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