Olympic Games.docx

1、Olympic GamesOlympic GamesAmateur athletes from all over the world take part in the modern Olympic Games. Any nation may enter a team in the games if it agrees to follow the rules of the International Olympic Committee. The games are held during the first year of each Olympiad. (An Olympiad is a per

2、iod of 4 years that begins in a leap year 1960, 1964, 1968, and so on.) Olympic Games were held in ancient Greece at least as long ago as 776 B.C. The custom lasted for more than 1 000 years but then died out under the rulers of Rome. In the late 1800s a Frenchman, Baron Pierre de Coubertin (1862-19

3、37), decided to try to start the games again. He wished to renew those ideals of excellence of body, mind and spirit shown in the ancient Greek Olympics. He succeeded, and the modern Olympic Games began in Athens, Greece, in 1896. Through legend, the beginning of the Olympic Games can be found in re

4、ligious celebrations that were held to show respect to the gods of the Greeks. These gods were like humans in some ways, but they could not die, that is to say, they were immortal. They were said to have bodies of great size, strength, and beauty. They had the power to change from one form to anothe

5、r. Pretending to be ordinary people, they sometimes entered the lives of men and women, married them, and had children. The first Olympic winners were said to be children of the Greek gods. Three thousand years ago Olympia was an important religious center in southwestern Greece. Here was the Temple

6、 of Zeus, father of the gods and ruler of both gods and men. Here men came to worship and to approach as nearly as possible the skills and strength of the gods. Speed and skill in hand-to-hand fighting were necessary for survival. They were even more important for leadership among men. Physical exce

7、llence was very important, too, but it was not all. Next to family line from the gods, the Greeks valued fame through poetry and song. Poets and people were eager to sing the praises not only of victors in battle but also of victors in contests of skill and strength. So, the seeds of achievement in

8、arts, in moral conduct, and in affairs of the mind were planted on the plains of Olympia at the feet of the good and kind Zeus. Here the Olympic Games began. They survived for centuries, inspiring the music and poetry and the architecture and sculpture that were to become the magnificence of the Gol

9、den Age of Greece. The great poet Pindar wrote poems of praise in memory of the winners of the laurel or wild olive wreath. This prize looked like the crown of Zeus. It was for the wreath that Coroebus raced about 200 yards to victory in the first recorded Olympic Games. This marked the beginning of

10、 the first Olympiad. By our calendar the year was 776 B.C. It was a cook, Coroebus, not a Greek nobleman, who was the first known winner of an Olympic award. A crowd of 45 000 people rose from their seats on the grass in the stadium to cheer. Although the Greeks were said to be democratic, slaves an

11、d women had few rights. Only freeborn male citizens could take part in the Olympic Games. Women were forbidden, with death as the punishment, even to see the games. One woman did successfully get away from the punishment. The mother of Pisidorus continued the training of her son after his father die

12、d. Pretending to be a man, she attended the games. She was not recognized until she shouted with joy over her sons victory. She was pardoned, and in time women were allowed in the games. Athletic competition became so important to the Greeks that the Olympic celebrations were a peaceful influence on

13、 the warlike city-states. Sparta, famous for its strict training of youth and its many Olympic honors, would wait until the games were over before sending fighters into battle. Other cities followed this example. The “sacred month” of the games became a time for peace and friendship. Milo, a wrestle

14、r of the 6th century B.C., may be considered the greatest athlete of ancient times. He won the wrestling crown six times. Thus, he was champion for a quarter of a century. He was said to be so powerful that he could carry a young cow or even a full-grown bull on his shoulders. New sports continually

15、 added variety to the Olympics. The hoplitodrome was a footrace run in armor. An event called the pancratium was a combination of boxing and wrestling. A winner was named only when one man raised his hand in defeat or lay unconscious - or dead. One of the greatest honors was to be crowned to winner

16、of the pentathlon (meaning five contests). The athletes had to compete in the broad jump, javelin throw, a footrace, discus throw, and wrestling. These events called for the use of a variety of muscles and created the beautiful bodies admired so much by the Greeks. The Golden Age of Greece came in t

17、he 5th century B.C., when the ancient Greeks reached the peak of their power and influence. It was a time that produced some of the greatest thought and art that the world has ever known. The Olympic Games shared this greatness by setting standards of physical and moral excellence that are still use

18、d in our time. In the setting of a religious celebration the Greeks were the first to develop game rules and standards of good sportsmanship. Every athlete was required to take an oath that he would follow the rules of the game and of fair play. In a direct way, too, the Olympic Games inspired the G

19、reek poets and artists. The Olympic buildings were examples of the beauty of Greek architecture. Remains of the huge statue of Zeus at Olympia bear the signature of Phidias, the famous Athenian sculptor and architect. The spirit of the times may have inspired Platos Republic, a book that provided a

20、pattern for building an ideal nation through the careful education of its children. The poet Pindar read his victory poems at the Olympics, and Herodotus his history. By awarding honors to artists and scholars, the Olympic Games helped to further the growth of Greek culture. Interest in the Olympic

21、Games spread with the colonial and trade growth of Greece. Foreign athletes came to compete. But after Rome defeated Greece (in the 2nd century B.C.), Olympic standards began to decline. The emperor Nero brought his own cheering section, built his own house at Olympia, and demanded first prizes for

22、all his entries. They were willing to use any way to win. After more than 1 000 years the Olympic Games had become an influence for bad rather than good. In A.D. 394 the Roman emperor Theodosius I ordered them stopped. Fifteen centuries after the end of the ancient Olympic Games, the Olympic city la

23、y buried on the plains of Olympia. Savage soldiers had long ago robbed the temples. Earthquakes had changed the course of the Alpheus River, covering the remains. Then in the 1880s some German archeologists uncovered something that showed the existence of a great civilization. Close upon this discov

24、ery came the inspiration of the Frenchman Baron Pierre de Coubertin. He felt that the youth of his day were becoming soft and a planned program of athletics might strengthen their bodies, minds, and morals. He firmly believed that athletic competition built qualities of courage and a sense of fair p

25、lay. At first De Coubertin was interested mainly in the youth of France. Then his dream grew to a hope that athletes of all countries would take part. In 1892, at a meeting of the Athletic Sports Union, De Coubertin first put forth the idea of starting the Olympic Games again. Few members were then

26、ready to accept his idea. But two years later a group was formed to make plans for the first modern Olympiad. The Olympic Games were held in 1896. They took place at Athens, Greece - a very fitting place to rebuild the spirit of the early Greek games. The continuing efforts of a single man had begun

27、 the modern Olympics. It was fitting that Baron de Coubertin should remain director of the International Olympic Committee until 1925. In this office he directed the course that the games were to take. He wrote the Olympic charter, and athletes oath. He planned the ceremonies. Peace, De Coubertin st

28、ated, would be furthered by the Olympic Games. but peace could be the product only of a better world; a better world could be brought about only by better individuals; and better individuals could be developed only by the give and take, the buffeting and battering, the stress and strain of fierce co

29、mpetition.The Modern Olympic Games might have remained just a part of history without the dream of one Frenchman, Pierre de Coubertin. Coubertin believed that sport and exercise were very important for the health and happiness of every man and also for the nation. He therefore tried, in 1892, to int

30、erest other Frenchmen in his dream of starting a modern form of the early Greek Games. His ideas were strongly criticized by many people, who did not really understand what he was trying to do. It is perhaps sad that the great work Pierre de Coubertin did to bring back the Games was never properly r

31、ecognized during his lifetime. Gradually, however, people all over the world became interested in his ideas and at a meeting in Paris in 1894, with representatives from twelve different countries, plans were made to hold the first modern Games in Athens in 1899. Organizing the first modern Games, ho

32、wever, was not without problems. The Greek government was unhappy with the decision to hold the Games in Athens, as they had serious economic problems at the time and did not feel they were in a position to spend the necessary money. It seemed therefore that the Games would be finished before they had even begun. Prince Constantine of Greece, however, gave his support to Coubertin and the newly-formed Olympic Committee and other rich Greeks soon followed his example. Enough money was collected in Greece and abroad to build a new stadium and pay all the