Beijing 2008

[L.J]

oh yuck


they wanna test who has what gender.... yet they can't get the drug testing right.


Danish study questions validity of testing for performance-enhancer EPO

The Associated Press
Published: June 26, 2008

NEW YORK: A Danish study is questioning the validity of testing for the performance-enhancing drug EPO.
A test to detect EPO in urine samples didn't work very well in experiments conducted last year, according to the study released online Thursday by the Journal of Applied Physiology.
For the study, researchers at the Copenhagen Muscle Research Center gave the oxygen-boosting drug to eight college students who were not athletes and collected urine samples before, during and after. The samples were tested by two labs accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency, which bans use of the drug by athletes.
EPO is a genetically engineered version of a natural protein, erythropoietin, that increases the number of red blood cells. It is used to treat anemia from kidney disease, cancer and other ailments.
The EPO regimen used for the seven-week study was similar to one used by athletes trying to cheat. The men had EPO injections every other day for two weeks followed by one injection per week to maintain their increased blood cell production. A urine test for EPO has been available since 2000.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/06/26/sports/NA-SPT-EPO-Study.php

 

[The One.]

:bump


Only 5 days to go!

 

[L.J]

They're coming!!!!!! :wild:

 

[L.J]

5 Days to go. I thought we could look back at the past Olympiads leading up to the big date! being 08.08.08

So today I'm posting about the first 5 Mordern Olympic Games, for those of you who don't know the history of the Olympics has been a rocky road.

I'll update this thread with Olympic history each day :flowers:



Olympics

History-1896

Let the Games begin

Crowds walk around the Olympic Stadium in Athens during the first modern Olympic Games. (Getty Images)


After several failed attempts by the British, the Swedes and the Greeks to revive the Olympic Games, French aristocrat Baron Pierre de Coubertin was finally persistent enough to get things rolling. In 1894, de Coubertin gathered 79 delegates from 12 countries to attend an international congress for the re-establishment of the Olympic Games.
Brandishing a mission statement promoting friendly competition among amateur athletes, de Coubertin hoped this in turn would promote friendly relations among the world’s nations. He received permission from the delegation to form the International Olympic Committee. Two years later, on April 6, 1896, the Games returned to Athens.


The numbers

Number of countries: 14
Number of athletes: 241 (all men)
Number of sports: 9
First Olympic champion since ancient Greek Games: James Connolly, US, triple jump (April 6, 1896)
Spiridon Louys' winning time in marathon: 2 hours, 58 minutes and 50 seconds


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Olympic Games

History-1900

Paris almost put an end to the Olympic movement

The French government tried to combine the Olympics with the World's Fair. The idea didn't work.

Visitors strolling towards the Pont Alexandre III during the Exposition Universelle, Paris, 1900. Very few even knew the Paris Olympics was underway. (Photo by Byron/FPG/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)


After the success of the Olympic revival of 1896, Athens wanted to host the second modern Olympiad in 1900. Olympic godfather Pierre de Coubertin may well have wished the Greeks had gotten their wish, once he took stock of the fiasco his own country, France, made of the Games.
Paris detour

Greece felt that as the historic home of the Olympics, it held a permanent right to host the Games. The International Olympic Committee opted for a rotation of hosts. The Greek-Turkish War, which was flaring at the time, made the IOC even less inclined to stage the Games in Athens again. Besides, Paris was already hosting the World's Fair in 1900, and it seemed an obvious and appealing tie-in to the IOC to stage the Olympics in the City of Light. But the move backfired: It was enough to make de Coubertin later remark, "It's a miracle the Olympic movement survived these Games."
The 1900 Paris Olympics were a disaster of planning and execution. The French government seized event organization from the IOC and seemingly conceived of the Olympics as a sideshow to the World's Fair. In fact, there was little indication that the Olympics were happening at all: The word “Olympic” failed to appear on a single event program, and the Games took place from May to October alongside non-Olympic sporting events.
Spectators had little idea they were watching Olympics events, and while there were a lot more athletes than at the 1896 Games, a lot of them weren't really sure whether they were competing in official Olympic events. It would be years before there was any kind of accurate medal tally, and some athletes died without knowing they were Olympic gold medallists.
Gold medal for chaos

Just how haphazard was the planning for the 1900 Olympics? Consider the following:

• the track and field events were held on an uneven, grassy field in the Parisian suburb of Bois de Boulogne;
• there was no track; and the jumpers reportedly had to dig their own pits; the fencing venue was the World's Fair cutlery area, which must have seemed logical to a few knife salesmen;
• swimming events were held in the Seine River, neither the cleanest nor the most placid of waterways;
• organizers didn't allow for nearly enough room for the throwing events, so discus and hammer throwers ended up launching their throws into trees, or worse -- Hungary Rudolf Bauer won the discus gold on the strength of three throws that ended up in the crowd;
• hurdles were fashioned out of broken telephone poles.

The numbers

Number of countries: 24
Number of athletes: 1,225 (11 women)
Number of sports: 18
Number of events: 95
Duration of Olympics: 4 1/2 months


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Olympic Games

History-1904

Americans without competition in St. Louis Games

Most of the athletes were entered by their colleges, and in some events, all the competitors were American

Archie Hahn of the USA following his victory in the men's 100m dash during the 1904 Summer Olympic Games held in St. Louis. He won three gold medals during the Games. (IOC/Getty Images)

Mistake number one: the International Olympic Committee didn't learn from the mistakes made with the 1900 Paris Games, which were neglected in the shadow of the World's Fair to disastrous effect. Otherwise, the IOC would not have agreed to tie the 1904 Games to another major exposition. In 1904 it was the Louisiana Purchase Exhibition, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Purchase that nearly killed the fledgling Olympic movement.
Deja vu all over again

The 1904 Games were originally scheduled for Chicago, but Exhibition organizers in St. Louis worried the Olympics would detract from their event's attendance and threatened to hold separate sporting competitions of their own. Fearing that the outcome would mean disaster for both spectacles, the IOC went along with U.S. President Roosevelt's proposal to relocate the Olympics to St. Louis.
It was too expensive and logistically troublesome for a lot of European countries, to send their athletes to the St. Louis Olympics. Given the lack of organization, it's hard to pinpoint exact numbers, but only around 650 athletes -- the vast majority American -- from 12 nations competed in St. Louis. That was little more than half the number from the farcical Paris Games four years earlier. Even modern Olympics founder Pierre de Coubertin took a pass on travelling to the United States to attend the Games.
Not that many spectators made the trip, either, which was partly due to the Olympics being strung out over a five-month period, from July through November. The Exhibition drew hundreds of thousands of people, but the Olympic athletics competition attracted a paltry 2,000 spectators.
Little competition for Americans

Most of the athletes were entered by their colleges, and in some events, all the competitors were American. No surprise, then that the U.S. won about four-fifths of the medals. Among them, Marcus Hurly won four cycling events, while gymnast Anton Heida won five golds and one silver as the most successful athlete of the Games.
Perhaps the most remarkable performance in athletics competition was by Ray Ewry, who successfully defended all three of his gold medals from the 1900 Olympics, in the three standing jump events: high jump, long jump and triple jump.
But the biggest star of the 1904 Games was St. Louis home-boy Archie Hahn, who won gold medals in the 60 metres, 100m and 200m. Hahn did it in convincing fashion, too, winning the 200m in Olympic record time and claiming the 100m with a margin of two-tenths of a second.


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Olympic Games

History-1906

1906 Olympics mark 10th anniversary of the Olympic revival

The 1906 Olympics is a so-called "intercalated" Olympics, which means it did not receive official recognition

The Olympic Stadium in Athens founded by the Greek philanthropist Averof and built at a cost of 1,000,000 Drachmas, site of the unofficial 'Intercalated' Olympics in 1906. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

If the 1896 Athens Games breathed life into the modern Olympic movement, the disastrous Olympics of 1900 in Paris and 1904 in St. Louis all but smothered it through poor organization and public indifference. The modern Olympic founder, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, figured that the best medicine for the flagging Olympics would be to return them to their roots in Athens. Rome had already been slated to host the next scheduled Olympics in 1908, but de Coubertin arranged with the Greek government and the IOC to hold an interim or so-called "intercalated" Olympics in 1906 to mark the 10th anniversary of the Olympic revival.
The International Olympic Committee was cool to the idea, but de Coubertin and the IOC reached a compromise: the 1906 Games would not be deemed an official Olympics. And de Coubertin's original scheme to stage an intercalated Games every four years was quickly scrapped.
Athens to the rescue

Despite a scaled-back schedule of events, nearly 900 athletes from 20 countries competed in front of big, boisterous crowds. The medals handed out may not have counted in the eyes of the IOC, but it's safe to say the 1906 Athens one-off probably saved the entire Olympic movement from folding.

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Olympic Games

History-1908

First appearance for flags at Olympic opening ceremony

Women archers participating in the National Round (60 yards-50 yards) at the 1908 London Olympics, one of the few sports open to women. (Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

The 1908 Olympic Games were originally awarded to Rome, as IOC boss Pierre de Coubertin had wished, but the 1906 eruption of Mount Vesuvius changed everything. The eruption saddled Italy with relief and reconstruction costs and an economic crisis, and the country abruptly cancelled its plans to stage the Games.
London stepped into the breach and quickly built a new 68,000-seat stadium at White City, in the Shepherds Bush district of the city, in addition to organizing an expanded slate of Olympic roster. The London Olympics were far better organized than its predecessors in 1900 (Paris) and 1904 (St. Louis), but officials couldn't do much about the wet, dreary weather. And there were plenty more eruptions -- mostly political.
Political eruptions and stormy weather

Controversy flared during the opening ceremony, when athletes walked into the Olympic stadium behind their national flags for the first time in an official Olympics. To begin with, the Swedish and American contingents felt slighted when organizers failed to fly their national flags among those of other nations around the stadium.
In retaliation, American flag-bearer Martin Sheridan refused to dip the Stars and Stripes in the customary gesture of respect as the team passed by King Edward in the royal box. Sheridan, the greatest discus thrower of his time, explained, "This flag dips to no earthly king." Some thought the Irish-American Sheridan's decision might have been rooted in Britain's refusal to grant Ireland independence. For their part, Irish athletes boycotted the London Games in protest.
In another flag flap, the Finnish athletes, disgruntled at being under Russian rule, entered the stadium without a banner at all rather than march behind the flag of Czarist Russia.



The Numbers

Number of nations: 22
Number of athletes: 2,008 (37 women, 1,971 men)
Number of events: 110
Capacity at White City Olympic Stadium: 70,000
Number of spectators for marathon: 2 million


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Tune in tomorrow for the next 5 Games

 

[The One.]

There's some interesting info there! :yes: Thanks, L.J

 

[L.J]

Yeah they certainly had a shakey start didn't they? :lol:

I'm glad they've perservered in having this event though.

I love the Olympic Creed

"The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well."



I love the photo of the ladies getting ready to fire in Archery. That's what the games were like 100 years ago, how we have changed, in clothing style, event organisation even audience levels.

 

[The One.]

^ There is no audience at all in that pic :lol:

 

[L.J]

exactly :lol:


wait they might all be hiding behind the photographer :mello:

 

[Chaos]

How would YOU feel if you had to prove to those guys that you really are a woman!? :doh:

I know its just :bugeyed:bugeyed:bugeyed:bugeyed:bugeyed:bugeyed

 

[wannabestartinsomthin21]

Here's some history.

Mildred "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias, who is one of my hero's, is arguably the greatest female athlete to ever live. She won gold medals in both the javelin and the 80 meter hurdles in the 1932 Olympic Games. She would have won gold in the high jump as well, but was denied the medal because the judges felt she had improper jumping technique. The irony in that was, the technique she was using would later be the technique adopted by todays high jump athletes. She was also the greatest female golfer of her day, turning her attention exclusively towards the sport in 1934 and winning 17 consecutive women’s amateur championships in one year. She turned pro in 1948, and won the Woman's US open and repeated again in 1950. Three years later, she was diagnosed with cancer, and one month after surgery, she would again win the US Open one last time, in 1954, becoming the second oldest woman to ever do it. She passed away in 1956, at the age of 45. On top of this, she was the only female golfer in history to qualify for the regular PGA tour as well. She was also an excellent pool player, basketball player, baseball player (she got her nickname "Babe" by being so good at baseball), swimming, ice skating, diving, bowling, handball and could play the harmonica. A REALLY talented woman.

 

[L.J]

^ ah yes!

She was an excellent golfer and did a lot for the promotion of women's golf.


I have a few that I would nominate for greatest woman athlete though.

But I thought you'd get a kick out of this one Nic

Shirley STRICKLAND-DE LA HUNTY

Winner of Seven Athletics Medals



Athlete and Conservationist, Born 1925, Perth WA, Died 2004
Resilient, determined and naturally talented, Shirley Strickland was one of Australia's greatest athletes, winning seven medals in three successive Olympic games.

Born in a remote West Australian country town, Shirley did not wear shoes until she was twelve years of age. She was sent to boarding school and, in 1947, graduated from university with an Honours degree in science. Whilst lecturing in mathematics and physics at Perth Technical College, she started to think seriously about athletics. By 1948 she had not only become a national champion sprinter and hurdler, but was also considered to be Australia's top athlete in the team for the London Olympics.
Despite being plagued by personal and professional misfortune, Shirley won a silver and two bronze medals at her first Olympics. Then, though juggling a full-time job, a new marriage and her athletics training schedule, she qualified for the 1952 Australian Olympic team. In Helsinki she scored her first Olympic gold medal.
At 30 years of age, she was encouraged to retire to make room for the next generation of competitors. But her determination led to a further two gold medals in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.
Shirley Strickland de la Hunty continued as an athletics coach for many years. She was also an ardent conservationist, a National Trust member and mother of four children.

Carrying the flame in the stadium at the Sydney 2000 games (this moment was probably the most awesome moment for me cause I got to watch her, Betty Cuthbert, Dawn Fraser and Raelene Boyle all carry the torch in the stadium (note all women) and hand it off to Cathy Freeman).


Yes I'm so proud of women in sport :kickass2: In my opinion they're all winners

 

[wannabestartinsomthin21]

Yeah, Babe was a founding member of the LPGA, actually.

Clearly, Shirley Strickland De-La-Hunty was a force as well, lol. There's several contenders, obviously, for who could be considered the greatest. Jackie Joyner Kersey being another.

 

[L.J]

Great Snaps!!


man I'm alll excited about the games now ^_^

I love the "history footage" that channels show during the down time when events aren't running etc so exciting to watch everything ^_^

 

[wannabestartinsomthin21]

If you want to see some awesome documentaries, I recommend Bud Greenspans "16 days of Glory". It documents the 1984 Olympic Games and its really awe inspiring. I'm totally amped. Track and Field is hands down my favorite sport. It's the most pure sport.

 

[L.J]

One more day less to wait and here I am again with some more Olympic History as I post the next 5 games to follow on from 1908 where we finished yesterday


Olympic Games

History-1912

The Olympic movement heads to Stockholm and comes of age

Portrait of the British women's 4 x 100 metre freestyle swimming team during the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden. The British team won the gold medal in this event. (IOC Olympic Museum/Getty Images)

The 1912 Olympic games in Stockholm, Sweden, marked a genuine coming of age for the Olympic movement. For the first time, the Olympic Games took on a truly international tone, with athletes representing five different continents for the first time.
The Stockholm Games were the fifth and most successful Olympics to that point, serving as a future model of organizational standards. The time Swedish organizers had to prepare -- four full years, unlike the last-minute scrambles of previous Olympics -- had much to do with Stockholm's success. A 22,000-seat stadium and new swimming pool were built, as well as accommodations for the athletes.
It also helped that Swedish organizers appeared to learn from the mistakes of their predecessors. They shortened the schedule to two months -- about four times longer than the current Olympic schedule, but considerably shorter than the five-month periods of 1900 and 1904, which failed to sustain any interest. The Games were also staged as a standalone event -- not forced to play second fiddle to another exposition.


Peace, harmony and electronic timing

The overriding sentiment at the Stockholm Games was one of peace and harmony. There were no significant protests, and competitors, many of whom competed together at the 1908 games in London, had begun to form a kind of fraternity. The 1912 Games were the largest yet and were also the first games to enjoy major attention from the world's media, with events making front-page headlines in U.S. newspapers.
The 57 female athletes in attendance also made a splash at Stockholm, as they were allowed to compete in swimming and diving events. Prior to 1912, women could compete only in archery, tennis and golf.
The Stockholm Games ushered in the electronic age of sport. For the first time, electronic timing devices that could register tenths of second were used in track and swimming events. During the events, a public address system allowed spectators to follow events much more closely. Using chalk instead of cord to delineate lanes also spiffed up the track events.






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Olympic Games

History-1920

Olympic flag makes its debut

The 1920 Games featured the introduction of the Olympic five-ring flag and the Athlete's Oath

Suzanne Lenglen of France competes in the Women's tennis event during the VII Olympic Games in Antwerp, Belgium. (Getty Images)

The 1916 Olympics were awarded to Berlin. But even when the First World War broke out in 1914, International Olympic Committee chairman Pierre de Coubertin was reluctant to cancel the Games. Plans were still going ahead because it was thought that the war would last only a few months.
Four years and 10 million dead later, Antwerp, Belgium, was awarded the Games as a symbolic gesture, signifying that the Olympic spirit could triumph in a country that had been ravaged by war. It was all well-intended, but Antwerp was probably not the best choice, since Belgium was still rebuilding.



Triumph of the Olympic spirit

Hosting the Olympics placed additional stress on the country's meagre resources. After all, the armistice was signed a scant 18 months prior to opening day. With wartime hostilities still fresh in everyone's mind, Belgium's vanquished enemies -- Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary and Turkey -- were not invited to the Games, but 29 countries and 2,668 athletes did participate.
The Antwerp Games, built on the themes peace and harmony of the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, establishing a global Olympic community and identity right from the Opening Ceremonies, which introduced the Olympic five-ring flag and the Athlete's Oath.
The flag, designed in 1913, featured five interlocking rings of blue, yellow, black, green and red against a background of white. Intended to symbolize the friendship of mankind. The flag contained at least one colour from every nation's flag. And to underscore the return of peace to Europe, hundreds of doves were released during the opening ceremony.
Under the circumstances, the IOC and international community were willing to cut Belgian Olympic organizers a lot of slack. They were applauded for managing to stage the Games at all. Of course, it meant that the Olympics felt a little thrown together. Even the athletes were predictably sluggish after an eight-year layoff from elite competition.






Olympic crib sheet

Number of nations: 29
Number of athletes: 2,626 (65 women, 2,561 men)
Number of sports: 22
Number of events: 154
Number of track and field events: 27
Number of shooting events (including trapshooting): 21
Number of boxing medals won by Canada: 5 (1 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze)
First South American gold medallist: Guilherme Paraense, Brazil (Shooting)
Youngest gold medallist: Aileen Riggin, USA, 14 years (Diving)
Oldest medallist: Oscar Swahn, Sweden, 72 years (Shooting)
Countries not invited: Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Turkey


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Olympic Games

History-1924

The Paris Olympics: the first of the modern Games

About 1,000 journalists travelled to Paris to cover the exploits of nearly 3,000 athletes

Harold Abrahams of Great Britain wins the gold medal with a time of 10.6 seconds. (IOC Olympic Museum/Getty Images)


The 1924 Olympics had been scheduled for Amsterdam, but in his final act as International Olympic Committee President, Pierre de Coubertin pulled rank. Despite the misgivings of a number of IOC members, de Coubertin transferred the 1924 Olympics to Paris. De Coubertin wanted to give his native France a chance to redeem itself after the fiasco of the 1900 Paris Games.
Fortunately for the Olympic movement and the reputations of Paris and de Coubertin, the French had their act together this time. The Games were becoming more professionally run, for starters, and it also helped that by 1924, the public had acquired a taste for big sport spectacle. Media and fans alike flocked to tennis's Wimbledon and French Opens and golfing's British and French Opens.


Paris redeems itself

So, too, with the Paris Olympics, which are considered the first modern Games. About 1,000 journalists travelled to Paris to cover the exploits of about 3,000 athletes. For the first time, there were live radio broadcasts of the Games.
Also for the first time, there was big-league infrastructure in place. Aside from the 60,000-seat Colombes stadium in a Parisian suburb, organizers built the first Olympic Village and the first swimming pool complex built expressly for the Olympics.
On the competition end, decision-making power became centralized in the IOC, so that a host nation couldn't add or drop sports on a whim. The IOC also introduced a Juries of Appeal for disputes involving rules and athletes, and every participating country had its own Olympic committee that held trials for national teams.
Two other abiding Olympic traditions were introduced in Paris: the closing ceremony tradition of raising three flags -- the IOC flag, the host nation's and the next host nation’s flag – and the Olympic motto of “Citius, Altius, Fortius,” or “Faster, Higher, Stronger.”




The Numbers

Number of countries: 44
Number of countries winning at least one medal: 30
Number of athletes: 3,089 (135 women, 2,954 men)
Number of spectators: 625,000
First black athlete to win individual gold medal: William DeHart Hubbard, U.S., long jump
Number of world records set by runner Paavo Nurmi during career: 22
Number of world records set by swimmer Johnny Weissmuller during career: 67


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Olympic Games

History-1928

Germany returns to the Olympic Games

In the spirit of reconciliation, Germany was invited to the Olympics for the first time since 1912

Canadian sprinter Percy Williams, who won gold medals in the 100 and 200 metres, being held aloft by his compatriots. (Central Press/Getty Images)




Amsterdam wanted to host the 1916 Olympics, but they were cancelled because of the First World War. Amsterdam tried again in 1920 and was supposed to host them in 1924, but the International Olympic Committee's weakness for symbolic gestures intervened, and those Games went to Antwerp and Paris, respectively.
Finally, Amsterdam got its chance in 1928, over the objections of its own monarch. Queen Wilhelmine thought the Olympics were a pagan festival and refused to make an appearance at either the opening or closing ceremonies.


Those opening ceremonies showed the Dutch had a flair for symbolism themselves. After a decade of post-war uncertainty, the ceremonies featured the release of doves, and the first lighting of the Olympic flame, which burned continuously throughout the Games.
The new 40,000-seat stadium, featuring a 400-metre oval track with a cycling track built around it, became a model for future Games. Accommodations were less state-of-the-art. In the absence of an Olympic Village, the IOC handed out sleeping bags and barrack berths to athletes.
Not content to slum it like this, the United States put up its athletes in a couple of boats in the port of Amsterdam. However, they failed to take into account the disturbances caused by the loading and unloading of cargo at all hours.




The Numbers

Number of countries: 46
Number of athletes: 2,883 (277 women, 2,606 men)
Number of sports: 14
Number of events: 109
Number of different countries winning gold medals: 28
Next time at least 28 different countries would win gold medals: 1968





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Olympic Games

History-1932

World mired in depression but Games celebrations continue

The Los Angeles organizers issued a three-cent Olympic stamp to generate revenue and staged the Games over 16 days — the shortest Olympics prior to 1932

Mildred (Babe) Didrikson of the USA throws the javelin to win the gold medal at the 1932 Los Angeles Games. (Getty Images)


Mired in the Great Depression, much of the world was in a deep funk in 1932. And yet somehow, the 1932 Olympics drew 1.25 million spectators and turned a $1-million profit. Los Angeles may have been the only place where the 1932 Games could have turned out so well.
Los Angeles organizers did a lot of the right things. They issued a three-cent Olympic stamp to generate revenue and began an Olympic tradition. They also staged the Games over 16 days — one-fifth the length of the shortest Olympics prior to 1932. It was a wise move that became the Olympic standard.
One thing L.A. didn't have going for it was its location. It was relatively remote for cash-strapped Europeans. Only 1,408 athletes made the trip to Los Angeles, California -- less than half the number in Amsterdam, and the fewest since 1904. The number of countries also dropped to 37, down from 46, and a number of events had few non-American competitors.


Hollywood star power

Those who did make the trip were treated to some of the best facilities Olympic athletes have ever enjoyed. To lure competitors, the Los Angeles Olympic Committee offered food, housing and local transportation for $2 a day. To make that economically feasible, organizers built an Olympic Village -- for the men only -- on a golf course overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Women were put up in a luxury hotel.
The Opening Ceremony, taking place in the Coliseum, renovated to hold 105,000 spectators, featured some 3,000 singers, dancers, musicians and movie stars like Charlie Chaplin and Gary Cooper.
On the ground, runners enjoyed the new track surface made from crushed peat. As well, there was a 10,000 seat swimming stadium; boxing, wrestling and weightlifting were held in the Olympic auditorium; and the famous Rose Bowl in Pasadena was outfitted with a wooden cycling track. The 1932 Games brought the photo-finish camera, which could also time events to 1/100th of a second. Other innovations included the three-tiered medal podium and formal medal ceremonies held at the end of each day that included raising the flags of the winning athletes' nations. And for the first time, boxing referees supervised fights from the inside of the ring.




The numbers

Number of nations: 37
Number of athletes: 1,332 (126 women, 1,206 men)
Length of Games: 16
Shortest duration of Games before 1932: 79 days
Surplus recorded by Games: $1 million
Number of bronze medals won by Canadian Phil Edwards: 5 (1928-1936)






Tune in tomorrow as we look at the Games that were held just before WW2 and just after it and how the games began to develop from then on. :cheers:

 

[Kinga]

Thanks for the great pieces of information!!!!

 

[L.J]

Hey you're welcome :wild: I'm just so damn excited :lol:
I love the history, it's not a pretty history but when you reflect on where we are now with things like: having more women athletes than back in the day and more countries included. There's a lot to be proud of ^_^


Oh I forgot to post the athlete's oath which was introduced in 1920:


The OLYMPIC ATHLETE's OATH

First sworn by the Belgian athlete Victor Boin at the 1920 Games of the 7th Olympiad in Antwerp, Belgium. The athlete swear on the Olympic Flag,

"We swear that we will take part in these Olympic Games in the true spirit of sportsmanship, and that we will respect and abide by the rules that govern them, for the glory of sport and the honour of our country."

To reflect the changing nature of the sporting competition, the oath has been modified and the current version was introduced in 1999. It is:

"In the name of all competitors 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."

 

[L.J]

Ok I read this in a magazine and wanted to share


Weepy Moments
In the pantheon of unforgettable Olympic moments, several stand out for their ability to touch us beyond mere feats of athleticism.


BERLIN 1936

The German equesterian three-day event team were so dedicated in their efforts to claim gold, they even created a replica of the Olympic course and practised on it religiously during the 18 month lead-up to the Games. Come the event itself, however, rider Konrad von Wangenheim was thrown from his horse, breaking his collarbone. Not wanting his team to be disqualified, Wangenheim ignored his agony, remounted and managed to negotiate the 32 remaining obstacles without a fault. He returned the next day, removed his arm from its sling and prepared to compete. With limited movement, he had problems keeping his horse in check and, at one jump, it reared up and fell backwards on top of the hapless rider. Both Wangenheim and the horse seemed stunned for a moment, but eventually scrambled to their feet and completed the course without further mishap, provoking a prolinged standing ovation. Germany won the gold medal.



HELSINKI 1952

In the 400m men's freestyle final, Jean Boiteux from France, held off a late challenge to break the American men's monopoly of swimming gold medals and win the gold. As he touched the wall, an older Frenchman in a beret rushed forward, leapt fully clothed into the water and embraced the new champion. Reporters gathered around to find out who he was. "Coach? Manager?" they asked in various languages. Beaming with pride and overcome with emotion, the man in the beret held up his arms and responded, "Papa".



MEXICO CITY 1968

Despite being the 10,000m world-record holder, an Olympic gold eluded Australia's Ron Clarke. After failing in his final attempt in Mexico, Clarke went to Czechoslovakia to visit legendary distance runner Emile Zatopek, a man renowned for his support of fellow runners. At the end of the visit, Zatopek accompanied Clarke to the airport, shook his hand and secretly transferred a small package into his palm. Clarke later recalled, "I thought I was smuggling some message to the outside world, so did not dare open the little parcel until the plane was well outside Czecholovakian territory. When I opened it, it was his 1952 Olympic 10,000 gold medal. I thought back to the words he said as he passed it across to me, which at the time I did not understand, 'Because you deserved it.' I wish I had."




SEOUL 1988

At the Seoul Olympics, the room-mates of diver Greg Louganis wondered why he seemed to be taking so much medication. Curiosity was put aside, however, when Louganis went to dive, leapt into the air and hit his head on the board, splitting it open. Louganis' toughness was legendary, and it wasn't the first time that he had been injured, so no one was surprised when he simply had the wound stitched up and resumed competing. It wasn't until two gold medals later, after completing the final dive of his career, that Louganis finally gave in to his emotions and sobbed into the arms of his coach, Ron O'Brien. It was later revealed Louganis had recently learnt he was HIV-positive, and might already have developed AIDS. Whe he'd hit his head, his main concern was that the blood in the pool might infect other divers. In fact, the water would have diluted it too much to be a hazard.


ATHENS 2004

After winning the beach Volleyball event, American Misty May picked up her backpack from the side of the court. She pulled out an old prescription medicine bottle, cracked it open and scattered the contents on the sand. "Everyone else's family is here," she said. "So why can't I bring my family?" The bottle contained the ashes of her mother, Barbara, who had died of cancer two years earlier. Later, as she collected her gold medal. May noticed it was embossed with the figure of an angel, very similar to the one she had tattooed on her shoulder to remind her of her mum.



awww beautiful moments

 

[Kinga]

ATHENS 2004

After winning the beach Volleyball event, American Misty May picked up her backpack from the side of the court. She pulled out an old prescription medicine bottle, cracked it open and scattered the contents on the sand. "Everyone else's family is here," she said. "So why can't I bring my family?" The bottle contained the ashes of her mother, Barbara, who had died of cancer two years earlier. Later, as she collected her gold medal. May noticed it was embossed with the figure of an angel, very similar to the one she had tattooed on her shoulder to remind her of her mum.



awww beautiful moments

awww that was just beautiful yet so sad....... :sad:

 

[Aeneiden]

I just hope there won't be any scandals, and I wonder how many gold medals china will take. And will Xiang Liu defeat Dayron i the 110 meter hurdles??

 

[The One.]

^ Hope he does, Liu is awesome! And isn't he China's biggest hope for gold medal? Or am I totally wrong..

HELSINKI 1952

In the 400m men's freestyle final, Jean Boiteux from France, held off a late challenge to break the American men's monopoly of swimming gold medals and win the gold. As he touched the wall, an older Frenchman in a beret rushed forward, leapt fully clothed into the water and embraced the new champion. Reporters gathered around to find out who he was. "Coach? Manager?" they asked in various languages. Beaming with pride and overcome with emotion, the man in the beret held up his arms and responded, "Papa".

Haha aww how cute ^_^



Have you guys seen the commercials of the Olympics?
I think they are very powerful, I just couldn't find one from internet which I saw in TV. It was so cool.


BTW - 4 days to go! :wild:

Now they're afraid that there will be thunder on August 8th when the opening ceremony is about to be. I heard from news that they are thinking of chemically "strewing" the clouds so they rain earlier

 

[elusive moonwalker]

i watch for the athletics. thats what its all about to me. doesnt feel like a games is about to begin though.guess cause its all about the politics instead

 

[L.J]

YaY! not many days to go now :wild: and I'm back with the next 5 Games.

Olympic Games

History-1936

In spite of the propaganda, Jesse Owens steals the Games

The Games turned out to be about Jesse Owens, the African-American son of an Alabama sharecropper who set world records and won four gold medals

American sprinter and athlete Jesse Owens who won 4 gold medals for running and field events in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)


The hope was that the 1936 Berlin Olympics would be a beacon of hope in the global shadow cast by the Great Depression. Germany's Third Reich had other ideas and planned to use the Games as a glittering showcase of Aryan superiority.
More than anything else, though, the Games turned out to be about Jesse Owens, the African-American son of an Alabama sharecropper whose world records and four gold medals made a mockery of Nazi ideology.
From our perspective, awarding the Olympics to Nazi Germany looks like an unbelievably imprudent decision. But in fact, the Games were given to Germany in 1931, two years before Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist Party came to power. The International Olympic Committee opted to keep the Games in Berlin, promising to keep a watchful eye on events.


Boycotts narrowly averted

But there was a great deal of international unease and outrage that the Games would be in Berlin. Judge Jeremiah T. Murphy, the president of the Amateur Athletic Union in the United States, was alarmed by the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany and called for a boycott -- one of several such calls around the world.
An alternative People's Olympics was scheduled to take place in Barcelona, Spain, but they were cancelled when the Spanish Civil War broke out, one day before the competition was to begin.
In the end, U.S. Olympic officials voted narrowly in favour of sending their athletes to Berlin. Judge Murphy resigned his post and was replaced by future International Olympic Committee President Avery Brundage, who went on a pre-Games inspection tour of Berlin, and pronounced everything to be fine.


Let the propaganda, er, Games begin

Despite the sense of foreboding and rising international tensions, the Berlin Games drew more countries and athletes than any previous Olympics. But Hitler's intent was that the focus would not be on the athletes, at least not on the non-German athletes. The Games were nothing less than one of the largest propaganda campaigns ever staged.
The Third Reich spent $25 million to construct the finest facilities (a 100,000-seat Olympic stadium, a 20,000-seat state of the art swimming venue and a modern, comparatively lavish Olympic Village), make the city spotlessly clean and temporarily remove all outward signs of its anti-Semitic policies.
The German team, though, featured just one Jewish athlete. Helene Mayer, a Jewish woman living in the United States, was persuaded to return and compete for Germany because she was promised full "Aryan" classification.




The Numbers

Number of nations: 49
Number of athletes: 3,963 (331 women, 3,632 men)
Number of sports: 19
Number of events: 129
Number of tickets sold: 4.5 million
Capacity of Berlin Olympic Stadium: 100,000
Youngest medallist ever in individual event: Inga Sorensen, Denmark, 12 years (Swimming)
Youngest female gold medallist: Marjorie Gestring, U.S. 13 years (Diving)


__________________________________________________________________






1940 and 1944


It took 12 years for the Olympics to be staged again after the 1936 Berlin Games.
Tokyo was slated to host the 1940 Olympics, but Japan withdrew when it went to war against China. The Games were reassigned to Helsinki, but those plans collapsed when the Soviet Union invaded Finland in November 1939. Of course, the Second World War ultimately mooted the question and forced the cancellation of both the 1940 and 1944 Games.




__________________________________________________________________








Olympic Games

History-1948

A no frills Olympics hits London

No new venues, male athletes were housed in schools, military camps and private homes and female athletes were put up in colleges

Dutch champion Fanny Blankers-Koen crosses the finish line of the 200m event. She won four gold medals,100m, 200m, 80m hurdles and 4x100. (Getty Images)

Three years after peace returned to Europe, the Olympics returned to London. The plan wasn't universally popular in London -- some thought Britain should have been focusing on post-War reconstruction, not an athletic festival.
Gold medal for thrift

Indeed, Britain was far from fully recovered from the war and was still rationing food, gasoline and building supplies. But that frugality was extended to Olympic preparations, too. It was a no-frills Olympics with no new venues. Venerable old Wembley Stadium served as the Olympic stadium. Male athletes were housed in schools, military camps and private homes and female athletes were put up in colleges.
All told, the Olympics cost a tidy 600,000 pounds to put on -- even more remarkable than their thrift was the modest profit of 10,000 pounds.
Not everyone felt constrained by the host country's austerity, though. The American Olympic contingent reportedly brought its own pantry of 42 tons of meat, 36 tons of cheese and 25,000 chocolate bars


Boycott, defection and Cold War politics

Despite being one of the first major events in peacetime Europe, the London Olympics did not really herald international harmony. The looming threat of the Third Reich and world war that accented the 1936 Olympics was replaced by rising tensions between the Communist Bloc and the West.
A record 59 countries attended, but there were some notable no-shows. There was still some lingering hostility between the Allied nations and Germany and Japan, so those two countries were left off the guest list, although Italy was invited and did send a team. The Soviet Union, however, still did not recognize the propaganda potential of Olympic medals and continued its longstanding boycott of the Games.
Czechoslovakia did send a team, just months after its Communist takeover. Thus was the stage set for the first Olympic defection. Marie Provaznikova won a gold medal with the victorious gymnastics team and refused to return to Czechoslovakia, citing the "lack of freedom" there.




_________________________________________________________________






Olympic Games

History-1952

The Helsinki Games: a rousing success

The Helsinki Olympics were a model of organization and efficiency — so much so that some suggested permanently staging the Olympics in Scandinavia

Czech Emil Zatopek during the Olympic 5000m in Helsinki. During his career he was a four-time Olympic champion (1948, 10000m - 1952, 5000m, 10000m, and marathon) and established 18 world records. (CORR/AFP/Getty Images)


Finland was a natural choice to host the Olympics in 1952. Along with Sweden, Finland was the greatest overachiever in the first half-century of the Games, routinely winding up in the top five in the medal standings despite its population.
At the very least, the International Olympic Committee could feel confident that Helsinki would take staging the Games very seriously. Indeed, the Helsinki Games were considered a rousing success. Like the 1912 Stockholm Games, the Helsinki Olympics were a model of organization and efficiency — so much so that some suggested permanently staging the Olympics in Scandinavia.


The Cold War and the medal race

That's not to say these Games were free of politics. The Cold War was deepening in 1952, the year the Soviet Union chose to send its first team to the Olympics — 40 years after Russia's last Olympic appearance. The Finns had some reason to be resentful. After all, the Soviets had invaded Finland twice during the Second World War.
But the Soviets were much more interested in trumping the Americans. They built an Olympic Village in Helsinki specifically for the Communist Bloc countries and erected a prominent scoreboard focused on the Soviets' new rivalry with the United States. Before the space race really took flight, the Cold War propaganda war was fought through the medal race.
Relations between the Soviet and American athletes were not warm, but not overtly hostile, either. The Americans ultimately prevailed in the medal standings, but the Soviets finished a close second. The Soviet female gymnasts made a particularly strong impression, beginning a period of dominance that would last four decades.


The Numbers

Number of countries: 69
Number of athletes: 4, 955 (519 women, 4,436 men)
Sports: 17
Events: 149
Number of countries to win medals: 43 (new Olympic record)
Age of youngest-ever track and field gold medallist: 15, Barbara Pearl Jones, U.S. (4X100-metre relay)
First non-military winner of modern pentathlon: Lars Hall, Sweden
Hall's occupation: Carpenter



_______________________________________________________________




Olympic Games

History-1956

Three countries boycott the Games in Melbourne

Less than three weeks before the Opening Ceremony the Soviet Union invaded Hungary to quash a popular uprising against the Communist regime.

Betty Cuthbert of Australia wins the 200m beating Christa Stubnik of Germany ( silver) and Marlene Mathews of Australia ( bronze) during the Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia. (Allsport UK /Allsport)


Melbourne won the right to hold the 1956 Olympics by one vote over Buenos Aires. Despite that close vote, the Games were not held in the Southern Hemisphere again until they returned to Australia in 2000. The 1956 Games was also the only time an Olympics has been held in two different cities. Because of Australia's strict animal quarantine laws, the equestrian events were held in Stockholm, Sweden, in June of that year.
The Games were held in Melbourne from November 22 to December 8, the latest the Summer Olympics have ever been held - and that was not even summer in Australia. And plenty happened in the 10-plus months before they opened.


Political ill will abounds

The Melbourne Games were as fraught with political ill will as any of their predecessors. In July, Egypt seized control of the Suez Canal from Britain and France, and then in October, Britain and France invaded Egypt to regain control, sparking a full-blown international crisis, a month before the Games.
Then in November, less than three weeks before the Opening Ceremony the Soviet Union invaded Hungary to quash a popular uprising against the Communist regime.
The Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland all boycotted the Games to protest against the Soviet invasion, and the boycotts didn't end there. China stayed home because of Taiwan's participation, and Egypt, Iraq and Lebanon boycotted the Games because of the worsening Middle Eastern political situation.
The International Olympic Committee did have one political success. The IOC brought East and West Germany together as a combined team under a flag bearing the Olympic rings. The unified German team used Beethoven's Ninth Symphony ("Ode to Joy") as its anthem and would compete in this format in 1960 and 1964, as well.

The Numbers

Number of nations: 72
Number of athletes: 3,314 (376 women, 2,938 men)
Number of sports: 17
Number of events: 145
Number of people who collapsed due to heat during opening ceremonies: 225
Minimum winning margin by U.S. basketball team: 30


___________________________________________________________________



Olympic Games

History-1960

High spirits mark successful Rome Olympics

Rome Games blend modern world and ancient history

The winners of the 1960 Olympic medals for light heavyweight boxing in Rome: Cassius Clay (now Muhammad Ali), centre, gold; Zbigniew Pietrzykowski of Poland, right, silver; and Giulio Saraudi (Italy) and Anthony Madigan (Australia), joint bronze. (Central Press/Getty Images)

It took more than 30 years, but with the 1960 Games in Rome, the Olympics finally did not have a pall cast over them by political tensions or worldwide economic problems.
There were some political overtones -- China was not happy that Taiwan competed independently as Formosa, and following the 1960 Games, the International Olympic Committee would ban South Africa to express its displeasure over the country's racist apartheid system.
But what politics there were in Rome seemed relatively muted, especially in comparison with the fractiousness surrounding the 1956 Olympics. The atmosphere was much more buoyant, partly because Rome was so thrilled to finally host the Olympics, particularly since it was forced to give up the 1908 Olympics in the aftermath of the 1906 eruption of Mt. Vesuvius.


Antiquity and modernity

The entire city's infrastructure, from transportation corridors to the water supply, were significantly upgraded, while Rome managed to bridge the best of the modern world and the rich, ancient legacy of the city.
The Villagio Olympico, which housed a record 5,348 athletes from 83 nations, was a true village, with parks, play areas and shops. After the athletes left, it became low-cost housing for government workers.
Meanwhile, the Italians used both ancient ruins and brand-new stadiums for the Olympics. The wrestling competition was held in the Basilica of Maxentius, the site of wrestling matches 2,000 years earlier, although this time it was Turkish athletes who held sway.
And overwhelmingly Catholic Italy had to watch the officially atheist Soviets, led by Boris Shakhlin and Larissa Latynina, completely dominate the gymnastics competition held at the ancient Caracalla Baths.
The Games weren't lacking for a Catholic influence though. Pope John XXIII bestowed a blessing on about a thousand athletes before competition started, and he took in the canoe-kayak semifinals from his summer home in Verano.


The Numbers

Number of countries: 83
Number of athletes: 5,338 (611 women, 4,727 men)
Number of sports: 17
Number of events: 150
Total medals won by Turkey: 7 gold, 2 silver (all in wrestling)
Second athlete ever to die at Olympics: Knud Eneberg-Jensen, Denmark, cycling
Cause of death: Combination of doping and exposure after 100-kilometre team time trial







Tune in tomorrow for the next 5 Games, which will include the increase in technological use, and one of the most tragic times in history.

 

[Kinga]

Olympic Games

History-1952

The Helsinki Games: a rousing success
Finland was a natural choice to host the Olympics in 1952. Along with Sweden, Finland was the greatest overachiever in the first half-century of the Games, routinely winding up in the top five in the medal standings despite its population.
At the very least, the International Olympic Committee could feel confident that Helsinki would take staging the Games very seriously. Indeed, the Helsinki Games were considered a rousing success. Like the 1912 Stockholm Games, the Helsinki Olympics were a model of organization and efficiency — so much so that some suggested permanently staging the Olympics in Scandinavia.

wow! Did you read this Hanna?!:cheeky: It's cool!

 

[L.J]

Yeah the games really took off after Helsinki, the next Games in Melbourne were a success as well, aside from the outside political rubbish, and then the year after that Rome showed that it was possible to keep the Games away from most of the world's politics.

 

[The One.]

wow! Did you read this Hanna?!:cheeky: It's cool!

Yep ^_^ Too bad we're not in the top 5 anymore.. :smilerolleyes:

3 days! :wild::wild:

 

[Kingtao13]

one world,one dream.
best wishes to Beijing 2008.

 

[L.J]

Back again :wild: they're nearly HERE! :wild:


Ok the next five Games here they are :kickass2:



Olympic Games

History-1964

Tokyo Games help Japan show off technology

Timing devices showed one swimmer edged another by a thousandth of a second to win bronze

American sprinter Bob Hayes, left, won the 100-metre gold medal in 10 seconds at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo. (Getty Images)


Tokyo was originally slated to be the first Asian Olympic host city for the 1940 Games, but Japan's war with China put an end to that. It became a moot point, anyway, when the Second World War forced the outright cancellation of the 1940 Olympics
Twenty-four years and $3 billion later, Tokyo finally hosted the Olympics. The Japanese celebrated the 1964 Tokyo Games in mid-October as a proclamation of their country's post-War reconstruction and emergence as a major political and economic force in the world. To underline that theme, the final torchbearer was Yoshinori Sakai, who was born in Hiroshima the day the city was destroyed by an atomic bomb.


Like the 1960 Rome Olympics, the Tokyo Games were not marred by the overt intrusion of politics, but as usual, global politics did keep the Games from being a purely innocent celebration of youth and athleticism.
South Africa was barred from the Olympics as a rebuke to its racist apartheid policies. The International Olympic Committee also told Indonesia not to bother coming, since that country didn't allow Israel or Taiwan to compete when it hosted the 1962 Asian Games.
Israel was again at the centre of political statements during the Olympic opening in Tokyo. The Iraqi contingent refused to march beside the Israelis, even though teams are asked to march in alphabetical order.
Tokyo's Olympic organizers were more interested in building up their city's sports and transportation infrastructure, and by all accounts it was $3 billion well spent. Tokyo's venues and facilities set new Olympic standards. The judo hall was modelled after the architectural traditions of Japanese temples, while IOC president Avery Brundage was so impressed by the swimming venue that he called it "the cathedral of sports."


The numbers

Number of nations: 93
Number of athletes: : 5,151 (678 women, 4,473 men)
Number of sports: 19
Number of events: 163
Number of times Roger Jackson and George Hungerford of Canada raced together before entering coxless pairs rowing event in Tokyo: 0
Number of times either Jackson or Hungerford had rowed in pairs shell competitively: 0
Medal won by Jackson and Hungerford: Gold
First Olympic wedding: Two Bulgarian athletes exchanged vows at a ceremony in the Olympic Village.



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Olympic Games

History-1968

Bob Beamon defies gravity and sets new long jump record

When Beamon saw the result he collapsed to the ground — and never jumped that far again

U.S. athlete Bob Beamon wins the men's long jump event during the Mexico Olympic Games with a world and Olympic record-breaking long jump of 8.90 metres. (Getty Images)

Considering all that was going on in the world, it would have taken all the good will on Earth for the 1968 Games not to be politicized.
The United States was embroiled in the Vietnam War and was dealing with the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy, while across the country, student-led counterculture and anti-war protests added to the turmoil.
France had its own student revolts, and the Soviets invaded Czechoslovakia, putting a crushing end to the brief flowering of free expression there known as Prague Spring. And shortly before the Games opened, Mexico had its own political crisis.


Restless students protested against the government's exorbitant spending on new, modern athletic facilities, when comparatively little was spent on Mexico's growing social problems. Mexican police and military intervened, riots erupted, and by the official count, 49 people died. Many believe, though, that the real number of dead would be more like 250, and debate rages this day on the extent of the massacre.
In the Olympic sphere, a majority of black African countries threatened to boycott Mexico City if apartheid South Africa was allowed to compete. The International Olympic Committee responded to the pressure and withdrew its invitation to South African athletes.




Enter the testers

For years, the use of drugs to boost performance was the stuff of rumour and open secret, but it took until 1968 for the Olympics to administer doping tests. The previous year, the IOC established a medical commission that drew up a list of forbidden drugs.
The IOC also mandated gender testing for the first time: a chromosome test for all women competing at the Olympics (perhaps prompted by comments on the physical characteristics of some Eastern Bloc champions). No women were disqualified, although a number of prominent female athletes declined to show up for their events.




The Numbers

Number of athletes: 5,516 (781 women, 4,735 men)
Number of sports: 20
Number of events: 172
Altitude of Mexico City: 2,300 metres
Number of non-black finalists in the men's 100m: 0 Number of world records broken during Games: 34


_________________________________________________________________



Olympic Games

History-1972

Black September: one of the most tragic times in Olympic History

Eight Palestinian militants broke into the Israeli team's headquarters in the Olympic Village, two Israelis were immediately killed and nine others were taken hostage

One of the Black September guerrillas who broke into the Munich Olympic Village. They killed two members of the Israeli team and took nine others hostage. (Keystone/Getty Images)

There was a giddy air of optimism surrounding the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics. They boasted the most athletes from the most countries participating in the most events with the most media coverage in the history of the Olympics.
Even the Olympic infrastructure was an architectural masterpiece. Upon being awarded the Games in 1966, Munich organizers spent $650 million (US) on an intricate tent-like design erected over the bombed-out ruins of the Second World War. It seemed to herald a euphoric and peaceful new era for the Games.


Black September

And so it seemed until September 5, 10 days after the Games' triumphant opening. That night, eight Palestinian militants broke into the Israeli team's headquarters in the Olympic Village. Two Israelis were killed immediately and nine others were taken hostage.
The militants demanded access to the world press, passage out of Germany, and freedom for some 200 prisoners in Israel. After 11 tense hours of negotiations with German authorities, the Palestinians, along with their hostages, flew by helicopter to the airport, where the tragedy deepened.
A failed attempt by German police to storm the Palestinians and rescue the hostages ended in a shootout that left all the Israeli hostages, five of the militants, one policeman and a helicopter pilot dead.
A memorial service the next morning drew 80,000 people to the Olympic stadium as the Games were temporarily suspended. But most of the delegations, including the Israelis, agreed that the rest of the Olympics should proceed, and International Olympic Committee president Avery Brundage made his famous declaration that "the Games must go on."
The fear of further violence convinced some countries and individuals to leave Munich immediately, and the memory of the events of that September in Munich linger menacingly over the Olympics more than ever today.


The Numbers

Number of nations: 121
Number of athletes: 7,134 (1,059 women, 6,075 women)
Number of sports: 23
Number of events: 195
Number of countries winning at least one medal: 48 (new record)
Number of gold medals won by U.S. swimmer Mark Spitz: 7
Number of world records set by Spitz: 7
First female to win equestrian gold: Liselott Lisenhoff, West Germany (Dressage)
First track and field athlete to compete in six Games: Lia Manoliu, Romania (Discus)


_______________________________________________________



Olympic Games

History-1976

African nations boycott costly Montreal Games

More than 20 African nations stayed away and it took 20 years to pay off the financial debt from the Games

Twenty-year-old Greg Joy of Vancouver clears the high jump during Olympic finals competition Aug. 11, 1976 in Montreal. Joy won the silver medal for Canada in the event. (Fred Chartrand/Canadian Press)

"The Montreal Olympics can no more have a deficit than a man can have a baby." — Montreal Mayor Jean Drapeau
With the Montreal Summer Games of 1976, Canada hosted the Olympics for the first time. Montreal's flamboyant mayor, Jean Drapeau, worked non-stop during the bidding process to persuade the IOC that his city was the one for these Games. His lobbying paid off, as Montreal emerged as the underdog winner of the bidding process, beating out higher-profile candidates like Moscow and Los Angeles.
Drapeau believed that hosting these Games would bring Montreal to the world, and vice versa, in a repeat of the Expo 67 phenomenon of Expo 67. To Drapeau, there was no reason a similar international event couldn't be pulled off without extravagant costs.


In convincing his supporters, he repeatedly declared that the Games wouldn't cost taxpayers a cent. But his glorious vision soon devolved into a financial disaster, one that would take the people of Quebec almost 20 years to pay off.
For a start, Drapeau and his Olympic organizers were way off base when they costed things out. Cost estimates rose from $124 million to $310 million to an incredible $1.5 billion.
The Olympic Stadium was as unique in cost as it was in architecture, coming in at $485 million. At least the roof went on the Olympic stadium in Athens - the roof would go unfinished in Montreal until 1987.
And in the wake of the kidnapping and massacre of Israeli team members at the 1972 Munich Games, $100 million was spent on huge numbers of heavily armed military and police (almost 16,000 officers).
It was uncovered later that Montreal's costs escalated so dramatically for several reasons: planning errors and misjudgments, strikes, slowdowns, and suspected widespread corruption. Quebecers were left holding a $304-million tab.
Let the boycotts begin

Montreal was also the victim of the first of the big Olympic boycotts. During previous Olympic years, African nations successfully pressured the International Olympic Committee to bar South Africa and Rhodesia for their racist political systems. This time, Tanzanian leader Julius Nyerere rallied more than 20 African nations to boycott the 1976 Games after the IOC wouldn't exclude New Zealand from the Olympics.
New Zealand seems like an odd target, but its famous "All Blacks" rugby team had toured South Africa. The IOC denied the Africans' request because rugby wasn't an Olympic sport, and despite negotiations, the African states made good on their threat. Also withdrawing was Taiwan because Canada (under the government of Pierre Elliot Trudeau) had refused to recognize it as an independent nation.
The absence of the African nations was most acutely felt in track's middle and long distance events. Suddenly, the nationalities of the medallists in events like the 1,500 metres and the steeplechase looked like they did decades earlier -- New Zealanders, Swedes and Finns. The big winner was Finland's Lasse Viren who repeated his sweep of the 5,000m and 10,000m from 1972.
Montreal's Olympic Stadium, or the Big "O" as it's known to Canadians (Montrealers ruefully called it the Big "Owe"), welcomed 70,000 fans for the Opening Ceremony on July 17th Because of the boycott only 92 nations marched into the stadium (of course, this number was significantly down from the 121 countries that participated in Munich). Queen Elizabeth officially opened the Olympics.
The torch was brought in by two 15-year-olds, Sandra Henderson, of English heritage, and Stephane Prefontaine of French heritage. This was to signify Canada's two distinct cultures.




The Numbers

Number of nations: 92
Number of athletes: 6,084 (1,260 men, 4,824 women)
Number of sports: 21
Number of events: 198
Original estimate of cost to stage Olympics: $124 million (CDN) Actual cost of Olympics: $1.5 billion
First recipient of perfect 10.0 in Olympic gymnastics: Nadia Comaneci Number of 10.0s Comaneci received in Montreal: 7


__________________________________________________________________




Olympic Games

History-1980

A Games without the Americans but full of oddities

The Americans pulled out to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan

British middle distance runner Steve Ovett writes a message in the air with his finger to girlfriend Rachel at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. (Tony Duffy/Getty Images)

The modern Olympics have had their share of boycotts, but nothing approaching the magnitude of the Moscow Summer Olympics in 1980.
The first Games to be held in a communist country were disrupted by an even larger boycott than Montreal. This one, led by U.S. President Jimmy Carter, was to protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979.
After Carter's deadline for the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan passed on February 20th,Carter declared that neither he, nor the American people would support sending American athletes to Moscow, and his administration put enormous pressure on the U.S. Olympic Committee to support his boycott. So much for the Western democratic ideal of keeping politics out of the Games.
Carter also used his powers to block business involvement in the Moscow Games, including NBC's television plans, the U.S. Postal Service's sale of commemorative stamps and postcards, as well as the export of "any goods or technology" related to the Games.
Future allies of the American war on Iraq, Great Britain and Australia, supported the boycott, but allowed their athletes to decide for themselves whether to go to Moscow. No such choice was granted to American athletes -- Carter not only threatened to take away future funding, but also the funding of any American athlete who tried to travel to Moscow.


A Games full of oddities

Fittingly, given the strange set of circumstances under the boycott, the Moscow Games were full of oddities:

• For the first time in the history of the Games, a medals ceremony took place without any national flags or anthems, as the three medallists in the 400 metre individual pursuit cycling event (Swiss, French and Danish) were honoured under Olympic banners.
• East Germany was suspiciously strong (doping suspicions were later proven to be true) all-around but particularly in women's swimming and rowing. The women swimmers won 11 of 13 events, and every member of East Germany's 54-strong rowing team went home with a medal.
• Both the gold and silver medal winners in the men's coxless pairs rowing event were pairs of identical twins. Bernd and Jorg Landvoigt of East Germany were first, and Yuri and Nikolai Pimenov of Russia finished second.
• The boycott meant the only qualified country in the first women's field hockey tournament was the Soviet Union. Five weeks before the Opening Ceremony, Zimbabwe was invited send a team. Members were selected less than a week before the Games and rushed to Moscow, where they surprised everyone by winning gold.

The Numbers

Number of nations: 80
Number of athletes: 5,179 (1,115 women, 4,064 men)
Number of sports: 21
Number of events: 203
Last time there was as few as 80 nations competing: 1956
Number of invited countries that did not attend Games: 56





Tune in tomorrow where we pick up with the games in LA where they were met with their own tit-for-tat boycott and we will follow the rest of the games history right up to 2004




One more day to go :bugeyed

 

[The One.]

OMG I had never heard about that 'Black September' That is terrible.


The Games are so near!!! What am I gonna do????

 

[Kinga]

Yes, it's so near!!! :yes: Fortunately I will be on holiday next week so I can watch it. What would happen after next week , I have to go back to work... and I can't stay awake during the nights...