An Olympic History

So for lack of any important news, I thought I'd discuss a brief history of the Olympics. It's a tradition that dates back over 2500 years, though certainly not in its present form. Thus, without further ado, I present: "An Olympic History."

The Ancient Olympics
The birth of the Olympiad was in Olympia, Greece, in the year 776 B.C.E. (forgive the political correctness). Depending on which myth you subscribe to, the origin of the Olympics was when Heracles (or Hercules) won a race at Olympia. Because of his athletic prowess, he decreed that the games should be held every four years. And they were--for nearly 1200 years--until it was stamped out by overzealous Christian rulers in the late Roman Empire. In any case, some of the events featured were running (several different lengths and styles), boxing, wrestling, and pentathlon (wrestling, a short sprint, long jump, javelin throw, and discus throw). It is interesting to note that while all 5 of the events remain in the Olympics, none of them are included in the modern pentathlon (the running race is now 3 miles, as opposed to about 200 yards...the only clear resemblance.

Rebirth
In 1896, less then 250 athletes from around the world gathered in Athens, Greece for the Games of the I Olympiad. Winners were given a silver medal and an olive branch. The United States won 11 gold medals, the most of any country. Events featured included swimming (in the open sea), gymnastics, wrestling, and cycling.

Four years later, in Paris 1900, women were allowed to compete for the first time. Some odd events in that games included pigeon shooting (imagine how that would go over today!), equestrian long jump, and a swimming obstacle course. The Games of the III Olympiad were the first to be featured in the United States, as they were held in St. Louis, and they were also the first to feature gold, silver, and bronze medals for first, second, and third places. The United States won 79 gold medals (the second-place countries--Germany, Canada, and Cuba--had 4 gold medals each), partly due to the fact that less than half of the events featured non-Americans.

The 1908 games in London featured winter events, though it would be 1924 (in Chamonix, France) that there would officially be a Winter Olympics. The 1916 Games were to be held in Berlin, Germany. Unfortunately, the first of two World Wars put the Olympics on the back burner, and this Olympiad was canceled. It was for the 1928 Amsterdam games that the Olympic flame was first lit, though it was Hitler's 1936 Berlin games that first featured a torch relay. For that reason, some feel that the dubious origins of that Olympic tradition merits its removal.

The 1932 Games were held in the height of the Great Depression in Los Angeles. Two demonstration sports, lacrosse and American football, were played here, though obviously, they have not continued. An interesting story about these games is that the Brazilian national team had 69 members who tried to compete. However, Brazil was so devastated from the Depression that they sent their athletes on barges with 25 tons of coffee to sell to ports as they went. They made only $24, far less than the $1 head tax for someone entering the United States. The Brazilian consulate in San Francisco, in a last-ditch effort, sent a check to Los Angeles originally worth about $45, but because the Brazilian currency was so devalued, it was only worth $17 by the time it reached Los Angeles. In any case, the check bounced, and only 24 Brazilian athletes were able to compete.

The 1940 Games (to be held in Tokyo and later, Helsinki) and the 1944 Games (to be held in London) were both canceled as a result of World War II in Europe. The 1936 Games had been tainted with the Nazi ideology, as Hitler and his party were trying to prove his idea of a master race. That Olympiad was also the same one that the African-American Jesse Owens won four gold medals with Adolph Hitler in attendance.

The Olympics During the Cold War
The first post World War II Olympiad was held in London in 1948. Four years later, a country from the USSR appeared in the Games, and Isarel also made its Olympic debut (they had been fighting a war of independence during the 1948 Games). The 1960 Games featured CBS broadcasting the events in the United States from Rome for a sum of $394,000. Four years later, when the Games were in Tokyo, the events broadcast were the first to be broadcast over the Pacific, as it used a geostationary satelite.

The 1972 Games in Munich was overshadowed by the tragedy that happened. 11 Israeli athetes were taken hostage by Palestinian terrorists. An attempt to extract the hostages failed, and all 11 Israelis were killed. 5 of the 8 Palestianian terrorist were killed, and 2 others were later reportedly killed by the Mossad. The other remains alive and in hiding to this day. This also happened to be the year that Mark Spitz won his seven gold medals--a feat that will certainly be in jeopardy this year in Beijing.

The 1976, 1980, and 1984 Games were all marked by boycotts. Taiwan boycotted the 1976 Games in Montreal because Canada recognized mainland China as a country. The 1980 Games in Moscow were boycotted by the United States and its allies as result of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The Soviets retaliated in 1984 by boycotting the Los Angeles games, though with much less success (Romania, part of the Soviet bloc, competed, and Communist People's Republic of China competed for the first time). 1984 was the first time that Dara Torres, a member of the 2008 United States Olympic Team, competed at the Olympics.

I suppose it's hard to believe that I was born during the Cold War, but since I was born before the Berlin Wall fell and before the breakup of the Soviet Union, the 1988 Games in Seoul (ending less than two weeks before I was born) still qualify as an Olympiad during the Cold War. It was the largest contingent of countries in Olympic history (160), and featured much less of the boycotts that had stained the previous three Olympiads.

Olympics in Recent Times
The 1992 Barcelona Games featured the United States "Dream Team" in basketball: Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley, and Larry Bird. Obviously, they brought home the gold medal. The 1996 Games in Atlanta are the first that I remember, so for me, these events are less history and more experience (if indeed there is a difference). In any case, the past three Olympics, 2000 in Sydney, and 2004 in Athens, all have moments that are etched on our memories: Kerri Strug's one foot landing, Michael Johnson's sweep of the 200 and 400, Ian Thorpe of Australia and his impressive two golds in one night, Michael Phelps' eight medals, Paul Hamm's victory in the men's gymnastics all-around (a first for the Americans), etc.

One can hope--and even expect--that the Beijing Olympics this year will be no less spectacular than any of its predecessors. The modern Olympics have been played for over a century now, and yet it has lost none of its spectacle. In fact, it has vaulted from humbled beginnings in Paris to the grand world stage it now is.