Liceul Teoretic ,,Carol I”, Fetești

Lucrare scrisă pentru obținerea atestatului

de competență lingvistică în limba engleză

Olympic Games

Elev: Stroe Gabriel

Profesor coordonator: Turcu Raluca

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Table of contents
( O să-l fac după ce o să îmi confirmați forma finală a atestatului )

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1. Argument
The reason why I chose this theme for my paper is that I am something of
sports fan, mostly football, but every time the Olympics comes around I am
sucked into watching TV. There is something about cheering on your country’s
greatest athletes that are not rivaled by anything else. The most interesting thing
for me, though, is how proud I get to be a Roumanian when one of our athletes
wins a medal. Another reason I really enjoy Olympics is because of the inherent
competition between the athletes. It seems to be human nature that we are
drawn to competitions. It draws on many ideals and qualities that humans see as
being good for the individual. Qualities like cooperation, concentration,
coordination and creativity are all needed in competitions, especially those of
the athletic variety.

2. The evolution of Olympic Games

2.1 Ancient Olympics

The Ancient Olympics were held at Olympia, one of the sacred places of the
ancient god Zeus.

The earliest known record of an Olympic competition is 776 BCE but it is

thought that some kind of event may have been held for many years before that.

One legend states that the games were started by

Heracles while another states that they were started
by a king who wanted to bring peace to the region.

Women did not compete in the ancient Olympics

and married women were not even allowed to
attend as spectators.

The male athletes did not wear any clothes and

competed naked.

At the first Olympic Games in 776 BCE there

was just one event – the Stade – a 200 metre (222
yard) race.
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Other events were added over time and by 100 BCE the games lasted for five
days.

Ancient Olympic Events

Sprinting/Running Combat/Fighting Other

Stade/Stadion (200m) Boxing Chariot Racing – The
winner was the owner of
the chariot rather than
rider
Dialous (400m) Wrestling Pentathlon – Wrestling,
Stadion, Long Jump,
Javelin, Discus
Dolichos (4800m) Pankration (violent
martial arts style)
Hoplitodromus (400-
800m in full armour)

Winning an Olympic event was considered to be the

greatest sporting achievement. The winner of each
event was presented with an olive branch as a token of
this achievement.

The Ancient games began to decline around 424 BCE when Greece was at
war with the Spartans and many young men had to go to war rather than devote
themselves to athletics.

The games continued when the Romans invaded and conquered Greece but
when the Emperor Theodosius came to power he banned all non-Christian
events including the Olympic Games.

2.2 Modern Games

In an effort to rekindle the spirit of the ancient Olympics of Greece, which had
been abolished as a pagan cult by Christian Byzantine Emperor Theodosius I in
393 A.D., the modern Olympic Games were initiated in 1896.

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Baron Pierre de Coubertin, a French educator, is
honored as the man who introduced the plan to revive
the Olympics. Under his exacting direction, the
International Olympic Committee was formed in June
of 1894. The Baron de Coubertin was heavily
involved in all aspects of the Games’ inception and
presided personally over the Olympic Committee for
some 30 years. He is responsible for writing the
Olympic Charter and Protocol, the Athletes’ Oath, and
the guidelines for the opening and closing ceremonies
of the Games. In accordance with his desires, his heart
remains interred at Olympia, Greece, in a monument
that commemorates the Olympics’ renewal.

The first Olympics in this modern era were held in Athens, Greece, as a result
of the persuasive recommendation of Demetrius Vikelas, a Greek representative
of the Pan-Hellenic Gymnastic Club who had come to Paris as a participant in
the planning for the new Olympics.

Following the Athens Games of 1896, the Olympics were held in Paris in
1900, which place and time had been Pierre de Coubertin’s original plan for the
first Olympics. Successive cities hosting the Games of the Olympiad, as they
are officially called, include: St. Louis, 1904; London, 1908; Stockholm, 1912;
Antwerp, 1920; Paris, 1924; Amsterdam, 1928; Los Angeles, 1932; Berlin,
1936; London, 1948; Helsinki, 1952; Melbourne, 1956; Rome, 1960; Tokyo,
1964; Mexico City, 1968; Munich, 1972; Montreal, 1976; Moscow, 1980; Los
Angeles, 1984; Seoul, 1988; Barcelona, 1992; Atlanta, 1996; Sydney, 2000;
Athens, 2004.

An Olympiad refers to the four-year period that starts with the opening of the
Olympics in one city and ends upon the opening of the Olympics in
another. The Games of the summer Olympiad currently include: aquatics
(diving, swimming, synchronized swimming, and water polo), archery, athletics
(track and field), badminton, baseball, basketball, boxing, canoeing/kayaking,
cycling, equestrian events, fencing, football, gymnastics, handball, hockey,
judo, modern pentathlon (developed by de Coubertin and incorporating
shooting, fencing, swimming, show jumping, and running), rowing, sailing,
shooting, softball, table tennis, Taekwondo, tennis, triathlon (combining
swimming, cycling, and running), volleyball, weightlifting, and wrestling.

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3. Changes and adaptations

3.1 Winter Games

The Winter Olympics was created to
feature snow and ice sports that were
logistically impossible to hold during the
Summer Games. Figure skating (in 1908
and 1920) and ice hockey (in 1920) were
featured as Olympic events at the Summer
Olympics. The IOC desired to expand this
list of sports to encompass other winter
activities. At the 1921 Olympic Congress in Lausanne, it was decided to hold a
winter version of the Olympic Games. A winter sports week (it was actually
11 days) was held in 1924 in Chamonix, France, in connection with the Paris
Games held three months later; this event became the first Winter Olympic
Games. Although it was intended that the same country host both the Winter
and Summer Games in a given year, this idea was quickly abandoned. The IOC
mandated that the Winter Games be celebrated every four years on the same
year as their summer counterpart. This tradition was upheld until the 1992
Games in Albertville, France; after that, beginning with the 1994 Games, the
Winter Olympics were held every four years, two years after each Summer
Olympics.

3.2 Paralympics

In 1948, Sir Ludwig Guttmann, determined to promote the rehabilitation of

soldiers after World War II, organised a multi-sport event between several
hospitals to coincide with the 1948 London Olympics. Guttmann's event, known
then as the Stoke Mandeville Games, became an annual sports festival. Over the
next twelve years, Guttmann and others continued their efforts to use sports as
an avenue to healing. For the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, Guttmann brought
400 athletes to compete in the "Parallel Olympics", which became known as the
first Paralympics. Since then, the Paralympics have been held in every Olympic
year. Since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, the host city for
the Olympics has also played host to the Paralympics. In 2001 the International
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Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC)
signed an agreement guaranteeing that host cities would be contracted to
manage both the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The agreement came into
effect at the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing, and the 2010 Winter Games in
Vancouver. Chairman of the London organising committee, Lord Coe, said
about the 2012 Summer Paralympics and Olympics in London that:

“We want to change public attitudes

towards disability, celebrate the
excellence of Paralympic sport and to
enshrine from the very outset that the
two Games are an integrated whole.”

3.3 Youth Games

In 2010, the Olympic Games were complemented by the Youth Games, which
give athletes between the ages of 14 and 18 the chance to compete. The Youth
Olympic Games were conceived by IOC president Jacques Rogge in 2001 and
approved during the 119th Congress of the IOC. The first Summer Youth
Games were held in Singapore from 14–26 August 2010, while the inaugural
Winter Games were hosted in Innsbruck, Austria, two years later. These Games
will be shorter than the senior Games; the summer version will last twelve days,
while the winter version will last nine days. The IOC allows 3,500 athletes and
875 officials to participate at the Summer Youth Games, and 970 athletes and
580 officials at the Winter Youth Games. The sports to be contested will
coincide with those scheduled for the senior Games, however there will be
variations on the sports including mixed NOC and mixed gender teams as well
as a reduced number of disciplines and events.

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4. Famous Olympic Athletes

4.1 Usain Bolt – The greatest sprinter of all time

Usain Bolt enhanced his already
legendary Olympic status with an
unprecedented third consecutive
100m, 200m and 4x100m triple at
Rio 2016, a feat that may well
never be repeated. The holder of
the world records at all three
distances and an 11-time world
champion, the Jamaican star bid farewell to the Olympic stage by celebrating
his 30th birthday on the day of the Closing Ceremony of the Rio Games.
Between 16 August 2008 and 19 August 2016, Usain Bolt won 20 Olympic
and world championship gold medals in the 21 events he entered, a staggering
tally that makes him the greatest sprinter of all time. After winning his third
consecutive Olympic 100m title in Rio, the Jamaican great was moved to
comment: “Somebody said I can become immortal. Two more medals to go and
I can sign off. Immortal.”
Then, after completing his “triple-double” with a third straight Olympic 200m
triumph, he announced that he wanted to be up there with the very best of them
all: “I am trying to be one of the greatest, among Ali and Pele.” And after
crossing the line first in the 4x100m final and joining Finland’s Paavo Nurmi
and the USA’s Carl Lewis as a nine-time Olympic gold medallist, an elated Bolt
commented: “There you go, I’m the greatest. I’m just happy to have done what
I came here to do. I’m proud of myself. The pressure is real, but I look at it as
an accomplishment.”

4.2 Micheal Phelps–The most decorated olympian of all time

By the time he retired at Rio 2106 at the age of 31, Michael Phelps had
collected a total of 23 golds, three silvers and two bronzes at the Olympics, a
record-breaking haul that looks unlikely to be bettered for many years to come.
The most decorated athlete of all at Rio 2016, where he won five golds and a
silver, Phelps suffered attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder as a child and was
encouraged to take up swimming at the age of seven to control his energy. Over
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the years he developed into a champion swimmer, beating record after record in
every age category in which he competed.
Phelps is the long course
world record holder in the
men's 100 meter butterfly,
200 meter butterfly, and 400
meter individual medley as
well as the former long
course world record holder in
the 200 meter freestyle and
200 meter individual medley.
He has won 82 medals in major international long course competition, of which
65 were gold, 14 silver, and 3 bronze, spanning the Olympics, the World
Championships, and the Pan Pacific Championships. Phelps's international titles
and record-breaking performances have earned him the World Swimmer of the
Year Award eight times and American Swimmer of the Year Award eleven
times, as well as the FINA Swimmer of the Year Award in 2012 and 2016.
Phelps earned Sports Illustrated magazine's Sportsman of the Year award due to
his unprecedented Olympic success in the 2008 Games.

4.3 Nadia Comăneci – The first perfect score

Early promise
Nadia Comăneci took up the sport of gymnastics
aged six, becoming one of the first students at a
school founded by coach Béla Károlyi. In 1975, 13-
year-old Comaneci won gold in every event at the
European Championships except the floor exercise.
Perfection
A year later in Montreal, she became the first
gymnast in Olympic history to be awarded the
perfect score of 10.0 for her performance on the
uneven bars. She went on to record the perfect 10.0
six more times and became the youngest all-around
Olympic gold medallist ever.

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More Olympic success
Comăneci’s career over the next four years was slightly less spectacular,
judged against her own high standards. At the 1980 Olympic Games, she won
her fourth and fifth golds but finished second in the all-around competition
behind Yelena Davydova. Comăneci retired a year later, leaving her with a
career haul of nine Olympic medals.
Retirement
After her retirement, Comăneci was rarely allowed to travel outside her country.
She defected to the United States in 1989. She has since married 1984 Olympic
gold medallist Bart Conner, a gymnast she first met in the 1970s.

5. Ceremonies

5.1 Opening
As mandated by the Olympic Charter, various elements frame the opening
ceremony of the Olympic Games. This ceremony takes place before the events
have occurred. Most of these rituals were established at the 1920 Summer
Olympics in Antwerp. The ceremony typically starts with the hoisting of the
host country's flag and a performance of its national anthem. The host nation
then presents artistic displays of music, singing, dance, and theatre
representative of its culture. The artistic presentations have grown in scale and
complexity as successive hosts attempt to provide a ceremony that outlasts its
predecessor's in terms of memorability.
After the artistic portion of the
ceremony, the athletes parade into the
stadium grouped by nation. Greece is
traditionally the first nation to enter in
order to honour the origins of the
Olympics. Nations then enter the
stadium alphabetically according to the
host country's chosen language, with
the host country's athletes being the last
to enter. During the 2004 Summer Olympics, which was hosted in Athens,
Greece, the Greek flag entered the stadium first, while the Greek delegation
entered last. Speeches are given, formally opening the Games. Finally, the

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Olympic torch is brought into the stadium and passed on until it reaches the
final torch carrier, often a successful Olympic athlete from the host nation, who
lights the Olympic flame in the stadium's cauldron.

5.2 Closing
The closing ceremony of the Olympic Games takes place after all sporting
events have concluded. Flag-bearers from each participating country enter the
stadium, followed by the athletes who enter together, without any national
distinction. Three national flags are hoisted while the corresponding national
anthems are played: the flag of the current host country; the flag of Greece, to
honour the birthplace of the Olympic Games; and the flag of the country hosting
the next Summer or Winter Olympic Games. The president of the organising
committee and the IOC president make their closing speeches, the Games are
officially closed, and the Olympic flame is extinguished. In what is known as
the Antwerp Ceremony, the mayor of the city that organised the Games
transfers a special Olympic flag to the president of the IOC, who then passes it
on to the mayor of the city hosting the next Olympic Games. The next host
nation then also briefly introduces itself with artistic displays of dance and
theatre representative of its culture.

As is customary, the last medal presentation of the Games is held as part of

the closing ceremony. Typically, the marathon medals are presented at the
Summer Olympics, while the cross-country skiing mass start medals are
awarded at the Winter Olympics.

5.3 Medal presentation

A medal ceremony is held after each Olympic event is concluded. The winner,
second and third-place competitors or teams stand on top of a three-tiered
rostrum to be awarded their respective medals. After the medals are given out
by an IOC member, the national flags of the three medallists are raised while
the national anthem of the gold medallist's
country plays. Volunteering citizens of the host
country also act as hosts during the medal
ceremonies, as they aid the officials who present
the medals and act as flag-bearers. While in the
Summer Olympics this ceremony is held on the
ground where the event is played, in the Winter
Games it is usually held in a special "plaza".

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6. Symbols

6.1 Olympic Rings

In 1912 the founder of the International Olympic Committee, Pierre de
Coubertin, designed a symbol of five interlocking rings to represent the modern
Olympic movement.
Five rings are used to represent each of the inhabited continents – Africa,
Americas (North and South) Asia, Australasia and Europe. The rings
interlock with each ring passing under then over the next ring to signify
equality. The five colours, blue, yellow, black, green and red are the five most
used colours on national flags.
The symbol was officially adopted in 1914 and first used in 1920.

6.2 Olympic Flame/ Olympic Torch

During the ancient Olympic Games a flame was lit in a cauldron and burned
for the duration of those games. The lighting and extinguishing of the flame was
thought to represent the death and re-birth of the Greek heroes.

In 1936 it was decided that the flame

should be transferred to a torch and
carried in relay from Olympia, Greece to
Berlin where, as part of the Opening
Ceremony the final relay runner ignited
a new cauldron.

The Olympic Torch relay has been a

tradition ever since.

In recent times the torch has been carried around the host country in a relay
timed to finish at the time of the Opening Ceremony.

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6.3 The Olympic Motto
The Olympic motto is, “Citius, Altius, Fortius,” which means “Swifter,
Higher, Stronger.”

6.4 The Olympic mascot

The Olympic mascot, an animal or human
figure representing the cultural heritage of
the host country, was introduced in 1968. It
has played an important part of the Games'
identity promotion since the 1980 Summer
Olympics, when the Soviet bear cub Misha
reached international stardom. The mascot of
the Summer Olympics in London was named
Wenlock after the town of Much Wenlock in
Shropshire. Much Wenlock still hosts the Wenlock Olympian Games, which
were an inspiration to Pierre de Coubertin for the Olympic Games.

6.5 The Olympic Oath

The idea that an Olympic oath should be taken by athletes was championed by
Pierre de Coubertin and was first used at the Antwerp games in 1920.
An athlete from the host country holds a corner of the Olympic flag and
recites the oath on behalf of all competitors. The original oath was:
‘We swear. We will take part in the Olympic Games in a spirit of chivalry, for
the honour of our country and for the glory of sport.’
In 1961 the oath was changed to:
‘We promise. We will take part in the Olympic Games in a spirit of chivalry, for
the honour of our team and for the glory of sport.’
In 2000 the oath was changed to:
‘I promise that we shall take part in these Olympic Games, respecting and
abiding by the rules which govern them, committing ourselves to a sport
without doping and without drugs, in the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the
glory of sport and the honour of our teams’

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7. The economics of hosting the Olympic Games

7.1 Costs incurred when hosting the Olympics

Submitting a bid to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to host the
Olympics costs millions of dollars. Cities typically spend $50 million to $100
million in fees for consultants, event organizers and travel related to hosting
duties. For example, Tokyo lost approximately $150 million on its bid for the
2016 Olympics and spent approximately $75 million on its 2020 bid.

Hosting the games is even more costly than the bidding process. For example,
London paid $14.6 billion for hosting the Olympics and Paralympics in 2012.
Of that amount, $4.4 billion came from taxpayers. Beijing spent $42 billion on
hosting in 2008. Athens spent $15 billion hosting the 2004 Olympics.
Taxpayers in Athens will continue to be assessed payments of approximately
$56,635 annually until the debt is paid in full. Sydney paid $4.6 billion hosting
the Olympics in 2000. Of that total, taxpayers covered $11.4 million. Rio de
Janeiro is expected to pay over $20 billion by the end of the 2016 Olympics.

Once a city wins a bid for hosting the Olympics, cities commonly add roads,
build or enhance airports, and construct rail lines to accommodate the large
influx of people. Housing for the athletes in the Olympic village, as well as at
least 40,000 available hotel rooms, and specific facilities for the events, must be
created or updated, as well. Overall, infrastructure costs may be $5 billion to
$50 billion.

7.2 Benefits of Hosting the Olympics

Cities hosting the Olympics gain temporary jobs due to infrastructure
improvements that continue benefiting the cities into the future. For example,
Rio constructed 15,000 new hotel rooms to accommodate tourists. Sochi
invested approximately $42.5 billion in constructing nonsports infrastructure for
the 2014 Olympics. Beijing spent over $22.5 billion constructing roads, airports
and rails, as well as almost $11.25 billion on environmental cleanup.
Additionally, thousands of sponsors, media, athletes and spectators typically
visit a host city for six months before and six months after the Olympics, which
brings in additional revenue.

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8. Conclusion

To sum up, the Olympics are the major sport event that attracts billions of
people, who watch the Games as the audience and who participate as
sportspersons. The Olympics contribute to the formation of the unique
community uniting different people at all levels. In this regard, mass media,
especially internet, play an important part in the formation of the identity of
individuals comprising the Olympic community. From the moment the Olympic
flame is lit to the last minute of the final show of the Olympics, the Games
attract mass media which cover sport events and contribute to the formation of
the identity of Olympic community members.

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9. Bibliography&Resources

https://www.olympic.org/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_Games
https://www.historyonthenet.com/ancient-greece-ancient-olympics
https://mormonolympians.org/history_modern_olympics
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/economics-hosting-olympic-games
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/markets-
economy/092416/what-economic-impact-hosting-olympics.asp

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