The “friendly Games” as they were referred to, the 1956 Melbourne Olympics was the event that made Melbourne the sporting capital of Australia. They were the first country to hold an Olympics outside Europe or Northern America and this was the way they were going to prove they were capable of holding the name of the sporting capital of Australia.
Melbourne was announced to hold the Olympic Games on 28 of April 1956 by winning the bid over Buenos Aires by one single vote but with doubts of the games being ready in time when the IOC (International Olympic Games) President Avery Brundage visited 18 months before the games were set to start, it was unsure if the games were going to go on. Although there were uncertainties the games would happen, the Olympic Games preparation was finished and on the 22 of November 1956. 103,000 people join together in the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) to attend the opening ceremony of the 67 nations. The Australians had held the first
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The games were broadcasted on all three stations TCN 9, HSV 7 and ABN 2 even through the networks didn’t have the rights to broadcast this event till three days before the event started. These were the first Olympic Games to be held on television which was a big deal as you didn’t have to go the MCG or any of the other ground if you wished to watch the games.
The Melbourne Olympics were said to be “The Friendly Games”. But the global tension of the cold war resulted in a bruising and Bloody water polo match against Hungary and the Soviet Union which resulted in a lot of the players coming out bleeding or bruised. The tension was also high because the Soviet Union had been taking advantage of the control they had on Hungary which allowed them to study their tactics and training methods. This made a lot of the members of the Hungary Olympic team to leave the games and go to the United States of
People consider the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team to be one of the greatest things to happen in U.S Olympic history. Their game against the Soviets is known as "The Miracle on Ice." The world was stunned when the United States defeated the Soviets in the semi-final game of the 1980 Olympics. The Soviets hadn't been beaten in the gold medal game in years. This miracle game is still greatly known around the world and will not be forgotten by Americans any time soon.
Since 776 BCE, the Olympics have been a way for people of different cultures to come together and compete in friendly competition. In 1892 the first modern Olympics were held in Athens, although it had been over a thousand years since the last game it still had brought together an assortment of different religions and ethnic groups together. Many factors shaping the Olympic Games reflect the changes that have taken place in our world since the last game in 393 CE in Greece such changes include woman’s suffrage, global economy, world wars, and proving competency.
“No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas” (Advertising, Demonstrations, Propaganda* 98). This rule shows just what the Germans were hoping for, a peaceful, passive, war-free environment in which countries can get together and compete. Although we all know that quite the antithesis was upon the 1972 Olympics in Munich between September the fifth and September the sixth. The Munich Massacre, one of the worst massacres of all time, was driven by the vengefulness of the Palestinian group known as Black September, towards the people of Israel, or more relevantly, towards their Olympic team (Rosenberg). Since this confrontation between Palestine and Israel has been going on for such a long time, the conflict was ultimately inevitable. Or was it? The tragedy at the 1972 Munich Olympics stunned the world by the murders of the Israeli Olympic team, but the fact that it could have been prevented is completely unacceptable.
The 1980 Olympics Games in Moscow was supposed to be the usual multi-sport, international event where athletes from all nations come to prove their athletic ability. However, the Soviet Union’s invasion in Afghanistan led the United States to respond by withdrawing from the Olympic Games. As a result, a total of sixty five other countries, did not attend the Olympic Games. Although a number of countries did not participate in the Games, the Games went on as planned.
Responding to the persecution of Jewish athletes in 1933, Avery Brundage, president of the American Olympic Committee initially considered moving the Games from Germany but he was blind and was determined to accept the invitation to Berlin.
Kindersly, Dorling. The Olympic Games: Athens 1896-Sydney 2000 Chronicle of the Games, 1 July 2000
Today we owe one of the largest global social gatherings to the Greeks, the Olympic games. The Olympic games were held every four years in Olympia, Greece. Today “the Olympic games are held every four years, with the summer and the Winter Games alternating by occurring every four years but two years apart.” Just like the Ancient Olympic games, today’s Olympics are designed to be a time of peace in which all nations can come together to compete in different sports.
The Olympic Games of Munich started like any other, the parade of nations, proud representatives filled with dreams of gold medals and strong finishes. A moment of glory and hopefully standing tall on the podium as their flag is raised. This is a time when nations come together in peace to show the power of human achievement through sport. It did not happen that way.
middle of paper ... ...A. & Co. The Olympics, A History of the Modern Games. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois. of Illinois, in 1992.
Modern Day Olympics are a huge tradition that sweeps the screens of televisions across the world. Competitors take the arena with uniforms that dawn their countries colors and designs that are meant to resemble their designated flag. For months the news is centered around the games; the preparation, the athletes, and of course the competition. Countries aren 't obsessed, they are inspired and full of pride seeing athletes from their country compete and show their incredible skill. This tradition dates back to ancient Greece where the games began. Tony Perrottet writes about the traditions of the ancient game in his book The Naked Olympics.
Efforts are being constantly being made to ensure that sports can once again be played with true sportsmanship spirit. It is for countries and Participants to help in jointly maintaining the pride of participation and competition.
Finish, Finish, Go, and Go you just set the new world record. Every four years lots of people gather around a pool cheering for Olympians. It is a very noisy place. A lot of Olympians that are part of the summer Olympics are very athletic, they swim all year around. The swimming Olympic history and background is very interesting. They have done so many new things over that past couple of years. They come out with new rules every year to make things more fair and challenging. There are a lot of events and tons of records that have been broke. A lot of Olympians have set future goals to stride for. I was swimming the 200 meter fly I was at a really good time when I had 50 meter sprint left at the end all I could think about was I’m going to set the new world record. Olympic swimming is a very fun sport it is very athletic. Every year in the summer time every one always sits around a TV watching this it is very famous in America. Swimmers from all around the world come and here and compete. There is a lot of competition there I have found out a lot about the history of swimming. There are a lot of events and tons of records that have been broke. A lot of Olympians have set future goals to stride for.
How did politics affect the Olympic Games in 1936, 1968 and 1972? In 1934, the death of President Hindenburg of Germany removed the last remaining obstacle for Adolf Hitler to assume power. Soon thereafter, he declared himself President and Fuehrer, which means “supreme leader”. That was just the beginning of what would be almost 12 years of Jewish persecution in Germany, mainly because of Hitler’s hatred towards the Jews. It is difficult to doubt that Hitler genuinely feared and hated Jews. His whole existence was driven by an obsessive loathing of them (Hart-Davis 14).
It was estimated that the Olympic Games 2012 would involve more than 11,000 athletes and officials, 1 million visitors from around the world, and 4 billion television audiences, or more. Therefore, it was important to ensure that the Games preparations were ready on time, delivered high standard sports facilities to the sports professionals while controlled spending within budget.
Ancient Olympics The ancient Olympics had some differences from the modern Games. There were fewer events, and only free men who spoke Greek could compete, instead of athletes from any country. Women where not allowed to even watch the games on penalty of death let alone play in them.. Also, the games were always held at Olympia in Greece instead of being moved around to different sites every time. But also they had some similarities to our modern Olympics, winning athletes were heroes who put their home towns on the map, and became financially sound for life. The conflict between the Olympic's ideals of sportsmanship and unity and the commercialism and political acts which accompany the Games where also present in ancient times. "Sotades at the ninety-ninth Festival was victorious in the long race and proclaimed a Cretan, as in fact he was. But at the next Festival he made himself an Ephesian, being bribed to do so by the Ephesian people. For this act he was banished by the Cretans."