Olympic Games

I

Introduction

Olympic Games, international athletic competition, held every four years at a different city site. A modified revival of the Olympian Games, the Olympic Games were inaugurated in the spring of 1896, largely through the efforts of the French sportsman and educator Baron Pierre de Coubertin. This competition evolved into the Summer Olympics—the subject of this article. The Winter Olympics began in 1924 and were held in the same year as the Summer Olympics until 1994, since when the winter games have alternated with the summer games in even-numbered years.

Planning for the modern games began in 1894, with the founding of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on June 23. Athens was selected as the venue for the first Games and they have been held every four years since (except in the case of the two world wars). The Olympics organization is headed by a president, elected by the IOC members for an initial period of eight years. The present office-holder is the Belgian Jacques Rogge, who succeeded Juan Antonio Samaranch in July 2001. The term of office for members of the IOC is also eight years. By August 2008 there were 111 members, 25 honorary members, and 1 honour member.

II

Organization

The IOC maintains headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, and currently recognizes 205 national Olympic committees. In 1999 it was hit by the worst scandal in its history after finding six of its members guilty of accepting improper gifts from cities bidding to host the Games. The subsequent inquest, which uncovered a “culture of improper gift giving”, resulted in the members being expelled and new reform measures being adopted. The site of the games is chosen, usually six or seven years in advance, by the IOC.

The most recent Summer and Winter Olympics were held in Beijing, China (2008) and Turin, Italy (2006) respectively. London received the vote in July 2005 to host the 2012 Summer Olympics; Vancouver, Canada, is to host the 2010 Winter Games.

III

History

The first modern games, held in April 1896 in Athens, Greece, attracted athletes from Great Britain, the United States, and 11 other nations. Only 42 events in 9 sports were scheduled for these games; women were not invited to compete. In contrast, more than 11,000 athletes from 204 countries attended the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

A

Politics

The Olympic Games of 1916, scheduled for Berlin, Germany, were cancelled because of World War I. They were rescheduled in 1936 and became the focal demonstration of the might of Nazi Germany. Hitler, expecting to showcase German athletic superiority, was overshadowed by the extraordinary exploits of the black American sprinter Jesse Owens, who won an unprecedented four gold medals. The Games scheduled for 1940 and 1944 were also cancelled because of World War II. The 1948 Games that followed were held in London, UK, and were known as the “Ration-Book” Games.

Political contentions have increasingly interfered with the avowed aim of the modern Olympics, that of fostering international unity. The 1972 games, held in Munich, West Germany (now part of the united Federal Republic of Germany), were marked by a tragedy growing out of political conditions in the Middle East. Members of an Arab guerrilla organization killed two Israeli athletes and took nine hostages, who were later killed, along with five of the guerrillas and a West German policeman, in a gun battle with police at a Munich airport. Olympic activities were suspended for a day to hold memorial services for the murdered Israeli athletes. The 1976 games, held in Montreal, Canada, were also marred by political issues. The host Canadian government refused to allow the Taiwanese team to carry its flag or have its national anthem played at the games. The Taiwanese thereupon withdrew. A second issue involved most of the black African nations. They demanded that New Zealand be excluded from the Olympics because one of its rugby teams had recently played in South Africa, whose racial policies these black African nations opposed. When their demand was refused, 31 nations withdrew their teams from the competition in support of the black African nations.

The United States, after much debate, withdrew from the 1980 games held in Moscow, in the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), in protest at the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. About 64 other nations also boycotted the 1980 games. The USSR, citing doubts about security measures, withdrew from the 1984 games in Los Angeles; 15 other nations followed suit. A record 160 nations participated in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea; the only political controversy at these games centred around North Korea's unsuccessful bid to serve as cohost. The 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, reflected a changed political landscape: the 172 participating nations and territories included the Unified Team (with athletes from Russia and 11 other former Soviet republics), a reunited Germany, and South Africa, which was allowed to compete for the first time since 1960. At Sydney, Australia, in 2000, political controversies were left behind: North and South Korea agreed to compete under a single flag and the newly emerging nation of Timor-Leste was given dispensation by the IOC to compete, marching at the opening ceremony under the neutral IOC flag.