The Olympics, Greece, Russia and the World

The tradition of the Olympics is something that each Greek child is indoctrinated (there were other

indoctrinations but lets focus on this one for now) into at a young age.  I have fond memories of sitting on the sofa with my family chatting loudly, as one does when they are Greeks talking about the Olympics, watching our favorite sports and eating delicious home cooked food.

 The pride we feel as Greeks is abound the remarkable influence the games have had on history rivals no other event on the planet, It is a symbol of something greater than ourselves but of national pride and honor. 

I hope that you enjoy the history of the Olympics, as you know I do love sharing the history and plugging |(yet again) how great the Greeks are! :) 

I would like to thank the contributors of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia; as they give us a brief (pretty accurate) history of The Olympics, Greece, Russia...and the world!

The Olympic Games (Ancient Greek: τὰ Ὀλύμπια ; ta Olympia; the Olympics) were a series of athletic competitions among representatives of city-states ofAncient Greece. They were held in honor of Zeus, and the Greeks gave them a mythological origin. Historical records indicate that they began in 776 BC inOlympia. They continued to be celebrated when Greece came under Roman rule, until the emperor Theodosius I suppressed them in 394 AD as part of the campaign to impose Christianity as the state religion of Rome. The games were held every four years, or Olympiad, which became a unit of time in historical chronologies.

During the celebration of the games, an Olympic Truce was enacted so that athletes could travel from their countries to the games in safety. The prizes for the victors were olive leaf wreaths or crowns. The games became a political tool used by city-states to assert dominance over their rivals. Politicians would announce political alliances at the games, and in times of war, priests would offer sacrifices to the gods for victory. The games were also used to help spread Hellenistic culture throughout the Mediterranean. The Olympics also featured religious celebrations and artistic competitions. The statue of Zeus at Olympiawas counted as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Sculptors and poets would congregate each Olympiad to display their works of art to would-be patrons.

The ancient Olympics had fewer events than the modern games, and only freeborn Greek men were allowed to participate, although a woman Bilistiche is also mentioned as a winning chariot owner. As long as they met the entrance criteria, athletes from any city-state and Macedon were allowed to participate, although the Hellanodikai, the officials in charge, allowed King Alexander I to participate in the games only after he had proven his Greek ancestry.  The games were always held at Olympia rather than alternating to different locations as is the tradition with the modern Olympic Games.  Victors at the Olympics were honored, and their feats chronicled for future generations.

The modern Olympic Games (French: Jeux olympiques,) are the leading international sporting event featuring summer and winter sports competitions wherein thousands of athletes variously compete. The Olympic Games are considered the world's foremost sports competition with more than 200 nations participating.  The Olympic Games are held every four years, with the Summer and Winter Games alternating by occurring every four years but two years apart. Their creation was inspired by the ancient Olympic Games, which were held in Olympia, Greece, from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD. BaronPierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894. The IOC is the governing body of the Olympic Movement, with the Olympic Charter defining its structure and authority.

The evolution of the Olympic Movement during the 20th and 21st centuries has caused several changes to the Olympic Games. Among these adjustments are creating the Winter Games for ice and winter sports, the Paralympics Games for athletes with a disability, and the Youth Olympic Games for teenage athletes. The IOC has adapted to economic, political, and technological advancements, shifting the Olympics from pure amateurism, as envisioned by Coubertin, to allow participation of professional athletes. The growing importance of mass media created the issue of corporate sponsorship and commercializing the Games. World wars caused the 1916, 1940, and 1944 Games' cancelling. Large boycotts during the Cold War limited participation in the 1980 and 1984 Games.

The Olympic Movement comprises international sports federations (IFs), National Olympic Committees (NOCs), and organizing committees for each specific Olympic Games. As the decision-making body, the IOC chooses the each celebration of the Games' host city, which organizes and funds the Games according to the Olympic Charter. The IOC determined the Olympic program, which comprises the sports to be contested at the Games. Several Olympic rituals and symbols; e.g., the Olympic flag, torch, and opening and closing ceremonies. Over 13,000 athletes compete at the Summer and Winter Olympic Games in 33 different sports and nearly 400 events. The first, second, and third place finishers in each event receive Olympic medals: gold, silver, and bronze, respectively.

The Games have so grown that nearly every nation is represented, creating many such challenges as boycotts, doping, bribery, and acts of terrorism. Every two years the Olympics and its media exposure provide unknown athletes with the chance to attain national and sometimes international fame and the host city and country to present themselves to the world.        

Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony

Josh Haner/The New York Times

 SOCHI, Russia — With an outsize extravaganza that reached deep into the repertory of classical music and ballet, traversed the sights and sounds of the world’s largest geopolitical expanse, soared into outer space and swept across millenniums of history in a celebration of everything from czarist military might to Soviet monumentalize, a swaggering, resurgent Russia turned its Winter Olympic aspirations into reality on Friday night.

After seven years of building to this moment — the opening of what is believed to be the most expensive Olympic Games in history — the message of the over-the-top ceremony was simply this: In a big way, Russia is back.

As if there were any doubt.

(Where Russia may be headed — amid an economic slowdown, continuing rights abuses and suppression of political dissent that have drawn sharp criticism, especially in the West — was a question for another day.)


Designers Carve a Fashion Runway at the Games FEB. 6, 2014 



The 18-chapter, nearly three-hour opening ceremony began at the symbolic moment of 8:14 p.m. — 20:14, as time is counted here — and provided a majestic spectacle that included a glowing troika of horses made of light streaking through a snowbound sky, the multicolor onion domes of St. Basil’s Cathedral bobbing in the air; literary references to Gogol, Tolstoy and Nabokov; images of Stalinist skyscrapers; and performances by Russia’s storied ballerinas, musicians and singers.

Bearla International Studies

Elizabeth Koukladas Director