In what year did the first modern games take place? The first ever Olympic Games

In ancient Greece, a moratorium on combat operations was declared during the Olympic Games. Thus, from the very beginning of its existence, the Olympic Games were conceived for the peaceful unification of peoples. Energy and ambitions should have been directed towards achievements in the field of sports. Now we can only dream of such a moratorium. But still great value The Olympics in preserving peace on Earth is beyond doubt.

IN late XIX V. The first modern sports associations were created, competitions began to be held with the participation of athletes from various countries. The idea arose of creating a center for the international sports movement. The initiator of the revival of the ancient Olympic Games was the French public figure Baron Pierre de Coubertin.

While studying at the Faculty of Philosophy at the Sorbonne, Coubertin became interested in studying history as well as pedagogy. A man of varied hobbies, the baron was involved in boxing, fencing, rowing, and horse riding. Exploring life and culture Ancient Greece, he came to the conclusion that sport must be returned to the education system. Coubertin traveled a lot, visited a college in the city of Rugby, famous for its sports traditions, and in Greece, the Alfea Valley, where the ancient Olympics were held. In 1887, he initiated the creation of the Union of French Running Societies.

Thanks to his organizational talent and ability to prove that he was right, Coubertin managed to inspire many politicians and public figures with the idea of ​​reviving the Olympic Games, and gained supporters and followers in various countries peace.

On June 16–23, 1894, the International Athletic Congress was held at the Sorbonne, at which it was decided to revive the Olympic Games and hold the 1st Olympics in 1896 in Athens. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was elected, and Coubertin became its secretary general. Congress approved the Olympic Charter it developed. Subsequently, the baron became the author of the Olympic emblem, a number of rituals, the text of the Olympic Oath, and in 1896 he replaced the Greek Vikelas as president of the IOC.

The All-Athens Organizing Committee was formed to host the Games. At some point, the Greek Prime Minister officially notified the IOC that it was refusing to host the Games due to lack of funds. But Coubertin, having achieved a reception from the king, convinced him of the prestige of the Olympics for the authority of the country. A fundraiser was announced among the residents of Athens and other cities, as well as among the Greek diaspora abroad. Greek millionaire Averoff took on the costs of reconstructing the stadium in Athens.

On April 6, 1896, on the national holiday - the Day of the Liberation of Greece from the Turkish yoke - after a solemn service, King George I declared the first Olympic Games of our time open. Doves of peace flew into the sky. The Olympic anthem, written by order of Coubertin by the Greek composer Zamara, was played. Athletes dressed in white tunics entered the stadium field, symbolizing the acceptance of the relay from the ancient Hellenes. The grand opening was attended by 80 thousand spectators.

245 athletes from 14 countries took part in the competition: Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Hungary, Germany, Greece, Denmark, Italy, USA, France, Chile, Switzerland, Sweden. The largest team was the host team of the Olympics, numbering 200 people. The program of the 1st Olympics included competitions in 42 disciplines in 9 sports. Naturally, the classic sports that were invariably present in ancient Greek competitions were included: running, jumping, gymnastics, wrestling. At the same time, the program was expanded to include tennis, cycling, fencing, and shooting.

According to ancient tradition, the Games were started by track and field athletes. The first champion of the modern Olympic Games was Harvard University student D. Connolly, who won the triple jump competition. At home, the champion was awarded an honorary doctorate from Harvard, and later became a famous journalist and writer.

The French cyclist Massoy had the most victories, winning three races on the track. Athletes from Germany and Switzerland dominated in gymnastics. The Americans led in athletics. Marathon running, a discipline with legendary origins, aroused great interest among spectators. The winner, postman Spyridon Louis, became the national hero of Greece. The distance was very difficult, it must be said that two runners ahead of Louis lost consciousness.

The winners were awarded on the closing day of the Games - April 15. The awards were an olive branch from Olympia, a diploma and a silver medal. “I am deeply convinced that there was no better reward for the winners than to see the flag of their country raised,” wrote Coubertin. His brainchild was destined for a brilliant future; the Olympics continue to be held every 4 years and attract the attention of most of humanity.

In the 18th century, during archaeological excavations in Olympia, scientists discovered ancient sports facilities. But archaeologists soon stopped studying them. And only 100 years later the Germans joined the study of the discovered objects. At the same time, for the first time they started talking about the possibility of reviving the Olympic movement.

The main inspirer of the revival of the Olympic movement was the French baron Pierre de Coubertin, who helped German researchers study the discovered monuments. He also had his own interest in the development of this project, since he believed that it was the poor physical training of the French soldiers that became the reason for their defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. In addition, the baron wanted to create a movement that would unite young people and help establish friendly relations between different countries. In 1894, he voiced his proposals at an international congress, where it was decided to hold the first Olympic Games in their homeland - in Athens.

The first Games became a real discovery for the whole world and were a huge success. In total, 241 athletes from 14 countries took part in them. The success of this event inspired the Greeks so much that they proposed making Athens the venue for the Olympics on a permanent basis. However, the first International Olympic Committee, which was founded two years before the start of the first Games, rejected this idea and decided that it was necessary to establish rotation between states for the right to host the Olympics every four years.

The First International Olympic Games took place from April 6 to April 15, 1896. Only men took part in the competition. 10 sports were taken as a basis. These are classical wrestling, cycling, gymnastics, swimming, shooting, tennis, weightlifting, fencing. In all these disciplines, 43 sets of medals were competed. The Greek Olympians took the lead, the Americans came in second, and the Germans took bronze.

The organizers of the first Games wanted to make them a competition among amateurs, in which professionals could not take part. After all, according to members of the IOC committee, those athletes who have a financial interest initially have an advantage over amateurs. And this is not fair.

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The next Olympic Games will be held in late summer 2012. The previous competition took place two years ago - it was the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Despite the fact that these were already the 21st Winter Olympic Games, several “premieres” took place at them.

The emblem of the games was a hero named Ilanaak - “friend”, made up of five stones of Olympic colors. Two of the games' mottos were borrowed from the Canadian anthem: the French phrase "Most Brilliant Deeds" and the English phrase "With Burning Hearts."

Amendments were made to the original scenario for the opening of the Olympics. A few hours before the ceremony, news of a tragedy became known - a luge athlete from Georgia crashed during training. The ceremony included a minute of silence, and the Georgian national team came out wearing mourning bands.

During the lighting of the Olympic flame, a small incident occurred. For the first time, four athletes took part in the procedure. But due to a technical failure, only three “grooves” appeared leading to the main torch. However, during the closing ceremony this situation was played out ironically. The same guilty “electrician” appeared on the stage, he apologized and removed the missing fourth element in the design of the Olympic flame.

The main stadium for the games was BC-Place in downtown Vancouver, designed for 55 thousand spectators. In addition, some competitions took place in Whistler, Richmond and West Vancouver.

From February 12 to 28, 82 teams competed for prizes in 15 disciplines. Compared to the previous Olympic Games, the list of disciplines has been expanded: ski cross competitions have been added, separately for men and women.

The medals at the Vancouver Winter Olympics were unique, stylized in the traditions of indigenous art in Canada. For the first time in the history of the Olympics, the awards were not flat, but with a wavy surface.

The Russians remember these games as one of the most unsuccessful for the national team. The Winter Olympics became a record failure - the Russians showed the worst results in terms of the number of gold medals and place in the team event. In the medal standings, the team was only 11th in the table. The hosts of the XXI Winter Olympic Games took first place in terms of the number of gold medals, Germany took second place, and the US team took third place.

From February 12 to February 28, 2010, the XXI Olympic Winter Games were held in the Canadian city of Vancouver. These two weeks have been filled with many sporting events. Participants and spectators became heroes and witnesses of victories and defeats, doping scandals, the struggle for Olympic medals and, unfortunately, even tragic events. This Olympics for the Russian team became the most unsuccessful in the entire history of the Games.

From the very beginning, the Olympic Games in Vancouver were marked by an absurd tragedy: even before the opening of the Games, several athletes were injured on the luge and bobsleigh track, and a young promising athlete from the Georgian team, Nodar Kumaritashvili, died after crashing into a metal support. Therefore, the opening ceremony of the Olympics began with a minute of silence.

But then events developed according to plan, despite the too warm weather and problems with demonstrators and strikers protesting against globalization. The very next day, the usual Olympic routine began, the first official competition took place - K-90 ski jumping, in the final of which the Swiss Simon Ammann won, who opened the scoring for Vancouver's medals.

Russian skiers did not start their performances very well, and as a result they only got fourth places, which the coaches attributed to a poor selection of ski wax. The first Olympic medal for the Russian team was won by speed skater Ivan Skobrev, who took third place in the 5 km distance.

The Russian team continued to be plagued by failures: biathlete Niyaz Nabeev, on whom great hopes were placed, was removed from participation in the competition due to an elevated level of hemoglobin in the blood. In the first match with the Finns, the Russian hockey players lost with a score of 1:5 and actually immediately dropped out of the fight for medals. For the first time in many years, there were no Russian athletes in the pairs competition either.

The first gold for Russia was won by sprint skiers Nikita Kryukov and Alexander Panzhinsky only on the 5th day of the Olympics. Evgeni Plushenko, who was predicted to win gold in figure skating, took only second place, which also became an unpleasant surprise and a reason for long debate. Success accompanied the ice dancers, skiers in the team sprint, biathletes and lugers, who added several more medals to the Russian team's treasury. For the first time in the history of Russian sports gold medal Ekaterina Ilyukhina won in snowboarding. In the unofficial team competition, the Russian team was only 11th in the number of Olympic medals.

At the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games, Vancouver passed the baton to the Russian city of Sochi. Let's hope it's the next one

The history of the ancient Olympic Games dates back to the 9th century BC. In those days, there were endless ruinous wars between the ancient states. One day, King Iphit of Elis went to Delphi to the oracle and asked him what could be done to help his people avoid robberies and wars. The Delphic oracle was known for its precise and absolutely correct advice and predictions. He advised Iphit to establish sports Games pleasing to the gods on the territory of his country.

Iphit immediately went to the king of neighboring Sparta, the powerful Lycurgus, and agreed with him to establish Elis as a neutral state. According to the agreement, athletic Games were to be held at Olympia every 4 years. This treaty was established in 884 BC. e.

The first Olympic Games in Ancient Greece

The first Olympic Games in human history took place in 776 BC. e. Only two Elis cities took part in them at that time - Pisa and Elisa. The names of the winners of the Olympiads were carved by the Greeks on marble columns that were installed on the banks of the Alpheus River. Thereby modern world The names of the Olympians are known, including the very first of them: it was a cook from Elis named Coreba.

When the Olympic Games were approaching, Elis messengers traveled to all cities, reporting on the upcoming holiday and announcing a “sacred truce.” The messengers were greeted with joy not only by the Greeks themselves, but also by Greeks living in other cities.

The establishment of a unified calendar took place somewhat later. According to him, the games were to be organized once every 4 years during the harvest and grape harvest. The festival of athletes included numerous religious ceremonies and sports competitions, the duration of which at first was one day, after some time - five days, and then as much as thirty days. Slaves, barbarians (that is, those who were not citizens of the Greek state), criminals, and blasphemers had no right to participate in competitions.

Video about the history of the ancient Olympic Games

The procedure for introducing various competitions into the Olympic Games

1. The first thirteen games took place only in competitions in the stadium - athletes competed in distance running.
2. But since 724 BC, the history of the Olympic Games in Ancient Greece has changed somewhat: athletes began to compete in a double race over a distance of about 385 meters.
3. Even later, in 720 BC. e., another competition was added - the pentathlon.
4. In 688 BC. e., after seven more Olympics, fist fights were added to the program.
5. After another 12 years - chariot competitions.
6. In 648 BC. e., at the 33rd Olympiad, pankration was added to the program list. This was the most difficult and cruel type of games, which was a fist fight, which participants carried out in bronze caps placed on their heads. Leather belts with metal spikes were wrapped around their fists. The fight did not end until one of the fighters decided to admit defeat.
7. After some time, the race of heralds and trumpeters, the race of armed warriors, competitions in chariots drawn by mules, as well as some types of children's competitions were added to the list of competitions.

After each Olympics, marble statues of the winners were erected between the Alpheus River and the stadium, which were made at the expense of the cities in which the Olympians lived. Some of the statues were made with funds collected from fines who violated the established rules of the Olympic Games. The ancient Greeks left quite a lot of monuments, statues, and various records, thanks to which modern people know the history of the Olympic Games.

Modern Summer Olympics

The history of the Summer Olympics is quite complex. For a long time, the Olympics were banned, but Great Britain, France, and Greece still held sports competitions, which were secretly called “Olympic.” In 1859, the Olympic Games resumed in Greece under the name Olympia. Such competitions have been held for 30 years.

When German archaeologists discovered the remains of sports facilities in Greece in 1875, Europe began to talk more and more often about the revival of the Olympics.

The history of the development of the Summer Olympic Games began thanks to the French baron Pierre de Coubertin, who believed that their revival would contribute to:

• Improving the level of physical fitness of soldiers.
• The cessation of national egoism, which was inherent in the Olympic idea.
• Replacement of military actions with sports competitions.

Thus, thanks to Coubertin's initiative, the Olympic Games were officially revived from 1896. The Olympic Charter, adopted in 1894, established the rules and principles by which the Summer Games should be held. Each Olympics is assigned its own serial number, and its location is determined by the International Olympic Committee.

Winter Olympic Games of our time

The history of the Winter Olympic Games begins with the French city of Chamonix, which hosted the first Winter Olympic sports event - the Olympics - in 1924. About 300 athletes from 16 countries took part in it. It was from 1924 that the chronology of the Olympics began to include both winter and summer games. In 1994, the summer and winter games began to be held 2 years apart.

Ideological inspirer and organizer winter games- Pierre de Coubertin. To implement his idea, he had to show great perseverance and all his diplomatic abilities. First, he created a commission to organize the Winter Olympics. Then Coubertin managed to organize a Week in the French Chamonix, after which the following Olympiads began to be held:

• 1928 - Swiss St. Moritz.
• 1932 - Lake Placid (America).
• 1936 - German Garmisch-Partenkirchen. It was during this Olympics that the tradition of lighting the Olympic flame was revived.

This is the history of the Winter Olympic Games. The subsequent geography of the Winter Olympics included many European countries, American continent and eastern countries. In 2014, the next Winter Olympics was held in Russia resort town Sochi, and the next Olympic flame will be lit in South Korea in 2018.

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The first modern Olympic Games were held in the Greek city of Athens from April 6 to April 15, 1896.

The decision to hold the First Olympic Games

June 23, 1894, Paris, Sorbonne University - 1st Congress of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was held. initiated an event to announce a project to revive the Ancient Greek Olympic Games. At the suggestion of the writer and translator Demetrius Vikelas (who later became the First President of the IOC), a decision was made to hold new Olympic Games in the city of Athens (Greece). According to the organizers of the Olympics, such a decision would indicate the continuity of the Olympic Games with the modern traditions of Ancient Greece and, moreover, the city had the only large stadium in all of Europe. Unfortunately, the idea of ​​holding the Games in Olympia had to be abandoned due to the enormous costs of reconstructing the stadium.

Opening ceremony of the First Olympic Games

On Easter Monday of Christianity (Catholicism, Orthodoxy and Protestantism) and, moreover, on Greek Independence Day, April 6, 1896, the opening ceremony of the First Summer Olympic Games of our time took place. On the day of the ceremonial start of the competition, more than 80 thousand spectators were present at the stadium in Athens. The ceremony was also attended by the Greek royal family. King George I from the rostrum solemnly declared the First International Olympic Games in the city of Athens open.

From this day on, the first Olympic traditions were born: the head of the state where the competition is taking place opens the Games, and the Olympic anthem is played at the Games ceremony. True, such Olympic traditions as the fire lighting ceremony, the parade of participating countries, and the recitation of the oath have not yet been established.

Participants of the First Olympic Games

More than two hundred and forty male athletes took part in the first Olympic competitions. Forty-three sets of Olympic medals were played in such Olympic sports sports: wrestling, athletics, cycling, swimming, shooting, artistic gymnastics, tennis, fencing, weightlifting.

According to the IOC, representatives of fourteen countries participated in the First Olympics of our time, their athletes were delegated by: Australia, Bulgaria, Austria, Great Britain, Germany, Hungary, Greece, Cyprus, Egypt, Izmir, Italy, Denmark, USA, Chile, France, Sweden and Switzerland .

First Games

It is a little secret that the first Olympic Games were held in Greece back in 776 BC. The small village of Olympia was chosen as the location for the competition. At that time, competitions were held in only one discipline, which was running over a distance of 189 meters. Interesting feature, which distinguished the first Olympic Games in Greece, was that only men could take part in them. At the same time, they competed without shoes or any clothing on themselves. Among other things, only one woman, whose name was Demeter, received the right to observe the competition.

History of the Olympics

The first Olympic Games were a great success, so the tradition of holding them continued for another 1168 years. Already at that time it was decided to hold such competitions every four years. Confirmation of their great authority is the fact that during the competition between states that were at war, a temporary peace treaty was always concluded. Each new Olympics has received many changes compared to what the first Olympic Games were. First of all, we are talking about adding disciplines. At first it was running over other distances, and then long jumping, fist running, pentathlon, discus throwing, javelin throwing, dart throwing and many others were added to it. The winners were so highly respected that monuments were even erected to them in Greece. There were also difficulties. The most serious of them was the ban on the Games by Emperor Theodosius the First in 394 AD. The fact is that he considered this kind of competition to be pagan entertainment. And 128 years later, a very strong earthquake occurred in Greece, due to which the Games were for a long time forgot.

Renaissance

In the mid-eighteenth century, the first attempts to revive the Olympics began. They began to become a reality about a hundred years later thanks to the French scientist Pierre de Coubertin. With the help of his compatriot, archaeologist Ernst Curtius, he, in fact, wrote new rules for conducting such competitions. The first Olympic Games of modern times began on April 6, 1896 in the Greek capital. Representatives of 13 countries from all over the planet took part in them. Russia, in connection with financial problems, did not direct its athletes. The competitions took place in nine disciplines, including the following: gymnastics, shooting, track and field and weightlifting, wrestling, fencing, tennis, swimming and bicycle racing. Public interest in the Games was enormous, a clear confirmation of which is the presence at them, according to official data, of more than 90 thousand spectators. In 1924, it was decided to divide the Olympics into winter and summer.

Failed competitions

It happened that competitions were not held, despite the fact that they were planned. We are talking about the Berlin Games of 1916, the Helsinki Olympics of 1940, as well as the London competitions of 1944. The reason for this is one and the same - world wars. Now all Russians are looking forward to the first Olympic Games, which will be held on Russian territory. This will happen in Sochi in 2014.