Ceremonies of the Olympic Games
The Olympic Games have always included a number of ceremonies, many
of which emphasize the themes of international friendship and peaceful
cooperation. The opening ceremony has always included the parade of
nations, in which the teams from each nation enter the main stadium as
part of a procession. The Greek team always enters first, to
commemorate the ancient origins of the modern Games, and the team of
the host nation always enters last. The opening ceremony has evolved
over the years into a complex extravaganza, with music, speeches, and
pageantry. It is eagerly anticipated and well attended. The torch
relay, in which the Olympic Flame symbolizes the transmission of
Olympic ideals from ancient Greece to the modern world, was introduced
as part of the opening ceremony at the 1936 Summer Games in Berlin. In
the relay the torch is lit in Olympia, Greece, and is carried over
several weeks or months from there to the host city by a series of
runners. After the last runner has lit the Olympic Flame in the main
Olympic stadium, the host country’s head of state declares the Games
officially open, and doves are released to symbolize the hope of world
peace.
Two other important ceremonial innovations had appeared earlier at
the 1920 Games in Antwerp, Belgium. The Olympic Flag, with its five
interlocking rings of different colors against a white background, was
flown for the first time. The five rings represent unity among the
nations of Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australia, and Europe. Another
innovation occurring in 1920 was the first reciting of the Olympic
Oath, taken in the name of all the athletes by a member of the host’s
team. The oath asserts the athletes’ commitment to the ideals of
sportsmanship in competition.
Medal ceremonies are also an important part of the Games. After each
individual event during the Games, medals are awarded in a ceremony to
the first-, second-, and third-place finishers. The winners mount a
podium to receive gold (actually gold-plated),silver (silver-plated),
In Introduction to the Philosophy of Sport, Heather L. Reid presents a discussion of how ethics is treated in the arena of Olympism and some of the struggles of defining and how or if the ethical guidelines should be enforced. Reid notes, “Some would say that ethical principles are always the product of a particular culture, so there can no more be universal ethical principles than there can be a universal culture” (Reid, 22). I disagree with the notion that there cannot be universal ethical principles for athletes to follow in sport because even across cultures there are general morals that shape the lives of people from all over the world. For example, murder and cheating are inherently immoral actions, no matter where someone comes from;
The novel Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko follows a young man, Tayo through his journey beginning when he returns home to the Laguna Pueblo Reservation, from World War Two; and is very ill. During the narrative Silko introduces us to Tayo's life before the war, which gives insight to reasons of why Tayo is ill. Through out his illness Tayo goes through many ceremonies both literally and metaphorically to try to cure his ailment. One of the ceremonies that is performed, is lead by Old Ku'oosh, the medicine man, where he performs a cleansing ceremony for someone who has killed someone in battle, even though Tayo doesn't recall killing anyone. However, he adds that this ceremony, which he has been performing for many of the returning war soldiers, has not worked for all of them. He then recommends another medicine man with the tools to cure and perform ceremonies, for the old ceremonies, since the white man had arrived, have not been able to cure the new diseases. Along with the medicine man ceremonies he also goes to American "white" doctors, which also acts as some what of a cleansing for him. In his case vomiting is can also be used as a ceremony for Tayo because he uses it to cleanse his body of the poisons and evil, both physical illness and mental illness. The ceremonies that Tayo goes through whether traditional through a medicine man or contemporary like visits to the psychiatrist and stays in the hospital, all add to his recovery, either through physical or mental cleansing.
The Olympic Games are an international sports competition. In the Olympics, athletes play in many types of games. Some athletes compete in the Summer Olympics. Some compete in the Summer Olympics. The Olympic Games are very old and have a very interesting history.
The days when a British entrant in the high jump cycled at his own expense to Berlin to participate are long gone. In fact, the modern nationalistic approach to the games dates from those very Berlin Olympics in 1936, when Hitler and Goebbels realised what an excellent proselytising opportunity they could be. Those propaganda pioneers are, thankfully, long gone, but others who should know better have snatched the baton from them. So teams are increasingly state-financed and state-controlled with an eye to national prestige, not always in ways beneficial to the health of sport at large. At best, the decisive factor is monetary assistance (and Britain’s recent success owes much to subventions from the lottery fund), at worst it’s medical assistance. In respect of the latter, the Russian example is so well-known as to be hardly worth mentioning, though one suspects it may only be the most egregious among
A very popular and large sporting event that receives an extremely high volume of national media coverage is the Olympic Games. For a number of years, major stations like NBC has provided audiences with an around the clock coverage of the Games. Many other major medias similar to NBC have also done the same by devoted sections solely to the Olympic Games. The Olympics is a time where citizens come together to root for their home country, strengthening their sense of nationalism and pride and cheering for their home athletes to come out victoriously and the country as a powerhouse of the world. Organically, the games give off a sense of war like mentality because countries are competing against each other for the prize, the gold metal. As a competitive college athlete, I can relate to the feeling of pride and nationalism one get before and especially after competing and beating an opponent.
The Olympic games is a series of events that takes place every two and four years that originated in Greece to honor the Greek gods (Cartledge 1). The Olympics is an inspirational contest where many nations of the world come together and compete. This pertains to the athletic competitors who have trained for years to enter the Olympics. This includes swimmers, boxers, hockey players, runners, cyclists, ice-skating, figure skating, and many other sports (Cartledge 2). The Olympics have changed since ancient times because of technology, innovations, and a broader audience.
"Politics has come to be considered not only inappropriate in the arena of sports, but actually antithetical to it," Zirin says. "We want so much to see sports solely as an arena of play, not seriousness. But here's the thing, this can cheapen not only the greatness and relevance of sports to us as a society, but also the courage of the athletes" (The Nation). The pursuit of fame, wealth and status can blind the human conscious, which is why it is important for us to encourage athletes to speak their minds. As a nation, we should not silence the athletes, because it is the truly courageous athletes who have the audacity to stand up when it’s not popular. Sports should be used as a platform for a certain kind of politics: militarism, nationalism. There is a rich tradition of resistance to politics in sports, but their actions have been integral to country’s struggle for racial and gender equality; sports are a safe place to discuss these difficult topics.
The Olympic Games plays a significant role in the world. The relationship between it and host countries is important to investigate for comprehending cultural studies. According to Xu and Kirby (2008), the Olympic Games has a considerable impact on the expression of national identity. For example, London applied this approach to promote its national identity. This can be discovered from the BBC video called James Bond escorts The Queen to the opening ceremony in 2012 (2012): an amiable identity is perceived by the audience through presenting corgi at Buckingham Palace. Moreover, China is no exception. There is an image about the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics, it shows a spectacular drumming performance. In addition, an article about
There are many various factors that have shaped the modern Olympic movement from 1892 to 2002. The original goal was to create an international community through sports competition. Much like the Ancient games between Greek city-states, the games were made to promote unity. However, as time passed many worldwide events such as the Cold War and women suffrage altered the goals of the Olympics. Political views and movements began to shape the Olympics. In addition, economic gains and pursuits became an important aspect of the Olympics. The participation of nations during the 20th century involved nationalism as well as social, political, and economic reasons for joining and participating in the Olympics.
On April 6, 1896, the Olympic Games are reborn in Athens after being banned by the roman Emperor Theodosius I for 1,500 years. King George I of Greece welcomed the crowd of about 60,000 spectators and athletes from 13 nations into the competition with, “I hereby proclaim the opening of the first International Olympic Games at Athens.” The first Olympic Games were held in the city of Elis in 776 B.C. The Olympics were at least 500 years old at the time. Every four years, the ancient Olympics were to be held during a religious festival honoring Zeus, the Greek god. In the beginning, the events were limited to foot races, but eventually numerous events were added, including boxing, wrestling, horse and chariot racing, and military competitions. The Pentathlon was introduced in 708 B.C., which featured events like the footrace, the long jump, discus and javelin throws, and wrestling. However, the Olympics declined in 393 A.D. due to the rise of Rome. Theodosius I abolished the games in effort to suppress paganism in the Roman Empire.
The Beijing Olympics were one of the most iconic global sporting event in recent memory. During the course of the 19 day spectacle 205 countries competed, 37 world records were broken and roughly 4.7 billion people tuned in worldwide. The whole world watched as Usain Bolt became the fastest man to ever live and Michael Phelps won, an astonishing, eight gold medals in aquatics. However, these games were about so much more than sports. In the decades before the 2000’s China had faded into the background and was more or less irrelevant when it came to world super powers. Therefore, these games were about China exhibiting their recently attained wealth and power. The games provided a massive stage for the most up and coming country in the early 21st century. Forty four billion dollars was spent on this Olympics, the most ever. The Olympiad allowed for a global stage for China to flex its muscles just as it had done so many times in its history and the country succeeded in this display. China used the opportunity of the Beijing Olympics to showcase its massive wealth, cultural values and advancement in technology; the games served as both China’s celebration and solidification in the role as a world power.
The Olympic Games originated from Ancient Greece as many as 3,000 years ago. The games started as a way of honoring Zeus, the God of the sky and ruler of the Olympian gods. The first written records of the ancient Olympics date back to 776 B.C. when a cook named Coroebus won the only event called the Stade, a 192 meter race on foot. This made Coroebus the first Olympic champion. Although, many people believe the Olympics went on for many years before. From the 8th century B.C. to the 4th century A.D. The games were held every four years in Olympia. It was always held between August 6 and September 19 during a religious festival honoring Zeus. An ancient legend has it that Alcmene, the mortal woman and Hercules, son of Zeus, originally
In 1894 the Modern Olympic Games were created in order to gain back popularity for France that was lost during the Franco-Prussian War but since then countries have found themselves slipping into the Political Olympics. In 777 B.C. the Ancient Olympics were created in order to show the athletic abilities and the evolution of humans and to encourage peace among the cities of Greece. The Modern Olympics were created in the late 1800’s in order to redeem France after their loss in the Franco-Prussian War, since that point the Games have been politically motivated. The Olympics bring increased public attention and publicity to the country hosting them. China, Germany, and Russia along with many other countries have used this to their advantage throughout the years. Political issues between countries around the time of the Olympics have an effect on the Games, despite attempts to keep the two separate. The Olympics serve as the perfect opportunity for countries to demonstrate where they stand on certain political conflicts. Since the beginning of the Modern Olympic Games the focus has been less on athletic ability and more on political disputes and gaining prestige causing countries to abuse the Olympics by hosting them only for the political advantage, turning them into a political battlefield filled with boycotts and discrimination.
The Olympic Games are a spectacle that all enjoy all over the world. The Olympic Games are a series of sporting events that are played by people all over the world. These athletes come from all corners of the globe to one place that changes every two years to partake in an epic event. Billions of people sit at home to watch the glory that is the Olympic Games, and some are even lucky enough to go to see the games in person. It seems that the Games always had this majestic feeling dating back to some of the very first Olympic Games, which can be traced to as early as 776 B.C. The Historic Olympic Games took place every four years in Olympia. These Games, however, have some other major differences to the Games of today. Firstly,
Every country in the world has its own festival and celebration. People all around the world love joining together and sharing good time through the festivals and celebrations. Festivals are great way to experience local culture. Sometime they even offer a glimpse into past. There are hundreds of festivals across the world. So are you ready to experience of fun and colorful festivals? Below are some of festivals from Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America.