The history of the Olympic games in London

Literature

1.Wikipedia

2.About.com 20thcentury history

3. Kuhn L. General history of physical culture and sports. M., 1987;

4. Olympic encyclopedia. M., 1980.

5. Havin B. All of the Olympic games. M., 1979;

6. Shanin Yu. From the Greeks to the present day. M., 1975;

7. Shtehnbah In. From Athens to Moscow. M., 1979;

Contents

1.Introduction:

-The Olympics

-London Olympics

2.The main part:

-1908 Summer Olympics

-1948 Summer Olympics

-2012 Summer Olympics

3.Conclusion:

-Thanks to Olympic Games

Introduction

The world's greatest international sports games are known as the Olympic Games. The Olympic idea means friendship, fraternity and cooperation among the people of the world. The Olympic Movement proves that real peace can be achieved through sport. The Olympic emblem is five interlinked rings: blue, yellow, black, green and red. Any national flag contains at least one of these colours. The original Olympic Games began in ancient Greece in 776 B.C. These games were part of a festival held every fourth year in honor of God Zeus at the place called Olympia. It was a great athletic festival, including competitions in wrestling, foot racing and chariot racing, rowing and others. The games were for men only. Greek women were forbidden not only to participate but also to watch the Olympics. The first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens in 1896. Then they were resumed in London after the Second World War. Since then the Olympics are held every fourth year in different countries. The ancient Greeks had no winter sports. Only in 1924 the first Winter Olympic Games were held in France, Now they are being held regularly.

London was host for the first time in 1908. With 1,500 competitors from 19 nations, the Games were by now an institution of world-wide significance. The programme, moreover, was augmented by the inclusion of Association football (which appeared in 1900 but only in a demonstration match), diving, field hockey, and ice hockey, as well as other sports since discontinued.

The most dramatic episode of these Games was in the marathon, run from Windsor to Shepherd's Bush in London, the site of a new stadium. Pietri (Italy) led into the arena but collapsed and was disqualified for accepting assistance from officials. The gold medal went to the second man home, Hayes (USA), but Queen Alexandra, who was present opposite the finishing line, was so moved by the Italian's plight that she awarded him special gold cup. The 400 meters provided an opportunity for Halswelle (GB) to become the only man in Olympic history to win by a walk-over. The final was declared void after an American had been disqualified for boring.

Two other Americans withdrew from re-run final in protest, leaving Halswelle an unopposed passage. Britain won the polo, and all the boxing, lawn tennis, rackets, rowing, and yachting titles as well as five out of six cycle races.

Dorando Pietri finishes the marathon.

The 1908 Olympic Games in London, United Kingdom

The 1908 Olympic Games were originally scheduled to be hosted by Rome, but the 1906 eruption of Mount Vesuvius caused the Games to be relocated to London.

These Games were much better organized than the previous regularly scheduled Olympic Games (they were even the first to have an opening ceremony), yet they were marred by politics and nationalism. Britain's recent refusal to give Ireland its independence caused Irish athletes to boycott the Games and caused contestants from the U.S to not dip the American flag to the British royalty during the opening ceremony (a tradition the U.S. continues to this day).

There was also controversy over the 400-meter final heat. As four runners came into the final stretch, W.C. Robbins (U.S.) was first, followed by J.C. Carpenter (U.S.), with British Wyndham Halswelle coming in third, and followed by a fourth runner from the U.S. As Carpenter and Halswelle (second and third runners) swung out to pass Robbins, someone shouted "Foul!" Though Carpenter (the U.S. runner who had been in second) finished first, with Robbins (U.S.) in second, and Halswelle (U.K.) in third, the British officials accused Carpenter of blocking and elbowing Halswelle and voided the whole race. The race was ordered to be rerun, but since the American runners refused to redo the race, Halswelle ran the race all by himself to win the gold.

It was in the 1908 Olympic Games that the exact distance of a marathon was established as 26 miles and 365 yards. Diving was added to the events for this year.

Approximately 2,000 athletes participated, representing 22 countries.

Date: 2015-01-29; view: 1364