1.
Olympic Games
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The Olympic Games are considered the worlds foremost sports competition with more than 200 nations participating. The Olympic Games are held four years, with the Summer and Winter Games alternating by occurring every four years. Their creation was inspired by the ancient Olympic Games, which were held in Olympia, Greece, Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee in 1894, leading to the first modern Games in Athens in 1896. The IOC is the body of the Olympic Movement, with the Olympic Charter defining its structure. The evolution of the Olympic Movement during the 20th and 21st centuries has resulted in changes to the Olympic Games. The IOC has had to adapt to a variety of economic, political, as a result, the Olympics has shifted away from pure amateurism, as envisioned by Coubertin, to allowing participation of professional athletes. The growing importance of mass media created the issue of corporate sponsorship, World wars led to the cancellation of the 1916,1940, and 1944 Games. Large boycotts during the Cold War limited participation in the 1980 and 1984 Games, the Olympic Movement consists of international sports federations, National Olympic Committees, and organising committees for each specific Olympic Games. As the decision-making body, the IOC is responsible for choosing the host city for each Games, the IOC also determines the Olympic programme, consisting of the sports to be contested at the Games. There are several Olympic rituals and symbols, such as the Olympic flag and torch, over 13,000 athletes compete at the Summer and Winter Olympic Games in 33 different sports and nearly 400 events. The first, second, and third-place finishers in each event receive Olympic medals, gold, silver, the Games have grown so much that nearly every nation is now represented. This growth has created numerous challenges and controversies, including boycotts, doping, bribery, every two years the Olympics and its media exposure provide unknown athletes with the chance to attain national and sometimes international fame. The Games also constitute an opportunity for the host city and country to themselves to the world. The Ancient Olympic Games were religious and athletic festivals held every four years at the sanctuary of Zeus in Olympia, competition was among representatives of several city-states and kingdoms of Ancient Greece. These Games featured mainly athletic but also combat such as wrestling. It has been written that during the Games, all conflicts among the participating city-states were postponed until the Games were finished. This cessation of hostilities was known as the Olympic peace or truce and this idea is a modern myth because the Greeks never suspended their wars. The truce did allow those religious pilgrims who were travelling to Olympia to pass through warring territories unmolested because they were protected by Zeus
2.
1972 Summer Olympics
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The 1972 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from August 26 to September 11,1972. The sporting nature of the event was overshadowed by the Munich massacre in which eleven Israeli athletes and coaches. Five Black September Palestinian terrorists died, the 1972 Summer Olympics were the second Summer Olympics to be held in Germany, after the 1936 Games in Berlin, which had taken place under the Nazi regime. The logo of the Games was a blue solar logo by Otl Aicher, the Olympic mascot, the dachshund Waldi, was the first officially named Olympic mascot. The Olympic Fanfare was composed by Herbert Rehbein, a companion of Bert Kaempfert, the Olympic Park is based on Frei Ottos plans and after the Games became a Munich landmark. The competition sites, designed by architect Günther Behnisch, included the Olympic swimming hall, the Olympics Hall and the Olympic Stadium, and an Olympic village very close to the park. The design of the stadium was considered revolutionary, with sweeping canopies of acrylic glass stabilized by metal ropes, Munich won its Olympic bid on April 26,1966, at the 64th IOC Session at Rome, Italy, over bids presented by Detroit, Madrid, and Montréal. Montreal would eventually host the following Olympic games in 1976, the Games were largely overshadowed by what has come to be known as the Munich massacre. Two of the hostages who resisted were killed in the first moments of the break-in, the German authorities planned to ambush them there, but underestimated the numbers of their opposition and were thus undermanned. During a botched attempt, all of the Israeli hostages were killed. Four of them were shot, then incinerated when one of the terrorists detonated a grenade inside the helicopter in which the hostages were sitting, the five remaining hostages were then machine-gunned to death. All but three of the terrorists were killed as well, although arrested and imprisoned pending trial, they were released by the West German government on October 29,1972, in exchange for a hijacked Lufthansa jet. Two of those three were supposedly hunted down and assassinated later by the Mossad, jamal Al-Gashey, who is believed to be the sole survivor, is still living today in hiding in an unspecified African country with his wife and two children. A memorial ceremony was held in the Olympic stadium. The attack prompted heightened security at subsequent Olympics beginning with the 1976 Winter Olympics, security at Olympics was heightened further beginning with the 2002 Winter Olympics, as they were the first to take place since September 11,2001. The massacre led the German federal government to re-examine its anti-terrorism policies and this led to the creation of the elite counter-terrorist unit GSG9, similar to the British SAS. It also led Israel to launch a campaign known as Operation Wrath of God, in which those suspected of involvement were systematically tracked down, the events of the Munich massacre were chronicled in the Oscar-winning documentary, One Day in September. An account of the aftermath is also dramatized in three films, the 1976 made-for-TV movie 21 Hours at Munich, the 1986 made-for-TV movie Sword of Gideon and Steven Spielbergs 2005 film Munich
3.
Sebastian Coe
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Sebastian Newbold Coe, Baron Coe, CH, KBE, FRIBA, often referred to as Seb Coe or Lord Coe, is a British politician and former track and field athlete. As a middle-distance runner, Lord Coe won four Olympic medals, Coes rivalries with fellow Britons Steve Ovett and Steve Cram dominated middle-distance racing for much of the 1980s. Following Coes retirement from athletics, he was a member of parliament for the Conservative Party from 1992 to 1997 for Falmouth and Camborne in Cornwall and he headed the successful London bid to host the 2012 Summer Olympics and became chairman of the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games. In 2007, he was elected a vice-president of the International Association of Athletics Federations, in August 2015 he was elected president of the IAAF. In 2012, Coe was appointed Pro-Chancellor at Loughborough University where he had been an undergraduate, in November 2012 he was appointed chair of the British Olympic Association. In 2012 he was one of 24 athletes inducted as members of the IAAF Hall of Fame. Coe was presented with the Lifetime Achievement award at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year in December 2012, in March 2017, Coe was named Chancellor at Loughborough University, replacing Nigel Rudd and becoming the Universitys sixth Chancellor. Coe was born on 29 September 1956 at Queen Charlottes and Chelsea Hospital, Hammersmith and his mother, Tina Angela Lal, died in London, in 2005, aged 75. She was of half Indian descent, born to a Punjabi father, Sardari Lal Malhotra, and his father, Peter Coe, died on 9 August 2008, aged 88, while Sebastian was visiting Beijing for the 2008 Summer Olympics. The family then moved to Sheffield where he attended Tapton Secondary Modern School, Crosspool which became a Comprehensive School when he was there, Coe was coached by his father and represented Loughborough University and later Haringey when not competing for his country. Coe studied Economics and Social History at Loughborough University and won his first major race in 1977—an 800 metres event at the European indoor championships in San Sebastián and it was at Loughborough University that he met athletics coach George Gandy who had developed revolutionary conditioning exercises to improve Coes running. He ran in the Emsley Carr Mile on 29 August 1977, out-sprinting Filbert Bayi of Tanzania in the home straight and winning in 3,57.7. Coes 1978 season continued to show his progression in the distances, though he raced only sparingly as he had, in early June. On 18 August 1978, he ran at the Ivo Van Damme Memorial meeting in Brussels, in the 800m and he first ran against his great rival Steve Ovett in a schools cross country race in 1972. According to Pat Butcher, Coes father and coach Peter Coe had encouraged him to run as fast as he could from the start. The early pace was indeed exceptionally fast, Coe ran 200 metres in 24.3 seconds,400 metres in 49.32 seconds and 600 metres in 1,16.2, then he slowed down and finished third in 1,44.76. A few weeks later Coe was to reclaim the UK record, the next year,1979, Coe set three world records in 41 days. He easily won the 800m at the European Cup in Turin in August, covering the last 200m in 24.1, in the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, Ovett and Coe won each others speciality, Ovett the 800 metres, and Coe the 1500 metres
4.
Great Britain at the Olympics
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Great Britain or Team GB is the team that sends athletes from the United Kingdom, all but three of its overseas territories, and the three Crown dependencies, to the Olympic Games. From 1896 to 2016 inclusive, Great Britain has won 847 medals at the Summer Olympic Games and it is organised by the British Olympic Association as the National Olympic Committee for the UK. Great Britain was one of 14 teams to compete in the first Games, the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, and is one of only three nations to have competed at every Summer and Winter Olympic Games. Sir Chris Hoy holds the record for medals in different events, having reached the top step in four different disciplines - mens kilo, mens team sprint, mens match sprint. Cyclist Sir Bradley Wiggins has the most overall medals by a British Olympian with eight, Sir Steve Redgrave is the only British Olympian to win a Gold Medal in five consecutive Olympic Games, winning his first in 1984 Los Angeles and last in 2000 Sydney. With five golds and a bronze, Redgrave is the most successful Olympic male rower of all time, alongside five time gold medalist Redgrave, Grainger, Ainslie, Wiggins and Jack Beresford are the only British Olympians to win medals of any colour in five successive Games. The most successful Winter Olympians from Great Britain are Jeannette Altwegg, Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, each with one gold and one bronze medal, as a non-alpine nation, Great Britain has found the bulk of its success in the Summer Olympics. Prior to the 2014 Games all Britains winter olympic medals had been won in sports performed on ice. Snowboarder Jenny Jones became the first British athlete to win a medal on snow in the 90 years of the games when she won a bronze medal in the womens slopestyle event. Great Britain has hosted the Summer Games on three occasions -1908,1948 and 2012, all in London - second only to the United States, under the IOC charter, the Olympic Council of Ireland is responsible for the entire island of Ireland. However, athletes from Northern Ireland can elect to represent either the UK or Ireland at the Olympics, a number of Northern Ireland born athletes, particularly in boxing, have won medals for Ireland at the Games. London is the city in the UK that has hosted the games. *Red border colour indicates tournament was held on home soil, according to official data of the International Olympic Committee. This is a list of people who have won three or more Olympic gold medals for Great Britain, medals won in the 1906 Intercalated Games are not included. It includes top-three placings in 1896 and 1900, before medals were awarded for top-three placings, kathleen McKane Godfree also won five medals, but were one gold, two silvers, and two bronzes. Chris Hoy, Jason Kenny, Ben Ainslie and Alastair Brownlee are the most successful Olympic competitors in their sports, as of 2016. Steve Redgrave and Reginald Doherty are the most successful athletes in their respective sports, rowing and tennis. Great Britain has competed in all Badminton events held at the Summer Olympics since badminton made its debut as an Olympic sport in 1992
5.
1904 Summer Olympics
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The 1904 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the III Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in St. Louis. It was the first time that the Olympic Games were held in a majority English language nation, European tension caused by the Russo-Japanese War, and the difficulty of getting to St. Louis, kept most of the worlds top athletes away. Only 62 of the 650 athletes who competed came from outside of North America, 80% of competitors were from the United States, and in over half of the events these were the only competitors. In some cases the U. S. national championship was combined with the Olympic championship, pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic movement, gave in and awarded the games to St. Louis. St. Louis organizers treated the games in a similar to the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. Competitions were reduced to a side-show of the Worlds Fair and were overshadowed by other, david R. Francis, the President of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, declined to invite anybody else to open the Games and, on July 1 did so himself. Officially, the games lasted for four and a half months, in fact, the Olympic-calibre events were mixed with other sporting events that Sullivan also called Olympic. The IOC later declared that 94 of these events were Olympic, the actual athletics events that formed the bulk of the recognised Olympic sports were held from Monday, August 29 to Saturday, September 3. The participants totalled 651 athletes –645 men and 6 women representing 12 countries, however, only 42 events actually included athletes who were not from the United States. Boxing, dumbbells, freestyle wrestling and the made their debuts. The swimming events were held in a pond near Skinker and Wydown Boulevards. The organizers of the Worlds Fair held Anthropology Days on August 12 and 13, one of the most remarkable athletes was the American gymnast George Eyser, who won six medals even though his left leg was made of wood. Frank Kugler won four medals in wrestling, weightlifting and tug of war. Chicago runner James Lightbody won the steeplechase and the 800 m, sprinter Archie Hahn was champion in the 60 m,100 m and 200 m. In this last race, he set an Olympic record in 21.6, in the discus, after American Martin Sheridan had thrown exactly the same distance as his compatriot, Ralph Rose, the judges gave them both an extra throw to decide the winner. Sheridan won the decider and claimed the gold medal, ray Ewry again won all three standing jumps. The team representing Great Britain was awarded a total of two medals, both won by Irish athletes, the top non-USA athlete was Emil Rausch of Germany, who won three swimming events. Zoltan Halmay of Hungary and Charles Daniels of the United States each won two swimming gold medals, galt Football Club from Canada won the gold medal in football
6.
United States at the 1896 Summer Olympics
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Fourteen competitors from the United States competed in three sports at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. The Americans were the most successful nation in terms of medals, beating host nation Greece,11 to 10. However, the Greeks 46 total medals dwarfed the Americans 20, the United States team had 27 entries in 16 events, with 20 of the 27 resulting in top-three finishes. Most of the American competitors were students at Harvard University or Princeton University or members of the Boston Athletic Association, the team trained at The Pennington School, in Pennington, New Jersey, while preparing in secret for the first modern Olympic Games. Of the 14 Americans at the Athens Games,12 won medals, charles Waldstein, a shooter, and Gardner Williams, a swimmer, were the two who did not win any medals. The United States squad won nine medals in the twelve athletics events. Six silver medals and two bronze medals went to the Americans in athletics. Track & Road Field Events The Paine brothers contested only two events, taking the top two spots in the event in which both competed, the military pistol. Sumner was the one of the two to enter the free pistol, which he won. Waldstein was the member of the American shooting contingent, competing in the military rifle event. Williams competed in two swimming events, placing in neither, de Coubertin, Pierre, Philemon, P. J. & Anninos, C. The Olympic Games, BC776 – AD1896, results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary. The Invention of the Modern Olympic Games
Matthew Centrowitz (USA)
Faith Kipyegon (KEN)
Great Britain (GBR)
Spain (ESP)
Morocco (MAR)
Algeria (ALG)
Italy (ITA)
New Zealand (NZL)
Finland (FIN)
Australia (AUS)
Sweden (SWE)
Ireland (IRL)
Luxembourg (LUX)
France (FRA)
East Germany (GDR)
Germany (GER)[nb]
Belgium (BEL)
Czechoslovakia (TCH)
Switzerland (SUI)
Canada (CAN)
Hungary (HUN)
Netherlands (NED)
Portugal (POR)
Qatar (QAT)
Soviet Union (URS)
Romania (ROU)
Russia (RUS)
Ukraine (UKR)
Unified Team (EUN)
Turkey (TUR)
Ethiopia (ETH)
Austria (AUT)
Bahrain (BRN)
China (CHN)
James Lightbody (USA)
