The Olympics are fantastic games where athletes from around the world come to compete and represent their home country. The games are full of amazing accomplishments, but the games are not always what they are cracked up to be. The Olympics bring much hope and joy, but sometimes they bring terrible disasters. In 1972 at the Munich Olympics, the Munich Massacre happened. Eleven Israeli Olympians were killed at the Munich Olympic games by terrorists (Frommer 90-91). Also, in 1996 at the Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, Georgia, a bomb went off (“Olympic Games”). Over the years, numerous Olympic athletes have been accused of taking steroids to improve their chances in the Olympics. The athletes caught are banned from that years Olympic games …show more content…
Sometimes these disasters can affect even the most impressive of events like the Olympics. The Olympics are a time to enjoy the world's best athletes compete. Yet sometimes disaster can strike such as the Munich Massacre. The Massacre delayed the Olympics for a whole day until it was over. Eleven members of the Israeli Olympic team were killed. Two were killed in their rooms and the others were killed at the airport when the terrorists knew they were not leaving the country successfully. The terrorists demanded that 225 Arab prisoners in an Israeli prison be released in exchange for the nine hostages. An agreement was made that the terrorists would have safe passage to an Arab nation and they were taken by helicopter to an airport. At the airport, the terrorists and captives were ambushed by snipers on the roof. In a moment, two terrorists and one police officer were killed. When the armored trucks arrived, the terrorists killed the remaining captives (Frommer 90-91). The Munich Massacre was not the only disaster the Olympics ever experienced. In 1996 the Centennial Olympic Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia was bombed. Only two people were killed due to the blast, but 111 were injured. The suspect was Eric Robert Rudolph, and he would later bomb two abortion clinics in Birmingham, Alabama before his arrest. In 2005, he confessed to the Birmingham and Atlanta bombings after being arrested (“Olympic Games”). The Olympics are not always the …show more content…
Sometimes this is not a special honor but a death sentence for the city. The host city forks out tons of money for the games, and by the time they are over, the city falls into poverty. The city, if it does not have one already, must build an Olympic stadium and arrange places for the athletes to stay. The money the Olympics brings in is not enough to pay the cost of all the expenses of building a grand stadium to host the games. Therefore, the cities sometimes fall into poverty. The host of the 2014 winter Olympics was Sochi, Russia. This city was once a tourist attraction but after the Olympics, it lay waste to poverty. During the Soviet era, it hosted up to forty million tourists a year. Now it is feeling effects of poverty after Russia spent an equivalent to 10 billion US dollars on the Olympic stadiums and hotels in the area. It still is a tourist destination but it is no longer as popular as it once was. The main area’s of poverty are the area’s surround Sochi (“Sochi, Russia”; “The Makings of the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games”). Sochi once a beautiful place, now has poverty and an ever dividing gap between the rich and poor. Around the world, the Olympics force towns and areas into poverty stricken
The controversy in the Munich Olympic games was that there was a terrorist attack.During the Munich Games,security guards ignored what they thought were maintance works, but the eight men in warm-up suits were members of Black September, a terrorist group linked to the Palestine Liberation Organization. They entered the suite of the Israeli quarters in the Olympic Village and killed a coach and weight lifter and then took nine other Israelis hostage.The terrorists demanded the release of 200 Arabs from Israeli prisons and a
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.
After that blast, the injured are everywhere. Eight year old Martin Richard, 29 year old Krystle Campbell and 23 year old Lu Lingzi lost their lives that day, 14 others lost limbs. A total of 264 people were injured from the explosions (Bodden, 2014, p. 21). As the chaos was going on the Tsarnaev brothers calmly, but quickly, leave the scene. They had completed their dirty deed and probably thought they would get away with it.
This is why we need to test for drugs at the Olympics. Drug Testing at the Olympics began only recently at the 1968 Games held in Mexico1. Drugs are banned for two very good reasons: the use of drugs produces an unfair advantage, and it is hazardous for the athlete to take them. While drug testing is now commonplace, the procedures are still fairly primitive and arouse much controversy2. We all remember the Andreea Raducan situation from the Sydney Olympics.
“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 1936 Berlin Olympics was one of the most difficult, yet most memorable of all the Olympics. Even with the Great Depression and tough conditions some athletes still managed to be victorious. This was not an easy task with a Holocaust raging in the background. However, if there was ever a time that people needed to feel victorious it was within this time period when people’s spirits felt squashed by the heavy hand of Hitler. There, in Berlin, people were able to rise above Hitler and show that no matter race or religion-one could be victorious.
In the past the Olympic games were used as a way for the Greeks to honor their gods. Today the games are not an honoring but more of a social gathering. What’s great about the games today is that everyone has equal opportunity to compete. No matter your gender, size, ethnicity, or wealth, all you have to do is work hard and
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.
Most people would classify the Berlin Olympic Games of 1936 as just another Olympics, and they would be right because the Games did have the classic triumphs and upsets that occur at all Olympic Games. What most people did not see, behind the spectacle of the proceedings, was the effect the Nazi party had on every aspect of the Games including the results. Despite Nazi Germany’s determination to come off as the superior nation in the 1936 Olympics, their efforts were almost crushed by the very people they were trying to exclude.
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.
In the summer of 1996, Atlanta Georgia played host to the 23rd modern Olympic games. It was easily the greatest thing to happen to Atlanta in the 90's and there were many benefits brought its way as a result. Of all these benefits, the most significant ones were (1) the legacy of all the facilities built for the event, (2) the revitalization of the downtown area, (3) the exposure it gave to the city and (4) the economic benefits it gained as a result of all this.
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).
The Olympic Games are the leading worldwide sport event that held every 4 years, featuring thousands of international athletes from more than 200 nations participating in a variety of sports competitions. Although the Games are about winning the sports competitions, they also provide a platform for the nations throughout the world to learn different cultures and share uniqueness. The Games are important, and have to be held because they transmit a message of friendship and peaceful between nations.
A story that is widely known about how the Olympics came to be is one in which Heracles was the creator and he was the one who made the stadium as an honor to his father Zeus after completing his twelve labors. The winner would be crowned victorious with the same olive wreath that the future Olympic participants would wear if victorious. Though now an olive wreath may sound insignificant this award was sacred to them. It was also considered to be a symbol of wisdom, peace, glory, and prosperity. In the 2004 the summer Olympics came back to Athens, Greece where they had their own interpretation of the traditional games. Such things as awarding the winner with the olive wreath were repeated in honor of the old ways and the fact that that was where it all started made it obviously more
Introduction Today, the Olympic Games are the world's largest pageant of athletic skill and competitive spirit. They are also displays of nationalism, commerce and politics. Well-known throughout the world the games have been used to promote understanding and friendship among nations, but have also been a hotbed of political disputes and boycotts. The Olympic games started thousands of years ago and lasted over a millennium.. The symbolic power of the Games lived on after their demise, and came to life again as the modern Olympic Games being revived in the last century. Both the modern and Ancient Olympics have close similarities in there purpose and in there problems.