The 2018 Olympic Winter Games in south Corea are coming up, an over two-week event offering an innumerable amount of sports. Who came up with the idea of the Olympics, though? The Olympics are always considered to be of Greek descent, but are they really?
The Ancient Games
The first Olympic Games were held in 776 BC in ancient Greece. The Games were held in the city of Olympia, at the foot of Mount Olympus, the mountain where the Greek Gods were said to live. This location was chosen, as the Games were one of the two great religious events celebrated in honor of the Greek Gods. Honor was what drove athletes of every city to participate as well. Winners were awarded with an olive wreath, the symbol of peace and distinction, and eternal prestige. In 394 AD, the Games were banned by the Roman emperor Theodosius I, who considered the Greek celebrations a pagan event [1].
Revival of the Games
For almost 1500 years no-one thought of this Greek festivity. But then the French baron Pierre de Coubartin started sharing his dream of reviving the Ancient Games. His lobbying resulted in the first Modern Olympic Games, held in Greece in 1896. The foundation of the Games was based on what de Coubartin said: ‘The important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle, the essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well’. He founded the International Olympic Committee, which today still decides where the Olympics will be held and which sports will be a part of the Games [2]. In memory of its founder, the Pierre de Coubartin medal was invented and awarded to athletes who show true sportsmanship.
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| The olympic rings, source: http://bit.ly/1VpM2Gs |
Symbols and Traditions
The Olympic motto ‘Citius, Altius, Fortius’ (Latin for ‘faster, higher, stronger’) exists since 1896. The symbol and flag, with the five colored rings intertwined on a white background, were designed in 1914. Both the motto and symbol come from Pierre de Coubartin. The symbol contains all the colors necessary to make the flags of all participating countries at the time. The rings resemble continuity and the human body [3]. New traditions have been added since - the relay carrying the Olympic fire from Greece to the host city of the Games, was started for the 1936 Berlin Games.
Sports
In its final days, the Ancient Games included 7 sports while in the very beginning the festival consisted purely of running events [1]. The first Modern Olympics consisted of nine sports, a number that has risen over the years and has been set to a maximum of 28 sports in the early 2000s. As a rule, a sport can only be admitted to the Summer Olympic program when it is widely practiced in at least 75 countries spread over four continents. Since 1936, the only changes in sports have been the dismissal of baseball and softball in the Olympics of 2008. The 2016 Olympics will see the addition of golf and rugby. The first Winter Games were organized in 1924, and always included skiing, skating, and ice hockey. The maximum number of sports in the Winter Games is seven, and to be included they need to be practiced by 25 countries, spread over three continents [4].
“IMPORTANT IS NOT THE TRIUMPH BUT THE STRUGGLE”
Olympism
The values and ideals of the Olympic Games are written down in the Olympic charter. The philosophy following these fundamental guidelines is called Olympism. The Olympic Movement has six pillars: Sport for All, Development through Sport, Women and Sport, Education through Sport, Peace through Sport, as well as Sport and Environment [1].
To conclude, the Modern Olympic Games, though based on the Greek Ancient Olympic Games, were invented by the French Pierre de Coubartin. The number and types of sports have changed over time, however, fundamental values of sportsmanship and honor have always been the basis of the Olympic Games. As for relations to Greece, one of the traditions of the Modern Games, carrying the Olympic fire from Olympia, Greece, to the host city of the current Games, hints that people still prefer a mythical touch to this event of great emotion and mighty athletes fighting for honor, as it was more than two eras ago in Greece.
Differences between the Ancient and Modern Games:
| Ancient Games | Modern Games | |
| First edition | 776 BC | 1896 AD |
| Last edition | 394 AD | ongoing |
| Inventor | 'Greek Mythology' | Pierre de Coubartin |
| Number of sports | 7 | 28 |
| Participants | Free Greek men | Athletes from all over the world |
| Length | 5 days | 17 days |
| Philosophy | Mythology: offerings to Zeus | Olympism |
[1] www.olympic.org
[2] http://bit.ly/1XCUoH4
[3] http://bit.ly/1Q9JZ0S
[4] http://bit.ly/1SPJydY
by Judith Houtman, PhD Student AG Heppner
this article originally appeared June 2016 in Volume 09 Issue 2 "The Sporty Brain"
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