Olympic Games Flashcards
when and where were the first Olympic games
Greece Olympia in 776 BC
what were the first games a religious festival of
religious festival in honour of the Greek chief god Zues
how long did the the games exist in the form of a religious festival
1000 years
what do the five interconnected rings on the olympic flag represent
the five continents involved with the olympic games 1 - Europe 2 - Asia 3 - Oceania 4 - Africa 5 - and the Americans
what do the six colours on the flag including the white background represent
they are found in all of the flags in the world, so that every country can find at least one one of its nation colours
where is the olympic flame lit
by the rays of the sun in Olympia, Greece and carried in a torch to the games
when did the olympic games develop into the modern olympic games
1896
who were the olympic games developed by
Baron Pierre De Coubertin
what did Baron Pierre De Coubertin believe in
believed in a healthy/balanced mind and body and encouraging performers to strive and do their best
why were the international olympic comitee established
Baron Pierre De Coubertin visited the UK and liked the features of amateur sport so the comitee was established
what is the olympic motto
faster, higher, stronger
from ‘citius - altius - fortius’
what are the aims of the modern olympic games
1 - to promote the development physical and moral qualities using sport
2 - to spread the olympic principles throughout the world, creating international good will
3 - bring together athletes of the world in the great four yearly sporting festival
4 - to educate young people through sport, developing friendship and a more harmonious world
what are the olympic values
1 - encourage effort = strive for excellence
2 - perserve human dignity = demonstrating respect
3 - develop harmony = celebrating friendship
been retained for years and are central to the movement
respect, excellence, friendship, courage, determination, inspiration, equality
when was the British Olympic Association (BOA) created
1905
what’s the role of the British Olympic Association?
- organise and coordinate British Olympic + Winter Olympic team matters alongside team GB
- promoting interest from communities and supporting National governing bodies (NGB)
when was the international olympic committee (IOC) created
1894
what do the IOC do
- own all rights to Olympic symbol and the games
- administers olympic movement
- members are appointed to the IOC and are responsible for selecting host cities of Olympic games (summer + winter
what is the paralympics and when did it originate
- originated from sports competition for ww2 veterans with serious back injuries (Stoke Madeville)
- first one in 1960 in Rome values are based on history of games and fairplay (determination, courage, equality and inspiration)
when was the Berlin olympics
1936
what is political exploitation of the olympics
when the games are used to make political points because of the global publicity. The IOC has aimed to seperate sports and politics. Political events overshadowed sporting achievements in some events.
what is propaganda
‘a type of communication that seeks to influence people towards a certain cause and, in the case, a political philosophy. The information given as part of this communication is biased towards a certain belief or set of values’
who was in power in Germany for the Berlin olympics
Nazis were in power and Hitler took the chance to use the games to endorse Nazi ideology
what were nations debating doing but were unsuccessful at the Berlin olympics
they were debating boycotting the games but plans were not successful
who opened the Berlin games
Hitler
what did Adolf Hitler want to show of at the Berlin games
wanted to show the world how efficient and effective Nzi Germany was. As well as proving superiority of the master race.
what was awarded to Berlin before the Nazi party were in power
the Berlin olympics
who is Lutz Lang (Berlin)
a Nazi Germany team trained full time athlete (stretching the idea of olympics being amateur). He was a top long jumper and stereotype of the Nazi aryan race.
who is Jesse Owens (Berlin)
a black US sprinter and long jumper who won four gold medals which embarrassed Hitler. A black athlete being successful over the white athletes went against the aryan supremacy ideology Hitler was trying to promote.
what two athletes at the Berlin olympics were good friends
Lutz Lang and Jesse Owens
what had disappeared when the Berlin games started
anti jewish posters that were abundant before the games began had disappeared when the games started to avoid controversy and upset
what did Hitler refuse to do at the Berlin olympics
refused to hang gold medals around the African Americans that won their events
how many medals were won by the African American members of the USA team at the Berlin olympics
seven won gold, three silver and three bronze
what was the significance of Jesse Owens winning four gold medals
Him winning against Hitler’s aryan race as a black USA athlete embarrassed him. He won against what Hitler was trying to promote the aryan race blue eyes and blonde hair.
when did the Mexico olympics take place
1968
what happened to South Africa’s invitation for the Mexico olympics
the invitation was withdrawn because of other countries threatening to boycott the games because of South Africa’s apartheid regime
what is apartheid (mexico olympics)
- range of policies of racial segregation under a system of legislation
- non white south africans were forced to live in seperate areas to whites
- had to use seperate public facilities, contact between the two groups was limited by law
when did apartheid exist in South Africa (mexico olympics)
from 1948 to 1994
what were African Americans urged to do on the run up to the Mexico games
boycott the games but the boycott never materialised
what did Smith and Carlos do at the Mexico olympics
on the medal ceremony Smith and Carlos protested about the lack of civil rights in the USA. They raised their arms creating an archway representing black power and unity. Black socks with no shoes represented poverty in America. Stood for social equality with black gloves, socks and scarf.
what was the gesture made by Smith and Carlos on the medal ceremony of the Mexico olympics called
‘Black power’ was watching by millions
what happened to Smith and Carlos after protesting at the Mexico olympics
Both were told to leave the games for bringing in politics to the olympics. Treated by many as heroes but some saw them as an embarrassment to the USA. They both lost their jobs.
why were over 2000 Mexicans killed before the games
- over 2000 were killed by the military and more injured during the games for demonstrating against the use of public money on the games
- people found it hard to understand when there was widespread poverty throughout the country
when was the Munich olympics
1972
What happened a day before the Munich Olympics
eight Palestinian terrorists entered the Olympic village and seized 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team. They made a request to release 234 Palestinians that were being imprisoned in Israel. German authorities tried to rescue hostages but failed and all 11 hostages and 5 terrorists were killed, another 3 terrorists were injured.
what were the Palestinian terrorists known as
Black September
what did the International Olympic Association decide should happen with the Munich games after the terrorist attack
- made controversial decision that games should go on
- following day to attack there was a memorial day and Olympic flags were flown at half mast
- Olympics were postponed for a day
reasons for International Olympic Association only postponing Munich games for one day
- money
- resistance from other countries
- reputation = keeping consistency
- opportunities
reasons against the International Olympic Association only postponing the Munich games for a day
- shows no respect
- likely to be unsafe
- reputation
- potential to ruin credibility of the games
what happened during the controversial basketball game in the Munich Olympics
- during cold war time at the Olympics 1972.
- one second left and score was USSR 49 and USA 50 the soviet called a time out. clock was reset to 3 seconds and a soviet player scored and USSR won by a point.
- even though it was agreed time should not have been added the soviets were allowed to keep their gold medal
when was the Moscow Olympics
1980
what happened in December 1979 a year before the Moscow games
Soviet Union forces invaded Afghanistan creating conflict extending the cold war
why did USSR invade Afghanistan
- there was a new Afghanistan communist leader who wanted to westernise the country
- Afghanistan is mainly Muslim and people were against it
- USSR felt the change would impact them with control in central Asia
who was the first to boycott the Moscow Olympics
USA Jimmy Carter (president) stated USA would boycott the games if soviet troops did not withdraw within one month
what did the Moscow Olympics have the smallest of
Smallest turn out of any Olympics
almost 6000 competed from 81 countries compared to an expected 10000
why were there protests in Britain before the Moscow Olympics
as people were against the boycott of the Olympics but some were in favour which sparked debate between sport + politics
what did Margaret Thatcher say about the Moscow Olympics
‘one way to bring home to the Russian people the enormity of what has happened is to boycott the Olympic games’
what British teams chose to boycotted the Moscow games
British hockey, fencing and equestrian but other teams chose to attend
when was the Los Angeles Olympics
1984
why were Los Angeles the only place in the USA to bid for the right to host the 1984 Olympics
after 1972 terrorist attack and financial disaster in 1976 in Montreal only Los Angeles bid in USA
what was announced 12 weeks before the opening ceremony for the Los Angeles Olympics
USSR announced they were boycotting along with East Germany, Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary and Cuba
how many countries boycotted the Los Angeles games in total in response to 1980
14
what did the soviet union accuse USA of doing for the Los Angeles games
using the games ‘for political purposes’ and of having ‘cavalier attitude to security of Russian athletes’ they blamed commercialisation of the games and lack of security measures which in their view amounted to a violation of Olympic charter
why do other people and commentators thing USSR boycotted Los Angeles in 1984
because of 1980 and USA boycotting Moscow Olympic games people saw it as a ‘tit for tat’
what three things were the Los Angeles Olympic games a first for
- first Olympics in which female runners were permitted to compete in the marathon
- first games to be funded exclusively through private means
- first games to make significant profit
what were the Los Angeles Olympic games marked to be seen on
Mass televised entertainment
