Olympic Games

“ YOU have heard of the Olympic games which were practised in old times, hundreds and hundreds of years ago, and you may have seen pictures of the old ruins of the Colosseum at Rome, with its tiers and tiers of seats all round, so that thousands of people could witness the things that went on in the arena. Some very cruel things; but some, on the other hand, were simply men racing with all their might to receive a great prize. ”

“ Learning is supreme and you are its prophets. Here the Olympic games of the Republic—and you its chosen athletes. It is yours then to grapple with these problems, to confront and master these dangers. ”

“ There can be no doubt that in the first Olympiad the programme included at least all the events described by Pindar, the foot-race, the diskos, the spear, boxing, wrestling, and the chariot-race. If the Olympic games did develop from a single event, it was probably not from the foot-race, but from the armed fight or the chariot-race. ”

“ But sometimes, when Rosamund was alone in the room of the Hermes, learning her lesson, and he was among the ruins, or walking above the buried Stadium where the flocks were at pasture, he recalled the great contests of the Athletes of ancient Greece; the foot-races which were the original competitions at the games, the races in armor, the long jumps, the wrestling matches, the discus and dart-throwing, the boxing and the brutal pankration. And he remembered that at the Olympic Games there were races for boys, for quite young boys. A boy had won at Olympia who was only twelve years old. ”

“ A WILD-OLIVE WREATH BY S. SCOVILLE, JUN.
Thronged to the gates is the little town of Elis on this the night before the Olympic Games. Here are present not only men of every Grecian city and province, but strange wanderers from the uttermost corners of the world have assembled to view the games that honor the Ruler of the Gods. ”

“ The celebrity of the Olympic games, which drew spectators from Asia as well as all the States of Greece, led to similar institutions or festivals in other places. The Pythian games, in honor of Apollo, were celebrated near Delphi every third Olympic year; and various musical contests, exercises in poetry, exhibitions of works of art were added to gymnastic exercises and chariot and horse races. The sacrifices, processions, and other solemnities, resemble those at Olympia in honor of Zeus. ”

“ In this, the year prior to the 1988 Olympics, it is fitting that we celebrate the coming event throughout the United States with appropriate ceremonies and activities. One such way to recognize this major athletic event is to join together in support of American athletes now in training to represent this great country in Canada and Korea. Thousands of American athletes participate annually in the Olympic movement all over the world. The International Olympic Games are held every 4 years and are the culmination of the skill and prowess resulting from countless hours of work and preparation. ”

“ But if we are to truly meet our shared challenges, we must all work together. By uniting the world in a peaceful celebration of human achievement, the Olympic Games reminds us that this is possible. The United States would be honored to have the opportunity to host the Games and serve the Olympic movement. ”

“ The Olympic games were such a thoroughly national institution, that even Greeks who had left their native country made a point of returning on these occasions, if possible, in order to contend with their fellow-countrymen in the various athletic sports which took place at these festivals. ”

“ I think most of us wish the world would work more like the Olympics. There were all kinds of people bound together by mutual respect and acceptance of the rules of the game. All the individuals and teams had a chance, gave it their best, and win or lose, were better off for their efforts.
As heroic as the feats of the athletes in this Olympics was the way all those involved in the Atlanta Games pressed on in the face of adversity. Just two weeks ago today a pipe bomb exploded in Centennial Olympic Park. ”

“ And if anything laborious or pleasant or glorious or inglorious be presented to you, remember that now is the contest, now are the Olympic games, and they cannot be deferred; and that it depends on one defeat and one giving way that progress is either lost or maintained. ”

“ For, the placing of a crown of olive twigs on the brow of a person was the highest distinction that could be bestowed on a citizen who had merited well of his country.
Not only were the noble-minded statesmen and poets thus honored, but also the athletes who, by scrupulous care and development of the body, gained physical victories at the Olympic games. The harmless and commendable victories of peace always result from well-developed manhood. ”

“ The experience of recent years has taught us that international competitions do not always make for amity, and do not always promote amateur sport. The events of the last Olympic games, and the subsequent performances of some of the victors of these games, particularly of the fêted heroes of the so-called Marathon race, have gone far to justify the forebodings of those who feared that one of the chief results of such a competition would be an increase in professionalism. ”

“ Olympiads.—The Olympic games, so famous in Greek history, were celebrated once every four years, between the new and full moon first following the summer solstice, on the small plain named Olympia in Elis, which was bounded on one side by the river Alpheus, on another by the small tributary stream the Cladeus, and on the other two sides by mountains. ”

“ The modern Olympic games, such as are held in Athens every now and then, are but feeble attempts to give a classic tone to a very ordinary athletic meet of international character. There is none of the significance attached to the modern events that attended the old, and the management leaves much to be desired. ”

“ The colonial claimed admission purely by virtue of his Greek birth, and no distinctions of rank or caste or wealth were known in the Olympic games. Sport, especially national sport, is a great leveller of social distinctions.
The political importance of such a festival, which drew competitors and spectators from all quarters of the Greek world, could not escape the notice of the clear-sighted and ambitious tyrants and nobles of the seventh century. ”

“ To the question, "How is the Olympic spirit acquired?" Punch supplies the following answer:—
A. By taking part in the Olympic games; by subscribing to the Duke of Westminster's fund; by devoting oneself to the discovery of champions; by advertising; by organizing a boom; by promising [Pg 348] a public reception to successful athletes; by paying their expenses; by——
Q. I see. Then I suppose Great Britain has no athletics at present? ”

“ But whilst they encourage professional athleticism it can hardly be said that they encourage Europe to be more athletic. The Sokol movement in Czecho-slovakia and the Boy Scout movement are much more promising. The more you look on at games the less you play them, and the more you play them the less are you content to look on. The scene of our modern Olympic Games goes from capital to capital in Europe, and thanks to public spirit and the subscriptions of industrial magnates, great stadiums such as that which we have now at Athens, have come into being. ”

“ Of this society the games are the natural product. Just as in the Homeric polity we can trace the elements from which the various later institutions were evolved, and yet the polity as a whole is distinct from all later developments, so in athletics the events are the same as are found in the later festivals, but the spirit that pervades them is purely Homeric and separated by a wide interval from the spirit of the Olympic games. ”

“ Four different localities—Olympia, Corinth, Nemea, and the Dionysian race-course near Athens—were consecrated to the "Panhellenic games," at which the athletes of all the Grecian tribes of Europe and Asia met for a trial of strength at intervals varying from six months to four years, the latter being the period of the great Olympic games which formed the basis of ancient chronology. ”

“ And on training days the youth divert themselves by shooting at the target, as they call it (but it very much resembles a pillory) , where he that hits nearest the white has some yards of red ribbon presented him, which being tied to his hatband, the two ends streaming down his back, he is led away in triumph, with great applause, as the winners of the Olympic Games. They generally marry very young, the males oftener, as I am told, under twenty than above. ”

“ Consequently it is to be anticipated that if the Olympic Games are ever held in our neighbourhood the sprint and the hurdles will be simply at the mercy of our local post-office. They take no credit for it. It is simply practice, they say. ”

“ With sporting prowess and indomitable spirit, they strive for Olympic games medals and see China's national flag being raised at the awards ceremony. In city streets, couriers and takeaway delivery riders brave wind and rain to pass on happiness and warmth. ”

“ To these cities flocked the young and the aged, the private citizen and the statesman, the trader and the artist, to witness or engage in the spectacles. The games were open to all citizens who could prove their Hellenic origin; and prizes were awarded for the best exhibitions of skill in poetry—and in running, wrestling, boxing, leaping, pitching the discus, or quoit, throwing the javelin, and chariot-racing.
The most important of these games was the Olympic, though it involved many principles common to the others. ”

“ The 1987 VII International Summer Special Olympic Games, to be held from July 31 to August 8 at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, will host 6,000 athletes, 15,000 volunteers, and thousands of guests from around the United States and the world. Every American can be grateful for the many dedicated and selfless organizers of these games, the largest worldwide amateur sporting event of the year.
We can also be grateful indeed for the entire program of Special Olympics. ”

“ Every department of human activity will be represented there, and perhaps I may be allowed, as honorary president of the athletic association which, under European management, started to revive the memory of the Olympic games, to say that I am glad that, in addition to paying proper heed to the progress of industry, of science, of art, we have also paid proper heed to the development of the athletic pastimes which are useful in themselves as showing that it is wise for nations to be able to relax. ”

“ And I will maintain, freely, that no athletes in the Olympic Games of Greece, nor college men in training for the field, are more carefully and considerately treated than are the dogs in the All Alaska Sweepstakes. ”

“ Beside this image it is the custom for athletes, their fathers and their brothers, as well as their trainers, to swear an oath upon slices of boar's flesh that in nothing will they sin against the Olympic games. The athletes take this further oath also, that for ten successive months they have strictly followed the regulations for training. ”

“ As time went on the sentiment of a common heritage grew and the number of states participating in the Olympic games increased until at last not only Greeks but competitors from the closely kindred countries of Epirus and Macedonia to the north were admitted. ”

“ Ancient writers inform us that it was a rare thing to meet [4] with athletes, who, having signalized themselves from their earliest youth in gymnastic combats, were of so excellent a constitution as to be able, when they had reached a more advanced age, to acquire the same honours on contending for the prize with grown men. Aristotle assures us, that amongst the conquerors in the Olympic Games, not more than two or three at the most could be found to whom nature had granted such an advantage. ”

“ While I'm unable to be there in person, I want to take this opportunity to speak with you because I deeply believe in the Olympic mission, and have long supported hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games in my home city of Chicago. Over the past two years, I've spoken often about my belief that, while we may come from different places and backgrounds, there are certain shared values that unite us. Values at the heart of the Olympic movement: friendship, excellence, and mutual respect. ”

“ In the Olympic games proper, British athletes, including two wins by colonials from Canada and Africa, scored 25 successes, and the Americans 18. In the track events 8 wins fell to the British, including two Colonials, and 6 to American athletes ”

“ Notes the efforts undertaken by the Secretary-General, the President of the General Assembly, Member States and civil society for the observance of the Olympic Truce, and encourages future hosts of the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games and other Member States to support the effective implementation of the Truce ”

“ In the language of John Fiske, “young men [Pg 19] of the noblest families and from the farthest Greek colonies came to them, and wrestled and ran, undraped, before countless multitudes of admiring spectators.”
The victor in the foot-race at Olympia was regarded as an honor to his country, and gave his name to the current Olympiad, and on reaching home entered his native city to the notes of a triumphal song written by a Pindar or Simonides. Another significant fact is that the Greek era began with the Olympic games; every period of four years was called an Olympiad. ”