Higher, further and faster - This is the motto of the Olympics. It means that the Olympics offers the pinnacle of individual self-transcendence - the striving to exceed previous bests and go beyond the limitations of the mind and body. We get joy watching the Olympics, because we can feel a oneness with those athletes and sportsmen who have dedicated their time to pursuing their best efforts at self-transcendence.
The Olympics reminds us of our own inner yearning to transcend and do better. Breaking down barriers. The Olympics is a dynamic way to celebrate sporting achievement and international friendship. This wonderful ethos is explained by the great Emil Zatopek, who competed in the Olympics.
After all those dark days of the war, the bombing, the killing, the starvation, the revival of the Olympics was as if the sun had come out. I went into the Olympic Village in and suddenly there were no more frontiers, no more barriers. Just the people meeting together. It was wonderfully warm. Men and women who had lost five years of life were back again. A Oneness-World. The Olympics is a rare occasion where countries from around the world come together in a spirit of friendship and sporting endeavour; it is like a sporting United Nations.
During the Olympics it is much easier to break down the barriers that often keep nations at loggerheads. Through sport, we can remember there is much more that unites us than divides us.
Fair-minded competition. Pierre de Coubertin the 'father of the modern Olympics' said that "the important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win, but to take part; the important thing in life is not triumph, but the struggle; the essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.
This is a lofty ideal. It is human nature to want to win, but also the Olympic spirit reminds us that winning is not the only goal of competition. The ideal is to feel oneness with the result - whatever the outcome. Sri Chinmoy writes:. Many winners are documented in ancient Greek myths and legends, stories still being told to this day. The rise in power of the Romans and their influence upon Ancient Greece eventually resulted in the end of the event in around AD.
The first Olympic games as we know them today were held in Athens in as a tribute to their origin. The games brought together 14 nations and athletes to compete in 43 events. Understandably the Greeks wanted the Olympics to remain in Athens on a permanent basis. The second Olympic Games were in Paris in before rotating on a 4 year basis. The Olympics then underwent another revival in before becoming the modern Olympics as we know them today.
This revival was thanks to Pierre de Coubertin who worked hard to gain interest in the Olympics and ensure it was a level playing field to serve as a proving ground for athletes. He also created the iconic mark of the Olympics- the Olympic rings, something that has been seen on all Olympic logos ever since. When Coubertin announced the new Olympics and new logo in he said:. The emblem chosen to illustrate and represent the world Congress of five intertwined rings in different colors — blue, yellow, black, green, and red — are placed on the white field of the paper.
These five rings represent the five parts of the world which now are won over to Olympism and willing to accept healthy competition.
The first modern Olympics were much changed from their original conception in ancient Greece, and the Olympics as we know them today have also changed considerably since the first modern Olympics. There has been a core of five sports that have remained in every summer Olympics programme since their conception, namely; athletics, cycling, fencing, gymnastics and swimming.
The number of sports involved has seen a steady increase and in the IOC decided to impose a cap of 28 sports in the summer Olympics. The first modern Olympics had 22 sports, in comparison to the original 9 in the games in Athens. The London Olympics has 26 sports and the Olympics to be held in Rio sees the addition of rugby 7s and golf. A complete timeline of the changes in Olympic sports can be seen here. The number of countries taking part in the Olympics has seen a considerable increase over the years.
The Olympics in Paris saw a slight increase of 24 countries represented. The greatest increase was seen in the summer Olympics held in Paris with 44 countries being represented.
The last games before the outbreak of the Second World War saw 49 countries represented with a twelve year break before the next Olympics, held in These games, held in London saw an increase to 59 countries, including 14 making their Olympic debut. Numbers gradually increased by around 20 countries a year, excluding the boycott of some events around the s and s. The last Olympic Games held in in Beijing saw countries represented.
The official statistics for the Olympics are as follows. From the 27 th July countries will send more than 10, athletes to compete in events. Rough visitor numbers, measured by ticket sales and numbers at official viewing areas can be found for the last 3 Olympics and are shown below, along with predictions for Whilst the visitor numbers are likely to be affected by the location of the games for travel reasons , these numbers show a considerable increase in interest over the last 12 years.
A number of conclusions could be drawn from this, with a possible one being that people are becoming more interested in sports, the athletes and the Olympic games themselves. In , Kantar OnlineBus surveyed people aged across Great Britain to gauge public perception about the forthcoming Olympics and their interest.
If this data were extrapolated to cover the whole of Great Britain it would equate to roughly 38 million people having some form of interest in the games! The government clearly acknowledge this as they are taking measures to ensure there are sufficient staff at airline customs desks for example.
Take the coastal town of Weymouth for example, hosts of the Olympic sailing events. This summer will see visitors, athletes and support teams from around the world descending on Weymouth, all needing somewhere to stay and somewhere to eat although some will be provided by the athletes village. The Olympic torch route also follows a similar trend, attracting people out onto the streets and into parks to celebrate the passing of the torch.
This is what the inventor, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, had to say about his Olympic symbol in This design is symbolic; it represents the five continents of the world, united by Olympism, while the six colours are those that appear on all the national flags of the world at the present time. Check Out Our Toyota Inventory. Things-To-Do around Morgantown February
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