OLYPICS HISTORY
The Modern Olympic Games

"The idea of the revival of Olympic Games was not a passing fancy: it was the logical culmination of a great movement. The 19th century saw the taste for physical exercises revive everywhere ... At the same time the great inventions, the railways and the telegraph have abridged distances and mankind has come to live a new existence; the peoples have intermingled, they have learned to know each other better and immediately they started to compare themselves. What one achieved the other immediately wished also to endeavour: universal exhibitions brought together to one locality of the globe the products of the most distant lands; Literary or scientific congresses have brought together, into contact, the various intellectual forces. How then should the athletes not seek to meet, since rivalry is the basis of athletics, and in reality the very reason of its existence?"

(Baron Pierre de Coubertin, 1896)

Re-birth of the Olympic Spirit

The first Modern Olympics were held in Athens, Greece, in 1896, after a hiatus of 1,503 years. These "new" games carried many of the ancient Olympic traditions and, of course, a number of new ones were established. For starters, cities around the world began the tradition of hosting the events for one year at a time. There is an International Olympic committee that appoints a group of about 14 members that will travel to cities who want to host the Olympics. Traditionally, the cities typically wine-and-dine the committee, in order to sway their opinions, but practices like that have since been banned and are now looked down upon. It does make since to do so because estimated revenue of $10 billion dollars is estimated for host cities nowadays.

To start the games, a national leader of the host country welcomes the athletes and declares the Games officially open. An athlete and one official then recite the Olympic oath. A flock of doves-the birds symbolic of peace-are usually released, and the Olympic flame is lit, symbolizing the re-birth of the spirit of the dead heroes. It burns endlessly during the 16 days of events held.

New events were also started in various cities. A great event, the marathon was first introduced in the Modern Olympic Games. This event, another foot race, was ran from Marathon, which is northeast of Athens all the way to the Olympic Stadium. This distance is equal to 40 kilometers. The race commemorates the run of Pheidippides, an ancient runner who brought the news of the Persians landing at Marathon in 490 B.C. to Sparta, which is 149 miles away. According to historians, this distance was run in just one day, a task that is justifiably celebrated by an Olympic tradition. Modern day marathons were standardized at 26 miles 385 yards, just more than 42 kilometers in the year 1908 in London. The modern day marathon is currently a great tradition in the United States in cities like Boston, New York, and Los Angeles, as well as abroad in cities like Barcelona, Spain and Rome, Italy.

The idea of the Olympic torch or Olympic Flame was first inaugurated in the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. This fact is one that often amazes other people who think that is was long a tradition of the Ancient Olympic Games. In truth, however, there was no torch relay or flame lighting in the ancient games. The coliseum used in the Los Angeles games had a facility for a large flame so it was first lit and used there. The rumor about torch relays in the ancient games comes from the fact that torch relays were run in other ancient Greet athletic festivals, including ones held in Athens. Nevertheless, the modern Olympic torch relay was first instated at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin.

The symbolic Olympic flag containing five linked rings, each with a primary color used in the flags of the nations competing in the games, was introduced in 1908. There is no ancient basis for this symbol either; it is a modern-day one. Flags are very important in the Closing Ceremony of the Olympic Games. The flag from the country hosting the next Olympic Games is raised and the Games are finally declared officially closed with the lowering of the Olympic flag. Following this emotional ceremony, there is a variety of entertainment, and the night sky explodes with fireworks.