Olympic Games
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, 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 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 and third-place finishers in each event receive Olympic medals, silver, the Games have grown so much that nearly every nation is now represented. This growth has created numerous challenges and controversies, including boycotts, 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 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 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
Metre
The metre or meter, is the base unit of length in the International System of Units. The metre is defined as the length of the path travelled by light in a vacuum in 1/299792458 seconds, the metre was originally defined in 1793 as one ten-millionth of the distance from the equator to the North Pole. In 1799, it was redefined in terms of a metre bar. In 1960, the metre was redefined in terms of a number of wavelengths of a certain emission line of krypton-86. In 1983, the current definition was adopted, the imperial inch is defined as 0.0254 metres. One metre is about 3 3⁄8 inches longer than a yard, Metre is the standard spelling of the metric unit for length in nearly all English-speaking nations except the United States and the Philippines, which use meter. Measuring devices are spelled -meter in all variants of English, the suffix -meter has the same Greek origin as the unit of length. This range of uses is found in Latin, English. Thus calls for measurement and moderation. In 1668 the English cleric and philosopher John Wilkins proposed in an essay a decimal-based unit of length, as a result of the French Revolution, the French Academy of Sciences charged a commission with determining a single scale for all measures.
In 1668, Wilkins proposed using Christopher Wrens suggestion of defining the metre using a pendulum with a length which produced a half-period of one second, christiaan Huygens had observed that length to be 38 Rijnland inches or 39.26 English inches. This is the equivalent of what is now known to be 997 mm, no official action was taken regarding this suggestion. In the 18th century, there were two approaches to the definition of the unit of length. One favoured Wilkins approach, to define the metre in terms of the length of a pendulum which produced a half-period of one second. The other approach was to define the metre as one ten-millionth of the length of a quadrant along the Earths meridian, that is, the distance from the Equator to the North Pole. This means that the quadrant would have defined as exactly 10000000 metres at that time. To establish a universally accepted foundation for the definition of the metre, more measurements of this meridian were needed. This portion of the meridian, assumed to be the length as the Paris meridian, was to serve as the basis for the length of the half meridian connecting the North Pole with the Equator
IAAF World Championships in Athletics
The IAAF World Championships, commonly referred to as the World Championships in Athletics, is a biennial athletics event organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations. Originally held every four years, first in 1983, the current two-year cycle began in 1991, the idea of having an Athletics World Championships was around well before the competitions first event in 1983. In 1913, the IAAF decided that the Olympic Games would serve as the World Championships for athletics and this was considered suitable for over 50 years until in the late 1960s the desire of many IAAF members to have their own World Championships began to grow. In 1976 at the IAAF Council Meeting in Puerto Rico an Athletics World Championships separate from the Olympic Games was approved, two IAAF world championship events preceded the inaugural edition of the World Championships in Athletics in 1983. Four years later, the 1980 World Championships contained only two newly approved womens events, neither of which featured on the programme for the 1980 Summer Olympics, over the years the competition has grown in size.
In 1983 an estimated 1,300 athletes from 154 countries participated, by the 2003 competition, in Paris, it had grown to 1,907 athletes from 203 countries with coverage being transmitted to 179 different countries. There has been a change in composition over the years, with new events, all for women. By 2005, the differences were mens competition in the 50 km walk. The following list shows when new events were added for the first time,1987, womens 10,000 m and 10 km walk were added. 1993, womens triple jump was added,1995, womens 5000 m was added, replacing the 3000 m race. 1999, womens pole vault and hammer were added and the womens 20 km walk replaced the 10 km walk,2005, womens 3000 m steeplechase was added. Updated after 2015 Championships Note, Germany refers both to the former West Germany and the unified Federal Republic of Germany, the opening and closing ceremonies of the 8th IAAF World Championships held in Edmonton in 2001 were broadcast live to over 200 countries. The event included the mens marathon, and featured a thousand voice choir, men There are fifteen athletes who have won at least six medals.
Women There are thirteen athletes who have won at least six medals, There are eighteen athletes that competed in at least eight editions
2007 World Championships in Athletics
The 11th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan from 24 August to 2 September 2007. 200 of the IAAFs 212 member federations entered a total of 1,978 athletes, sarah Brightman, the worlds best-selling soprano, performed her single Running at the opening ceremony. By the IAAFs October 1,2002 deadline and Berlin had both withdrawn their bids, and Osaka was announced as the host city on November 15,2002 as the remaining candidate. Berlin bid successfully for the 2009 World Championships, the IAAF stepped up its war on doping at the Osaka games, and for the first time, the number of drug tests exceeded 1,000. The IAAF lobbied the World Anti-Doping Agency to adopt stiffer penalties for first-time doping offences in WADAs code of practice, despite these fears, the IAAF announced that only one of the samples taken over the course of the Championships was suspicious and required more examination.
The governing body refused to elaborate further until more was known, the IAAF confirmed that Keïta had tested positive for testosterone in an out-of-competition test at a training camp, and labelled the World Championships drug-free. The Championships were held during a hot summer in Japan, in contrast to the cool, wet. Temperatures earlier in the month had reached 40 °C, killing several people, casualties of the heat were not as high as initially feared, but dozens of athletes failed to finish the walks and marathons and a few did require medical treatment. Some athletes in shorter events blamed poor performances on the difficult conditions, concerns had been raised in the week running up to the Championships about the low level of ticket sales - only 46% of seats had been filled by August 20. The Nagai Stadium was less than half full for the opening ceremony, a number of reasons were cited for the poor attendance, including high ticket prices, the hot weather and the disappointing performance of the Japanese team.
IAAF vice-president Sebastian Coe suggested that the length of the Championships may have to be shortened in future to sustain the publics interest, despite no world records being broken, the Championships saw a number of significant personal and team achievements. The United States dominated the overall standings ahead of Kenya and Russia, equalling its best ever medal haul with 26, the U. S. set another Championship first by triumphing in all four relay races. Perhaps the most unlikely American medal came from 110 m hurdler David Payne, russias Tatyana Lebedeva just missed out on an unprecedented long jump/triple jump double, but still ended up with a gold and a silver medal. African countries were well represented in the middle and long-distance events. Chinese athlete Liu Xiang, the only sprinter of non-African origin to clock sub-13 second 110m hurdles, word Record Holders for the 20 km Walk, Jefferson Pérez, and 50 km Walk, Nathan Deakes, both won their respective events, confirming their dominance of the event.
In Perezs case, this was his third World Championship Gold Medal in a row, host nation Japan gained its only medal on the final day with a bronze for Reiko Tosa in the womens marathon. org 11th IAAF World Championships in Athletics Osaka Official Site
2000 Summer Olympics
It was the second time that the Summer Olympics were held in Australia, and the Southern Hemisphere, the first being in Melbourne, Victoria, in 1956. Sydney was selected as the host city for the 2000 games in 1993, the United States won the most medals with 93, while Australia came in 4th with 58. The games cost was estimated to be A$6.6 billion, the Games received universal acclaim, with the organisation, volunteers and Australian public being lauded in the international media. Bill Bryson from The Times called the Sydney Games one of the most successful events on the world stage, admit there can never be a better Olympic Games, and be done with it, as Sydney was both exceptional and the best. These were the final Olympic Games under the IOC presidency of Juan Antonio Samaranch and these were the second Olympic Games to be held in spring. The final medal tally was led by the United States, followed by Russia, several World and Olympic records were broken during the games. With little or no controversies, the games were deemed successful with the rising standard of competition amongst nations across the world.
The Australian city of Melbourne had lost out to Atlanta for the 1996 Summer Olympics four years earlier, the Oxford Olympics Study 2016 estimates the outturn cost of the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics at USD5 billion in 2015-dollars and cost overrun at 90% in real terms. This includes sports-related costs only, that is, operational costs incurred by the committee for the purpose of staging the Games. The competition venues, the Olympic village, international broadcast center, and media and press center, which are required to host the Games. The cost and cost overrun for Sydney 2000 compares with a cost of USD4.6 billion, average cost for the Summer Games since 1960 is USD5.2 billion, average cost overrun is 176%. In 2000, the Auditor-General of New South Wales reported that the Sydney Games cost A$6.6 billion, many venues were constructed in the Sydney Olympic Park, which failed in the years immediately following the Olympics to meet the expected bookings to meet upkeep expenses. In the years leading up to the games, funds were shifted from education and it has been estimated that the economic impact of the 2000 Olympics was that A$2.1 billion has been shaved from public consumption.
Economic growth was not stimulated to a net benefit and in the years after 2000, in the years after the games, infrastructure issues have been of growing concern to citizens, especially those in the western suburbs of Sydney. Proposed rail links to Sydneys west have been estimated to cost in the order of magnitude as the public expenditure on the games. Although the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony was not scheduled until 15 September, among the pre-ceremony fixtures, host nation Australia lost 1–0 to Italy at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which was the main stadium for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. The opening ceremony began with a tribute to the Australian pastoral heritage of the Australian stockmen and it was produced and filmed by Sydney Olympic Broadcasting Organisation and the home nation broadcaster, Channel 7. This was introduced by a rider, Steve Jefferys
2006 European Athletics Championships
The 19th European Athletics Championships were held in Gothenburg, between 7 August and 13 August 2006. The competition arena was the Ullevi Stadium and the official motto Catch the Spirit, Gothenburg hosted the 1995 World Championships in Athletics, and Stockholm, Swedens capital, hosted 1958 European Athletics Championships. The BBC have chosen to use Carola Häggkvists 2006 Eurovision Song Contest entry Invincible in instrumental form as the music for their coverage. They have used various pop songs including Lena Philipssons Lena Anthem, merlene Ottey, at the age of 46 and representing Slovenia, is fifth in the 100 m semifinals, failing to qualify for the finals. Official website of Gothenburg 2006 EAA Official Website
2008 Summer Olympics
A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events. China became the 22nd nation to host the Olympic Games and the 18th to hold a Summer Olympic Games. It was the time that the Summer Olympic Games were held in East Asia and Asia, after Tokyo, Japan, in 1964 and Seoul, South Korea. Beijing was awarded the Games over four competitors on 13 July 2001, the Government of the Peoples Republic of China promoted the Games and invested heavily in new facilities and transportation systems. A total of 37 venues were used to host the events, the official logo of these Olympic Games, titled Dancing Beijing, refers to the host city by featuring a stylized calligraphic character jīng. The Games were the second most watched Olympics in history, attracting 4.7 billion viewers worldwide, there were 43 world records and 132 Olympic records set at the 2008 Summer Olympics. An unprecedented 86 countries won at least one medal during the Games, Chinese athletes won the most gold medals with 51, and with 100 medals in total became only the 7th different Olympic team to top an overall medal tally.
The United States won the most total medals with 110, the games were deemed highly successful with the rising standard of competition among nations across the world. Beijing was elected as the host city for the 2008 Summer Olympics on 13 July 2001, during the 112th IOC Session in Moscow, defeating bids from Toronto, Paris and Osaka. Prior to the session, five other cities had submitted bids to the IOC, after the first round of voting, Beijing held a significant lead over the other four candidates. Osaka received only six votes and was eliminated, in the second round, Beijing was supported by a majority of voters, eliminating the need for subsequent rounds. Torontos bid was their 5th failure since 1960, the size of China, its increased enforcement of doping controls, and sympathy concerning its loss of the 2000 Summer Olympics to Sydney were all factors in the decision. Eight years earlier, Beijing had led every round of voting for the 2000 Summer Olympics before losing to Sydney by two votes in the final round.
Human rights concerns expressed by Amnesty International and politicians in both Europe and the United States were considered by the delegates, according to IOC Executive Director François Carrard and others suggested that the selection might lead to improvements in human rights in China. In addition, a number of IOC delegates who had formerly been athletes expressed concern about heat and air quality during the Games, China outlined plans to address these environmental concerns in its bid application. The Oxford Olympics Study 2016 estimates the outturn cost of the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics at USD6.8 billion in 2015-dollars and this includes sports-related costs only, that is, operational costs incurred by the organizing committee for the purpose of staging the Games, e. g. The Beijing Olympics cost of USD6.8 billion compares with costs of USD4.6 billion for Rio 2016, average cost for the Summer Games since 1960 is USD5.2 billion. They went on to claim that revenues from the Games would exceed the original target of $16 million
2005 World Championships in Athletics
One theme of the 2005 championships was paralympic events, some of which were included as exhibition events. Much of the event was played in heavy rainfall. The original winning bid for the competition was for London but the cost to build the stadium at Picketts Lock. UK Athletics suggested to move the host city to Sheffield, the championships bidding process was reopened as a result. The United Kingdoms withdrawal as host was the first case for a sporting event in a developed country since Denvers withdrawal as host of the 1976 Winter Olympics. Apocalyptica and Nightwish performed at the ceremony of the event over a heavy rainfall. Geir Rönning, Finlands Eurovision Song Contest 2005 entrant, sang Victory the official song of the 2005 IAAF World Championships, with the addition of the womens 3000 metres steeplechase to the schedule, that years program of events was closer to parity for women and men. With the exception of the 50 km walk the women competed in practically the same events as the men, two differences remaining from before, were the short hurdles race, and the multi-event competition.
Singh received a two-year ineligibility ban, while Piskunov received a ban from athletics as this was his second offence. In March 2013, the IAAF announced that re-testing of samples taken during these championships revealed that five medal winners had proved positive for banned substances, the athletes involved were Belarusian Nadzeya Ostapchuk, Belarusian Ivan Tsikhan, Russian Olga Kuzenkova, Russian Tatyana Kotova and Belaruss Vadim Devyatovskiy. Belarusian Andrei Mikhnevich had tested positive and was disqualified, the obverse of the coin features Helsinki Olympic Stadium and above the stadium random waves express the feeling of the games. 2005 in athletics Results from the IAAF web site
1995 World Championships in Athletics
The 5th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Ullevi Stadium, Sweden on 5–13 August 1995. This edition featured 1804 athletes from 191 nations and this competition saw the women run the 5000 m event at the World Championships for the first time. The race replaced the 3000 m event which had run at all previous World Championships. This fate Sweden shares only with Canada and South Korea
Hicham El Guerrouj
Christian Olsson
Francis Obikwelu
Edita Pučinskaitė
