London Olympic Games s 2012 – History

Origins Of The Olympics

The olympic games originated in Ancient Greece, as a series of contests held between men representing their Kingdom or city state. The majority of the competition was athletic, but it also included chariot racing and physical combat.

There any many myths and legends surrounding the these early games some of which indicate that they were religiously dedicated to various Greek Gods. According to one Ancient Greek Myth it is Heracles and his father Zeus who are credited for the invention of the Olympics and the date that is recognized for its inception is 776 BC. The name ‘Olympics’ derives from the birthplace of the games – the Ancient city of Olympia in Greece. These myths were documented by the Greek historian Pausanias.

An Artists Impression Of Olympia

The first games at ‘ Olympia’, which was close to the towns of Elis and Pisa are thought to have centred around running races. – one to determine who would become the priestess for the Goddess Hera with the second race to select who would become the consort for the new priestess. Both winners would subsequently take part in traditions and services at the temple for Herat. These races became known as the Heraea Games and are were first documented as originating in the 6th century BC. However, during the next two hundred years the games became a male only event.

There is some evidence to suggest that within four hundred the games became more organised and more significant when they were part of the resolution of a dispute between the towns of Elis and Pisa. It is thought that they were organised sixteen women nominated by both towns who were instrumental in bringing peace to the area. Many scholars believe that this is where the Olympic ethos of living in harmony and peace originates from

The Olympic Games were part of a group of games known as the Panhellenic Games which were held in rotation to ensure that at least one set of games was held every year. The four yearly games held at Olympia were the most important of the other this group which also included games at Isthimian, Pythian and Nemean.

The early Olympic Games were held until around the turn of the fifth century when outlawed as the regions leaders began to impose Christianity on their subjects. The date of the last of these early games is uncertain. The Olympia site in which they were held survived until it was destroyed by an earthquake during the sixth century AD.

Revival Of The Olympics

During the French Revolution reformists endeavoured to revive aspects of the ancient games with a national festival ‘L’Olympiade de la République’. The festival was held for three years between 1796 and 1798 and include many of the sporting disciplines of the original Olympics. Though the festival had to be abandoned because of the turmoil’s of French politics it set a precedent for future games by the introduction of metric measurement into sport generally.

Calls to revive the Olympics began again in 1821 after the Greeks successfully broke away from the rule of the Ottoman Empire. This view was advocated by the poet Panagiotis Soutsos who was also a newspaper editor published a poem in 1833 called ‘Dialogue of the Dead’.The campaign gathered momentum over the next two decades and in 1856 a wealthy Greek businessman Evangelis Zappas agreed to finance the first of the modern olympics in 1859. He also paid for the restoration of the ancient Panathenaic Stadium for the games and future games. Three years later first modern games were held in Athens with athletes from Greece and thirteen countries in the Ottoman Empire the main protagonists. In total there were 43 events.

Whilst the games were being revived in Greece a local English version of the games was devised by a doctor in Much Wenlock Shropshire. The first of these ‘Olympian style’ or style games, designed to improve the fitness of Dr Brookes patients were held in 1850. In 1859 the games which were held annually were renamed the Wenlock Olympian Games. In the following years the model for the games was based on the games held in Athens. The Wenlock games are still held annually. In 1866 Dr Brookes organised the first British National Olympic Games which were held at Crystal Palace.

By 1890 the Wenlock games had attracted the attention of frenchman Baron Pierre de Coubertin. Over the next four years he became a co-founder of the International Olympic Committee.(IOC) which he constructed on the ideas of Coubertin d Zappas and Brookes. The committee held its first full meeting at the Sorbonne University in Paris in the summer of 1894. At the meeting the committee made up of sports officials from a large number of countries decide that an international olympic games should be held every four years. At the meeting it was agreed that the first of these truly international games would take place in Athens. The games were held in the summer of 1896 and generally regarded as the first games of the modern Olympic movement.

Munich 1972

1972 saw arguably the most controversial Olympic games in history, the competition was held in Munich Germany and the games itself was overshadowed by what has now become known as the ‘Munich Massacre’ on September 5 a group of 8 palestinian Terrorists took 11 Israeli athletes hostage and all 11 were killed by the terrorists.

After this tragic event the Olympics has installed heightened security as the games have become a target for Terrorist groups ever since.

The Modern day Olympic games are held every four years and modern games have been held in all corners of the globe from Barcelona to Beijing, from Atlanta to Sydney and the next Summer games will take place in London, England in the summer of 2012.