Changes

Olympics (view source)

Revision as of 18:32, October 2, 2009

1,884 bytes added , 18:32, October 2, 2009

1936

Line 1: Line 1:

[[Image:Img214070839.jpg|right]]

−

The '''Olympics''' are the most important world sporting event, involving many ~~differenct~~ sports and athletes from practically every nation, competing under their national flag. The summer games have been held every four years since 1896. The host city is selected by the International Olympic Committee six or seven years beforehand. The smaller-scale winter games are held every four years starting in 1924. Starting 1994, they come midway between the summer games.

+

The '''Olympics''' are the most important world sporting event, involving many different sports and athletes from practically every nation, competing under their national flag. The summer games have been held every four years since 1896. The host city is selected by the International Olympic Committee six or seven years beforehand. The smaller-scale winter games are held every four years starting in 1924. Starting 1994, they come midway between the summer games.

The next Olympics will be the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Feb 12-28, 2010.<ref> see [http://www.vancouver2010.com/ Official 2010 site]</ref>

Line 30: Line 30:

===1932 Los Angeles===

===1936 Berlin===

−

The Berlin games were the most controversial (before 1980) because the IOC was determined to ~~continue~~ internationalism in the face of ~~Germany~~ mistreatment of Jews. At another level there was tension between traditional Christian ideals and Nazi paganism. as the Orthodox Church of Greece criticized the Nazi staging of the Olympic flame ceremonies in 1936. Pagan aspects of the ceremony as well as the worship of the body were linked to contemporary political movements at odds with Christianity, notably Communism and Nazism.<ref> Christopher Hilton, ''Hitler's Olympics: The 1936 Berlin Olympic Games'' (2005) ~~244p~~. </ref>

+

The Berlin games were the most controversial (before 1980) because the IOC was determined to promote its brand of internationalism in the face of Nazi mistreatment of Jews and political opponents.

+

For the IOC the Berlin Olympics represented its greatest achievement: legitimizing the Games as the world's premier sporting event. The Games were awarded to a democratic Germany in 1931--no one then expected the Nazis would be in charge. It was the first competition that fully reflected the emergence of sports as a mass phenomenon after the World War. Of 59 national Olympic Committees, 53 accepted the invitation to attend and 49 actually attended. Three million tickets were sold (compared to one million in 1932), with of course many people attending several events.

+

Key Olympics leaders, especially Avery Brundage in the U.S., de Coubertin in France, and Sir Noel Curtis Bennett in Britain, worked tirelessly to exclude political questions and emphasize pure athleticism.

+

Special attention was paid Jesse Owens (1913-1980), the black American track and field star. Owens, who craved the chance to compete, resisted the NAACP's pleas that he support the boycott. He won four gold medals and was enthusiastically cheered in the face of Nazi propaganda about "Negro inferiority." The film "Olympia" (1938), made by Nazi producer-director [[Leni Riefenstahl]] set the modern standard for high quality documentaries, and prominently featured Owens.

+

<ref>Jeremy Schaap, ''Triumph: The Untold Story of Jesse Owens and Hitler's Olympics,'' (2007) 272 pp. </ref>

+

At another level there was tension between traditional Christian ideals and Nazi paganism. as the Orthodox Church of Greece criticized the Nazi staging of the Olympic flame ceremonies in 1936. Pagan aspects of the ceremony as well as the worship of the body were linked to contemporary political movements at odds with Christianity, notably Communism and Nazism.<ref> Christopher Hilton, ''Hitler's Olympics: The 1936 Berlin Olympic Games'' (2005) 244pp.; Arnd Kruger and William Murray, eds. ''The Nazi Olympics. Sport, Politics and Appeasement in the 1930s,'' (2003) 260pp.</ref>

===1940 Tokyo===

The games were cancelled in 1938 when international tensions leading to [[World War II]] got out of hand. There never was a plan for a 1944 Olympics.

Line 81: Line 91:

==Further reading==

* Gerlach, Larry, ed. ''The Winter Olympics: From Chamonix to Salt Lake City'' (2004) 330pp

+

* Guttman, Allen. ''The Olympics, a history of the modern games.'' (1992) [http://books.google.com/books?id=TbLmQQG-2bQC&pg=PA151&dq=taiwan+winter+olympics+boycott&lr=&ei=zxXBSensFI_ClQTFsMDuBg excerpt and text search]

* MacAloon, John J. ''This Great Symbol: Pierre de Coubertin and the Origins of the Modern Olympic Games'' (2008)

* Miller, David. ''Athens to Athens: The Official History of the Olympic Games and the IOC, 1894-2004'' (2008) 528p.

* Pelle, Kimberly D. ''Encyclopedia of the Modern Olympic Movement'' (2004) 602pp. [http://books.google.com/books?id=QmXi_-Jujj0C&pg=PR13&dq=intitle:Encyclopedia+intitle:of+intitle:the+intitle:Modern+intitle:Olympic&lr=&as_drrb_is=q&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=&num=30&as_brr=0 excerpt and text search]

* Preuss, Holger. ''The Economics of Staging the Olympics: A Comparison of the Games, 1972-2008'' (2006) [http://books.google.com/books?id=-8T15RJkepIC&dq=intitle:The+intitle:Economics+intitle:of+intitle:Staging+intitle:the+intitle:Olympics+intitle:A&lr=&as_drrb_is=q&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=&num=30&as_brr=0 excerpt and text search]

+

* Schaffer, Kay, and Sidonie Smith, eds. ''The Olympics at the Millennium: Power, Politics and the Games'' (2000), 318pp; postmodern essays

* [http://www.questia.com/library/sociology-and-anthropology/leisure-and-recreation/olympics.jsp online books and articles from [[Questia]]]

====references====

RJJensen

17,394

edits