached to their backs. When they reach the firing area, they can only have five shots and have to shoot in a distance of 50m.if the participant misses a shot they must ski around a penalty loop of 150 m.

Ole Einar Bjoerndalen set a impressive record at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City after earning gold and silver in 1998. His training for the 2002 events included finishing 6th in the 30 km cross-country skiing race. From there, Bjoerndalen won gold in every biathlon event, including anchoring Team Norway in the relay. His four gold medals in a single Olympic year set a record that will be tough to match.

http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/biathlon3.htm

2008 Olympic Sports -Week 7

There are so many sports in the Olympic Games such as : Aquatics , Archery , Badminton , Basketball , Boxing, Canoe / kayak, Baseball, Athletics, Cycling, Equestrian ,
Fencing ,Football ,Handball, Gymnastics ,Judo ,Hockey,
Modern pentathlon ,Rowing ,Shooting, Softball,
Table ,tennis ,Taekwondo ,Triathlon,Biathlon ,Curling, Bobsleigh and lots more

IOC stands for : International Olympic Commitee. It decides what is or what isn't an olympic sport. Also the IOC selects the places of were the olympic games should be held.On July 13th 2001 the IOC chosen Beijing to be the host of the Olympic Games in 2008. Beijing was selected over its competitors Paris, Toronto, Osaka and Istanbul. The slogan of the games is “One World, One Dream”

http://www.olympic.org/uk/sports/index_uk.asp

Tradition of the Olympic Medal - Week 6

Olympic medals are awarded to those individuals or teams placing first, second, and third in each event. The winner is given a gold-plated medal of silver, which is known as the "gold medal." Second and third places receive medals of silver and bronze. The silver used in the first and second place medals must be at least 92.5% pure. The "gold" medals must be with at least six grams of pure gold. Medals also carry the name of the sport contested. All competitors receive a award and medals for their participation in the Olympic Games.

The front side of the medal that is awared at the Olympic games is a image of the hellenic goddess holding a wreath with Athens in the background. Since 1972, the local Olympic organising committees have been allowed to create a design for the back sides of the medals.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_Games#Olympic_champions_and_medalists

History of the Oympic Torch - Week 5

For the ancient Greeks, the fire had a kind of godlike meaning. People thought that the fire was going to be stolen by one of the gods called Prometheus.

The Olympic flame was reintroduced in 1928 Olympic Games. An employee of the Electric utility of Amsterdan lit the first olympic torch in the marathon tower of the Olympic Stadium.

The tradition of lighting an Olympic Flame comes from the ancient Greeks. During the Ancient Olympic Games, a sacred flame was lit from the sun’s rays at Olympia, and stayed lit until the Games were completed. Since it was introduced into the modern Olympic Games in 1928, the flame symbolizes "the light of spirit, knowledge, and life."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_Flame#History

The Symbolism of the Olympic Rings - Week 4

The Olympic Symbol contains five connected rings of equal dimensions. The colours of the rings are: blue, black, red, yellow and green.

Many people believe that the colors of the flag - blue, black, red, yellow, and green on a white background are used because at least one of these colors exists in each of the flags of the nations participating in the Olympics. This may be true; however, the idea that each ring represents a specific continent is not true. The five connecting rings represent the five continents brought together by the Olympic Movement.

The opening ceremony of the Olympic Games adds an additional layer of symbolism to the flag. Traditionally, eight people carry in the flag. Five of these flagbearers represent the continents, while the other three stand for the Olympic ideals of sport, environment, and culture.

http://images.google.com.au/images?hl=en&q=MEANING+OF+OLYMPIC+RING&gbv=2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_symbols
http://en.beijing2008.cn/46/74/article212027446.shtml

The Olympic Motto - Latin and English - Week 3

The Olympic Motto stands for (in Latin): "Citius, Altius and Fortius". These words mean "Faster, Higher and Stronger. Baron De Coubertin got these words from his father, Henri Martin Dideon, who was the headmaster of a school called : Arcueil College which was in Paris.

http://www.janecky.com/olympics/motto.html

http://russian.china.org.cn/english/olympic/212351.htm

The beginning of the Modern Olympics - Week 2

I hereby proclaim the opening of the first international Olympic games at Athens, said the king (George 1 ) of Greece on April 6th, 1896.He welcomed the crowd at the new stadium called Panathenean .

The person who had the idea of having the Olympic games was called : Baron De Coubrtin who travelled around the world to have suppoters to his dream which was have nations come together and overcome arguments .

Without the donation from Greek businessmen, these first Olympic games might never have moved to a different country called Hungary. The sporting events they did were : weight lifting, riffle and pistol shooting, tennis, cycling, swimming, gymnastics and wrestling.14 nations participated.

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/summer-olympics-athens.html

http://users.att.sch.gr/rmfrentzou/PALEO_F/PF_Investigations_S/PF_FACTS%20AND%20FIGURESABOUT%20THE%20OLYMPIC%20GAMES.htm

History of the Ancient Olympics - Week 1

The Olympic games first began in 776BC. A Greek legend says that great Herakles won a race at Olympia , (a small state of Elis) and then Herakles ordered that the race should be held every four years.

Others say that Zeus (one of the gods) had originated the festival after defeating Cronus for the excellence of power of heaven. There were festivals which were a cultural gathering. The three major PanHellic festival are : the Pythian ,the Nemean and the Isthmiar.

Back then the Ancient Olympics were different to today.There were less events than to what we have now, and only free men who spoke Greek were aloud to compete.Also the games were always held in Olympia ; instead of moving around different to countries.

The end of the ancient Olympics began before the Romans took over Greece. When the Romans took over Greece, they changed the Olympics stadiums into a amphitheaters (an oval or circular un-roofed building with tiers of seats ; round a central area) and the athletes were forced to be slaves who were forced to fight wild beast. The Olympic games ended at 393AD .

Click on any of these sites below for more info

http://images.google.com.au/images?hl=en&q=ancient+olympic+sport&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2

http://images.google.com.au/images?hl=en&q=ancient+olympic+games&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2

http://www.hickoksports.com/history/olancien.shtml

http://www.richeast.org/htwm/Olympics/olympics.html