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International Olympic Committee
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The International Olympic Committee is the supreme authority of the worldwide Olympic movement. It is an international, non-profit, non-governmental organization based in Lausanne and its mission is enshrined in the Olympic Charter, to support the development of competitive sport by ethical and environmentally sustainable means. The IOC was created by Pierre de Coubertin, on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president, today its membership consists of 100 active members,32 honorary members, and 1 honour member. The IOC is the authority of the worldwide modern Olympic movement. The IOC organises the modern Olympic Games and Youth Olympic Games, held in summer and winter, the first Summer Olympics organised by the IOC was held in Athens, Greece, in 1896, the first Winter Olympics was in Chamonix, France, in 1924. Until 1992, both Summer and Winter Olympics were held in the same year, the first Summer Youth Olympics were in Singapore in 2010 and the first Winter Youth Olympics were held in Innsbruck in 2012. In 2009, the UN General Assembly granted the IOC Permanent Observer status and this decision enables the IOC to be directly involved in the UN Agenda and to attend UN General Assembly meetings where it can take the floor. This has provided the possibility to promote sport at a new level, during each proclamation at the Olympics, announcers speak in different languages, French is always spoken first followed by an English translation and the dominant language of the host nation. The stated mission of the International Olympic Committee is to promote Olympic throughout the world and it is the IOC’s supreme organ and its decisions are final. Extraordinary Sessions may be convened by the President or upon the written request of at least one third of the members, among others, the powers of the Session are, To adopt or amend the Olympic Charter. To elect the members of the IOC, the Honorary President, to elect the President, the Vice-Presidents and all other members of the IOC Executive Board. To elect the host city of the Olympic Games, the Olympic Laurel is awarded to individuals for promoting education, culture, development, and peace through sport. For most of its existence, the IOC was controlled by members who were selected by other members, countries that had hosted the Games were allowed two members. When named, they did not become the representatives of their countries to the IOC. The membership of IOC members ceases in the circumstances, Resignation. Non re-election, any IOC member ceases to be a member without further formality if they are not re-elected, age limit, any IOC member ceases to be a member at the end of the calendar year during which they reach the age of 80. Failure to attend Sessions or take part in IOC work for two consecutive years. Transfer of domicile or of main center of interests to an other than the country which was theirs at the time of their election
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Athlete
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An athlete or sportsman is a person who is good at a sport and competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed or endurance. The terms application to those who participate in activities, such as horse riding or driving, is somewhat controversial. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs, most professional athletes have particularly well-developed physiques obtained by extensive physical training and strict exercise accompanied by a strict dietary regimen. The word athlete is a romanization of the Greek, άθλητὴς, athlētēs, one who participates in a contest, from ἄθλος, áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, athletes involved in isotonic exercises have an increased mean left ventricular end-diastolic volume and are less likely to be depressed. Due to their strenuous physical activities, athletes are far more likely than the population to visit massage salons and pay for services from massage therapists. An all-around athlete is a person who competes in sports at a high level. Examples of people who played numerous sports professionally include Jim Thorpe, Lionel Conacher, Deion Sanders, Danny Ainge and Babe Zaharias. Others include Ricky Williams, Bo Jackson, and Damon Allen, japanese athletes such as Kazushi Sakuraba, Kazuyuki Fujita, Masakatsu Funaki and Naoya Ogawa have successfully competed in both professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. The title of Worlds Greatest Athlete traditionally belongs to the worlds top competitor in the decathlon and heptathlon in track and field. The decathlon consists of 10 events,100 meters, long jump, shot put, high jump,400 meters,110 m hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin, and 1500 m. The heptathlon consists of seven events, the 100 m hurdles, high jump, shot put,200 meters, long jump, javelin, and 800 meters. These competitions require an athlete to possess the whole spectrum of ability in order to be successful including speed, strength, coordination, jumping ability. Although the title Worlds Greatest Athlete seems a natural fit for these two events, its association with the decathlon/heptathlon officially began with Jim Thorpe. During the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden, Thorpe won the medal in the Decathlon. Thorpe notably also competed professionally in soccer, baseball, American Football, and basketball, and competed collegiately in track and field, soccer, baseball, lacrosse, and did ballroom dancing. King Gustav V of Sweden, while awarding Thorpe the decathlon gold said, You and that title has become associated with the decathlon event ever since. Outdoor enthusiast Jock Athlete of the Year Suresh Joachim Multiple Guinness World Record holder
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Sportsmanship
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A sore loser refers to one who does not take defeat well, whereas a good sport means being a good winner as well as being a good loser. Sportsmanship is also looked at as being the way one reacts to a sport/game/player, the four elements of sportsmanship are often shown being good form, the will to win, equity and fairness. All four elements are critical and a balance must be found all four for true sportsmanship to be illustrated. These elements may also cause conflict, as a person may desire to win more than play in equity and fairness and thus resulting in a clash within the aspects of sportsmanship. This will cause problems as the person believes they are being a good sportsman, when athletes become too self-centred, the idea of sportsmanship is dismissed. Todays sporting culture, in particular the base of elite sport, places great importance on the idea of competition and winning and thus sportsmanship takes a back seat as a result. In most, if not all sports, sportsmen at the elite level make the standards on sportsmanship and no matter whether they like it or not, they are seen as leaders and role models in society. Since every sport is rule driven, the most common offence of bad sportsmanship is the act of cheating or breaking the rules to gain an unfair advantage, a competitor who exhibits poor sportsmanship after losing a game or contest is often called a sore loser. There are six different categories relating to sportsmanship, the elements of sports, all six of these characterize a person with good sportsmanship. Even though there is some affinity between some of the categories, they are distinct elements, in essence, play has for its directed and immediate end joy, pleasure, and delights and which is dominated by a spirit of moderation and generosity. Athletics, on the hand, is essentially a competitive activity, which has for its end victory in the contest. Hence, the virtues of a player are different from the virtues of an athlete. The handshaking was banned because of fights that were ensuing after the handshake, most players are influenced by the leaders around them such as coaches and older players, if there are coaches and administrators who dont understand sportsmanship, then what about the players. There are various ways that sportsmanship is practiced in different sports, being a good sport often includes treating others as you would also like to be treated, cheer for good plays, accept responsibility for your mistakes, and keep your perspective. To accept responsibility for your mistakes will entail not placing the blame on other people, most importantly it is often encouraged and said regarding sportsmanship that Its not whether you win or lose, its how you play the game. Sportsmanship can be manifested in different ways depending on the game itself or the culture of the group, sportsmanship can be affected by a few contributing factors such as the players values and attitudes towards the sport and also the professional role models that are shown to the public. Role models in sport are expected to act in a moral, when elite sporting role models do not encourage sportsmanship this can also encourage people in society to act in similar ways to the athletes that they look up to and idolize. Having a positive environment in your team will therefore create good sportsmanship from the individuals
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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
5.
Medal
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A medal may be awarded to a person or organization as a form of recognition for sporting, military, scientific, academic, or various other achievements. Military awards and decorations are more precise terms for types of state decoration. Medals may also be created for sale to commemorate particular individuals or events, an artist who creates medals or medallions is called a medallist or medalist. There are also devotional medals which may be worn for religious reasons, Medals have long been popular collectible items either as a variety of exonumia or of militaria. Medallions may also be called table medals because they are too large to be worn and can only be displayed on a wall, table top, desk, the word medallion has the same ultimate derivation, but this time through the Italian medaglione, meaning large medal. The main or front surface of a medal is termed the obverse, the reverse, or back surface of the medal, is not always used and may be left blank or may contain a secondary design. It is not uncommon to only an artistic rendering on the obverse, while all details. The rim is only occasionally employed to display an inscription such as a motto, privy mark, engraver symbol, assayer’s marking. Medals that are intended to be hung from a ribbon also include a suspension piece at the crest with which to loop a suspension ring through. It is through the ring that a ribbon is run or folded so the medal may hang pendent, Medals pinned to the breast use only a small cut of ribbon that is attached to a top bar where the brooch pin is affixed. Top bars may be hidden under the ribbon so they are not visible, be a device from which the ribbon attaches. Some top bars are elaborate and contain a whole design unto themselves, Medals that are made with inexpensive material might be gilded, silver-plated, chased, or finished in a variety of other ways to improve their appearance. Medals have also made of rock, gemstone, ivory, glass, porcelain, terra cotta, coal, wood, paper, enamel, lacquerware. Honorary awards, as a button, which it is custom to give the kings kinsmen. Roman emperors used both military awards of medals, and political gifts of medallions that were very large coins, usually in gold or silver. Both these and actual golden coins were often set as pieces of jewellery, the bracteate is a type of thin gold medal, usually plain on the reverse, found in Northern Europe from the so-called Dark Ages or Migration Period. They often have suspension loops and were intended to be worn on a chain as jewellery. They imitate, at a distance, Roman imperial coins and medallions, the surviving example is mounted for wearing as jewellery
6.
Pierre de Coubertin
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Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin was a French educator and historian, and founder of the International Olympic Committee. He is considered the father of the modern Olympic Games, born into a French aristocratic family, he became an academic and studied a broad range of topics, most notably education and history. The Pierre de Coubertin medal is a given by the International Olympic Committee to athletes that demonstrate the spirit of sportsmanship in the Olympic Games. Pierre de Frédy was born in Paris on 1 January 1863 into an aristocratic family and he was the fourth child of Baron Charles Louis de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin and Marie–Marcelle Gigault de Crisenoy. His paintings often centred on themes related to the Roman Catholic Church, classicism, and nobility and his memoirs elaborated further, describing as a pivotal moment his disappointment upon meeting Henri, Count of Chambord, whom the elder Coubertin believed to be the rightful king. But while these events were the setting of his childhood, his experiences were just as formative. This suggests that despite his rebelliousness at home, Coubertin adapted well to the rigors of a Jesuit education. As an aristocrat, Coubertin had a number of paths from which to choose. But he chose instead to pursue a career as an intellectual, studying and later writing on a range of topics, including education, history, literature. The subject which he seems to have been most deeply interested in was education, and his study focused in particular on physical education, in 1883, he visited England for the first time, and studied the program of physical education instituted by Thomas Arnold at the Rugby School. Coubertin credited these methods with leading to the expansion of British power during the 19th century, the inclusion of physical education in the curriculum of French schools would become an ongoing pursuit and passion of Coubertins. In fact, Coubertin is thought to have exaggerated the importance of sport to Thomas Arnold, nonetheless, Coubertin was an enthusiast in need of a cause and he found it in England and in Thomas Arnold. Thomas Arnold, the leader and classic model of English educators, wrote Coubertin, playing fields sprang up all over England. Intrigued by what he had read about English public schools, in 1883, at the age of twenty, Fredy went to Rugby and he described the results in a book, LEducation en Angleterre, which was published in Paris in 1888. This hero of his book is Thomas Arnold, and on his visit in 1886. What Coubertin saw on the fields of Rugby and the other English schools he visited was how “organised sport can create moral and social strength”. Not only did organised games help to set the mind and body in equilibrium, First developed by the ancient Greeks, it was an approach to education that he felt the rest of the world had forgotten and to whose revival he was to dedicate the rest of his life. As a historian and a thinker on education, Coubertin romanticised ancient Greece, Coubertin advocated for these concepts, this triple unity, to be incorporated into schools
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Luz Long
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Luz Long won the German long jump championship six times in 1933,1934,1936,1937,1938, and 1939. Long was killed in action serving in the German Army during World War II, for his actions in the spirit of sportsmanship, he was posthumously awarded the Pierre de Coubertin medal. Long studied law at the University of Leipzig, where in 1936 he joined the Leipziger Sport Club, after graduating, he practiced as a lawyer in Hamburg, while continuing his interest in sport. The 21-year-old,1.84 m tall Long had finished third in the 1934 European Championships in Athletics with 7.25 m. By the summer of 1936, Long held the European record in the jump and was eager to compete for the first time against Jesse Owens. The long jump on August 4 was Longs first event against Owens, in contrast, Owens fouled on his first two jumps. Knowing that he needed to reach at least 7.15 m on his jump in order to advance to the finals in the afternoon, Owens sat on the field. Speaking to Longs son, Owens said in 1964 that Long went to him, on his third qualifying jump, Owens was calm and jumped with at least four inches to spare, easily qualifying for the finals. In the finals later that day, the jumpers exceeded the old Olympic record five times. Owens went on to win the medal in the long jump with 8.06 m while besting Longs own record of 7.87 m. Long won the medal for second place and was the first to congratulate Owens, they posed together for photos. Owens said, It took a lot of courage for him to me in front of Hitler. You can melt all the medals and cups I have. Longs competition with Owens is recorded in Leni Riefenstahls documentary Olympia – Fest der Völker, two days later, Long finished 10th in the triple jump. He went on to third in the 1938 European Championships in Athletics long jump with 7.56 m. Long served in the Wehrmacht during World War II, having the rank of Obergefreiter, during the Allied invasion of Sicily, Long was killed in action on 14 July 1943. He was buried in the war cemetery of Motta SantAnastasia, in Sicily and he was survived by two sons, Kai-Heinrich and Wolfgang. Kai was born on 13 November 1941 and Wolfgang was born on 30 May 1943, Long and Owens corresponded after 1936
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Nazi Germany
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Nazi Germany is the common English name for the period in German history from 1933 to 1945, when Germany was governed by a dictatorship under the control of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Under Hitlers rule, Germany was transformed into a fascist state in which the Nazi Party took totalitarian control over all aspects of life. The official name of the state was Deutsches Reich from 1933 to 1943, the period is also known under the names the Third Reich and the National Socialist Period. The Nazi regime came to an end after the Allied Powers defeated Germany in May 1945, Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany by the President of the Weimar Republic Paul von Hindenburg on 30 January 1933. The Nazi Party then began to eliminate all opposition and consolidate its power. Hindenburg died on 2 August 1934, and Hitler became dictator of Germany by merging the powers and offices of the Chancellery, a national referendum held 19 August 1934 confirmed Hitler as sole Führer of Germany. All power was centralised in Hitlers person, and his word became above all laws, the government was not a coordinated, co-operating body, but a collection of factions struggling for power and Hitlers favour. In the midst of the Great Depression, the Nazis restored economic stability and ended mass unemployment using heavy military spending, extensive public works were undertaken, including the construction of Autobahnen. The return to economic stability boosted the regimes popularity, racism, especially antisemitism, was a central feature of the regime. The Germanic peoples were considered by the Nazis to be the purest branch of the Aryan race, millions of Jews and other peoples deemed undesirable by the state were murdered in the Holocaust. Opposition to Hitlers rule was ruthlessly suppressed, members of the liberal, socialist, and communist opposition were killed, imprisoned, or exiled. The Christian churches were also oppressed, with many leaders imprisoned, education focused on racial biology, population policy, and fitness for military service. Career and educational opportunities for women were curtailed, recreation and tourism were organised via the Strength Through Joy program, and the 1936 Summer Olympics showcased the Third Reich on the international stage. Propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels made effective use of film, mass rallies, the government controlled artistic expression, promoting specific art forms and banning or discouraging others. Beginning in the late 1930s, Nazi Germany made increasingly aggressive territorial demands and it seized Austria and Czechoslovakia in 1938 and 1939. Hitler made a pact with Joseph Stalin and invaded Poland in September 1939. In alliance with Italy and smaller Axis powers, Germany conquered most of Europe by 1940, reichskommissariats took control of conquered areas, and a German administration was established in what was left of Poland. Jews and others deemed undesirable were imprisoned, murdered in Nazi concentration camps and extermination camps, following the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, the tide gradually turned against the Nazis, who suffered major military defeats in 1943
9.
1936 Summer Olympics
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The 1936 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event that was held in 1936 in Berlin, Germany. Berlin won the bid to host the Games over Barcelona, Spain, on 26 April 1931 and it marked the second and final time the International Olympic Committee gathered to vote in a city that was bidding to host those Games. To outdo the Los Angeles games of 1932, Adolf Hitler had built a new 100, 000-seat track and field stadium, six gymnasiums, the games were the first to be televised, and radio broadcasts reached 41 countries. Filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl was commissioned by the German Olympic Committee to film the Games for $7 million and her film, titled Olympia, pioneered many of the techniques now common in the filming of sports. When threatened with a boycott of the Games by other nations, total ticket revenues were 7.5 million Reichsmark, generating a profit of over one million marks. The official budget did not include outlays by the city of Berlin or outlays of the German national government and these were the final Olympics under the presidency of Henri de Baillet-Latour and the final Olympic Games for 12 years because of World War II. The next Olympic Games would be held in 1948, the bidding for these Olympic Games was the first to be contested by IOC members casting votes for their own favorite host cities. The vote occurred in 1931, during the Weimar Republic, before Adolf Hitler, many other cities around the world also wanted to host the Summer Olympics for that year, but except for Barcelona they did not receive any IOC votes. The other cities competing to hold the games were Alexandria, Buenos Aires, Cologne, Dublin, Frankfurt, Helsinki, Lausanne, Nuremberg, Rio de Janeiro, Budapest, and Rome. The selection procedure marked the second and final time that the International Olympic Committee would gather to vote in a city which was bidding to host those Games, the only other time this occurred was at the inaugural IOC Session in Paris, France, on 24 April 1894. Then, Athens and Paris were chosen to host the 1896 and 1900 Games, after the Nazis took control and began instituting anti-Semitic policies, the IOC held private discussions among its delegates about changing the decision to hold the Games in Berlin. However, Hitlers regime gave assurances that Jewish athletes would be allowed to compete on a German Olympic team, in September 1934, the US Olympic committee publicly accepted the invitation to go to the Berlin games, halting any further IOC attempts to quietly revise the decision. The next scheduled games in 1940 were awarded to Tokyo, the Japanese military even demanded that venues should be built from wood because metal was needed for its wars in Manchuria. The Olympic torch relay – itself pioneered as part of the 1936 Summer Games – was to fly the Olympic flame from Olympia to Tokyo in a specially-designed long-range aircraft. In 1938 the Japanese rejected hosting the games because they saw the Olympics and he promoted the idea that the use of sports would harden the German spirit and instill unity among German youth. At the same time he believed that sports was a way to weed out the weak, Jewish. Among Diems ideas for the Berlin Games was the introduction of the Olympic torch relay between Greece and the host nation, the 1936 Summer Olympics torch relay was the first of its kind, following on from the reintroduction of the Olympic Flame at the 1928 Games. It pioneered the modern convention of moving the flame via a system from Greece to the Olympic venue
Germany
Italy
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Canada
Australia
Switzerland
Czechoslovakia
United States
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Brazil
Belarus
Israel
Croatia
France
Singapore
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