Ancient Olympic Games and Modern Day Olympics

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The purposeful correlation of modern day Olympic sport with ancient Olympic Games provides a solid foundation for the hypothesis of continuity with an era of moral ethics. Ancient sport practice was immaculate and less blemished by the current association with actions for profit, loss of amateur concepts and change-over to professionalism, aggression and anabolic drugs misuse. Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Games, looked at the ancient Olympic Games as the provider of an insightful and a great resource of motivation. Homer, in the living works The Iliad and The Odyssey, described Olympic Games as providing an imminent look onto the interlinking of the athletic achievements and commemoration of sport. Homer also clarified the extent to which sports reflected a cultural ideal based on harmonizing the physical and intellectual excellence (McIntosh, p. 20-23). As McIntosh (20-23) remarked, sports in the Homeric days was noble, he also approached the gradual control of commercial ideas and the shadow of political objectives on the games.

If the ambition to ideal ethics and principles is a part of the explanation for the unique characteristic position of sport in modern society, then the association between amateurism and sporting excellence should make an equally influential input. In most European and North American countries, the growing commercial ideas of the game intimidates the commitment to amateurism dominated Olympic Games during the first half of the 20^th Century. Amateurism highlighted the authenticity of sport’s allegation to higher ethical standards by protecting Olympic sport, and sports in general, from the distortion brought to by professional and commercial ideas (Brohm, p. 112).

The Olympic Games started in Peloponnesus, in Greece. No one can tell exactly the date when it started, however most authorities give the date of 776 BC, as the earliest archaeological documentation points out. The sport contests took place at Olympia; from here the name, Olympic Games came. The ancient Olympic Games took place every four years. The Greeks called this four years epoch of time Olympiad. It made up their date systems for events (for example, 2 months after the Olympiad or 8 months before the Olympiad). At that time, Greece was not a unified state, instead, it composed of multiple economically and politically independent cities communities given the name city-states. Olympic Games in Greek history was an important event as it was the occasion for all the Greek people to come together, besides it was of significant religious impact. The Greeks enjoyed the games in honor of Zeus and believed that Zeus grants the winners’ prizes. Athletes were always naked in both training and contests aiming to display the human body perfection and synchronization of body and mind work. All athletes taking part in Olympic Games were Greek free men, as the rules forbade women, slave, and foreigners from participation (Olympic Museum English Report 658).

All games were individual sports, with no team or water sports celebrated. The sport events took place over five days period. On the first day, the opening ceremony, athletes as well as judges took the Olympic oath to respect the rules and not to cheat. Then a parade of trumpet players and heralds followed the oath ceremony. On the second day morning, horsing events took place in a special arena (hippodrome), the most popular of which was the four-horse, four-wheel chariots race. Winners of horse races were the owners not the players. On the afternoon, discus, javelin, long jump, boxing, and wrestling (pentathlon) competitions took place. The third day was the peak of the games, 100 cows sacrificed to Zeus and other Gods, and all engaging athletes invited to a feast sharing the meat of the sacrificed cows. Racing and combat competitions took place in the fourth days, while celebrating the winners occurred in the fifth day. There was only one winner for each competition, and the prize was a circular shaped crown of olive leaves. The Olympic Games went on this pattern for almost a thousand years, until the Christian Emperor Theodosius the first forbade polytheist religious festivals including the Olympic Games in 393 AD (Olympic Museum English Report 658).

The Modern Days Olympic Games are the biggest all sport events of the present time. Athletes from all over the world share in the events with no race, gender or age limits. With the Olympic flag showing, five rings represent the international nature of the Games. Although the Olympic Games take place every four years like other tournaments (FIFA World Cup and Euro cup), yet Olympic Games are not like any other sports events. They are the largest sporting event considering the number of sports in one tourenament, the number of athletes taking part in the events and the number of people gathered including media, spectators, politicians, society stars, and guests. Olympiad is a renowned event in itself; however, it takes place within the context of the Olympic Movement that still holds to the same ancient noble sport objectives. The Modern Days Olympic Games include the Olympiad (the Summer Olympic Games) and the Winter Olympic Games. Since 1992, the Winter Games take place between two summer Olympiads that is two years from the Summer Games instead of taking place in the same year. However, Winter Olympics still take place every 4 years. In summer Olympiads, athletes compete in a 28 sports individual, team, indoors or outdoors and in field, track or arena. In Winter Games, athletes compete in seven sports on snow and ice, whether indoors or outdoors (Olympic Museum English Report 668).

The first Modern Days Olympic Games took place in 1896. The International Olympic Committee decided to celebrate this Olympiad in Athens memorizing the ancient Olympic Games. For this occasion, restoration of the ancient stadium took place. Besides, the committee introduced the Marathons race for the first time memorizing the Greek soldier who ran nearly 34 Km form Marathon to Athens carrying the news of the defeat of the Persian invasion. Since then, innovations continued, introducing more games, women joining the competitions with baseball and boxing as the only games not open for them until now. Standardization of the gold, silver, and bronze medals was at Amsterdam Olympiad in 1928, medals kept the same shape and symbols until Sydney Olympiad in 2000 where the symbols changed for the first time. Unlike summer Olympiads, Winter Olympic medals are not standardized. Other materials like crystal, granite are added; in other occasions (as in Tokyo Winter Olympiad), polishing of medals with lacquer took place (Olympic Museum English Report 668).

With increasing number of athletes having the urge to share in the event, the International Federation of every sport organize qualifying competitions. Each country’s National Olympic Committee becomes responsible for the entry of its qualified athletes into the Olympic Games. All athletes as well as the organizing committee must stand for the Olympic Charter. Being in the front position in the international arena, Olympic Games are prone to be used as a propaganda tool (1936 Olympiad in Berlin during the Nazi regime rule). The games may be a tool in political conflicts as happened in 1980 in Moscow and in 1984 in Los Angeles. Because of the media overspread of Olympic events and global interest in watching and following the events, Munich Olympiad has turned to be a political conflict stage. The hostages’ situation mounted to the assassination of two Israeli members of the delegate and a police officer. Terrorists were eventually killed by the antiterrorist force, however the incident will remain alive in the people’ minds. On the other hand, Olympiads can be a stage for political recognition (as with the former Soviet Union republics). Besides it can be a chance for peaceful diplomatic approach (in Sydney, 2000 when the two delegates of South and North Korea paraded together) (Olympic Museum English Report 668).

Fire has always been associated with values of purity and light, in addition, played an important role in the life of humankind and the development of civilization. Thus, the Olympic Torch represents the perspective of these positive values. The method of lighting the Olympic Torch making use of sunrays ensures the purity of the flame. The question is what happens if on the day decided to lighten the torch the sun does not come up? As a safeguarding measure, on a previous rehearsal sunny day, lighting a torch as dictated by the conventional then keeping that torch in a security glass to use it on the ceremony day if the sun is not out. The leaving point of the Olympic Torch is always Olympia highlights the tie between the Ancient and Modern Day Games and stresses the philosophical link between these two events. The Olympic torch is then relayed to its final destination. Planning the course of the Olympic Torch occurs in two phases; first phase is from Olympia to Athens (Panathenaic stadium), and it is the responsibility of the Greek Olympic Committee. Second phase is fro Athens to the host city in relay and this is the responsibility of the Olympic Games Organizing Committee. Olympic Torch relay is mainly by foot carried by athletes or runners. The identity of the last person to lighten the Olympic flame during the opening ceremony is kept secret until the last few minutes. He or she is usually a world sport celebrity or a young child representing hope in the future (Olympic Museum English Report 655).

Both ancient and modern days Olympic Games share certain characteristic; only symbolic prizes for the winners. Second, athletes always seek for the honor of taking part in the games trying to show who is stronger, faster, and higher. Finally, the watching crowds share the joy and happiness. The Modern Day Olympic Games were lost three times since the beginning in 1896, during World War I (1916) and World War II (1940 and 1944). Ancient Olympic Games was a time of truce between fighting communities, would it not be suitable to revive this tradition in our effort aiming to keep the Olympic Spirit.

Works Cited

Brohm, J. M. Sport, A prison of Measured Time. London: Pluto Press, 1978.

McIntosh, P. Sport in Society (revised edition). London: West London Press, 1987.

Olympic Museum en_report_655. “The Modern Olympic Games”. The Olympic Museum, 2nd edition. The Olympic Museum. 2007.

Olympic Museum en_report_658. “The Olympic Games in Antiquity”. The Olympic Museum, 2nd edition. The Olympic Museum. 2007.

Olympic Museum en_report_668. “The Modern Olympic Games”. The Olympic Museum, 2nd edition. The Olympic Museum. 2007.

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Ancient Olympic Games and Modern Day Olympics

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