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Get ready for the Olympics
It really is hard to believe that it’s four years since the Queen and James Bond parachuted into history during the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London. (Yes, we know it wasn’t really the Queen and that James Bond is an actor called Daniel Craig!). This year the Olympic torch passes to Brazil where the Games of the XXXI Olympaid (commonly known as Rio 2016) will take place in Rio de Janeiro. For many athletes this is the goal they have been training for, not only for the past four years, but in some cases, most of their lives. The 2016 Summer Olympic program features 28 sports, 41 disciplines and 306 events. The games organizers expect to host over 10,500 athletes from 206 countries.
British athletes have competed at every single Olympic games since they were revived by Baron Pierre du Coubertin in 1896. Coubertin drew his inspiration from the Ancient Olympic games which took place every four years from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD. The origins of these games are shrouded in mystery and many theories have been given for their existence. Scholars can’t even pinpoint exactly when they began but 776 BC is the most widely accepted date. (Similarly, there is no agreement about when theses ancient Games stopped – the date that is most agreed on is 393 AD).
The ancient Olympics took place in the sanctuary of Zeus in Olympia, Greece, hence the name. These games were primarily religious in origin and competitors came from different, and rival, Greek factions. Baron de Coubertin founded the International Olypmic Committee in 1894 and the very first modern Olympic Games took place in Athens two years later. The first games had participants from 14 nations with 241 athletes taking part in 43 events. In the 2016 Games in Rio competitors from Team GB will tackle, amongst other events, Boxing, Canoeing, Cycling, Track, Diving & Swimming, Equestrian events, Hockey, Fencing, Football, Golf, Gymnastics, Rowing, Rugby, Sailing, Shooting and Weightlifting.
Since it’s inception the Olympic movement has grown to include Winter Games, the Paralympics and the Youth Games. The Winter Olympics began in 1924 to accommodate sports that take place on snow and ice. Until 1992 the Winter Olympics were held in the same year as the Summer Games but since then they now take place on a four-year cycle two years after the Summer Games.
The genesis of the Paralympics came in 1948 when Sir Ludwig Guttman, in an effort to promote rehabilitation of soldiers wounded in World War II, organized a multi-sport event to coincide with the London Summer Games of that year. This event became known as the International Wheelchair Games. In 1960 Guttman brought 400 athletes to compete in ‘Parallel Olympics’ alongside the Summer Olympics in Rome - an event that ultimately became the first Paralympics. Since then the Paralympics has been held every four years alongside the Summer Games and, since 1988, in the same host city. The Youth Games began in 2010 to accommodate athletes aged 14 – 18.
The Olympic Games have been constantly evolving since 1896 and many of the symbols associated with the games have been added during the years since. The Olympic flag with the iconic five intertwined rings was first adopted in 1914. The five rings (blue, yellow, black, red and green) symbolize the five continents Africa, Asia, America, Oceania and Europe. The Olympic Torch relay was introduced in 1936 at the Berlin Games. This year, the torch began its journey in April when it was lit at a ceremony in Southern Greece and spent a week travelling the country to Athens. It arrives in Brazil on 3rd May and will then embark on a 95-day tour of Brazil, visiting 83 cities, 26 state capitals and 500 towns. It is estimated that the torch will reach 90% of the population while covering approximate 20,000 kilometres (over 12,000 miles) of the country by road and 16,000 (approximately 9,940 miles) by air. The torch relay will involve around 12,000 torchbearers and will end at the Maracanä Stadium in Rio on 5th August for the Games Opening Ceremony.
Most people will watch the Games on television. The first live TV broadcast was in Germany in 1936, but only for a local audience. The first international TV broadcast came 20 years later with the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina, Italy. In 2012 approximately 900 million people watched all or part of the opening ceremony of the London Summer Games on television.
Anne Marie Scanlon for Primary Times