The Olympic Games

By:
Melese E. Lecturer, Bahir Dar University, Sport academy, sport science
department
Introduction
The Olympic Game is an international multi-sport
event subdivided into summer and winter sporting
events.
- The summer and winter games are each held
every four years (an Olympiad).
- Until 1992, they were held in the same year.

- The Olympic Games began in 776 BC, in Olympia,

Greece,
- The most recent Summer Olympics were the 2020
Games in Tokyo
The most recent Winter Olympics were the 2022
Games in Beijing.
Ancient Olympic game
- The Olympic Games began in 776 BC to honor
Zeus , every four years. - Initially held in Olympia.
The four year time between two Olympics called:
Olympiad
- Winners at the Games received crowns made of
different leaves
The Games were primarily religious festivals,
accompanied by feasts.
- The festival centered on honoring Zeus, with a
large number of cows slaughtered as offerings.
They competed naked,
the emperor Theodosius -I ended up -as a pagan
event.
Why winter Olympics?
The Winter Olympic is a major international
multi-sport event held once every four years
for sports practiced on snow and ice.
The first Winter Olympic Games, the
1924 Winter Olympics, were held in Chamonix,
France.
twelve nations (Austria, Canada, Finland,
France, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Norway,
Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, and the
United States) have participated in all twenty-
Including continuity
three Winter Games from Czechoslovakia, the
to date.
Czech Republic and Slovakia have also been
represented in every edition.
Modern Olympic game
The Frenchman Baron Pierre de Coubertin started
in 1892.
He then found the International Olympic
Committee (IOC) in 1894.
The first modern Olympics were held in Athens, in
April of 1896.
At this time less than 250 ; 241 athletes, 14
nations were participated
In 2020, Tokyo Japan Olympic 11,420 athletes
form 206 countries competed in 339 sporting
events.
And in 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, 2834 from
91 teams competed in 109 different sporting
events.
Philosophical Foundation
Olympism: Is a philosophy of life which
places sport at the service of humanity.
• Olympism is expressed through actions which
link sport to culture and education.

• This philosophy is an essential element of the

Olympic Movement and the celebration of the
Games.
• The pursuit of this ideal and “fundamental
principles of Olympism” gives rise to a series of
values, which are applicable both on the field
of play and in everyday life.
Olympic values

1.Excelle Giving one’s best, on the field of

play or in life, without measuring
nce oneself with others,
Aims at reaching one’s personal
objectives with determination &
effort.
It is not only about winning, but mainly about
participating, making progress against personal goals,
striving to be and to do our best in our daily lives and
benefiting from the combination of a strong body, and
mind.
2.Friends Focus to encourage the links &
hip understanding between people.

This value broadly refers to building a

peaceful and better world through
solidarity, team spirit, joy and optimism in
sport.
The Olympic Games inspire humanity to
overcome political, economic, gender, racial
or religious differences and forge
friendships in spite of those differences.
The athletes express this value by forming
life-long bonds with their team-mates,
as well as their opponents.
3. Respect
It includes respect for oneself and one’s
body, respect for one another, for rules
and for the environment.

The fair play that each athlete has to

display in sport.
These values are powerfully conveyed
at the time of the Olympic Games.
The values and meaning of Olympism
are expressed by the Olympic symbol
(the five rings), the flame, the torch
relay, the motto.
The Olympic Movement
It is the collected effort for organizing the
Olympic game.
A number of organizations and volunteers
are involved.
Together they form the Olympic
Movement.
The International Olympic Committee is the
supreme authority. currently headed by
Thomas Bach
It holds the rights to the Olympic Games, the
Olympic symbol (the five rings) and the other
elements.
It decide, choosing the host cities, the
composition of the sports programme and
electing new members.
- Around 500 people currently work at the
The Olympic Movement
1. The International Federations
(IFs)

2. The national Olympic

committee (NOC)
3. the Organizing Committees
of the Olympic Games
(“OCOGs”),
1.International the governing bodies of a sport
Federations
(IFs),
e.g. FIFA, the IF for football
(soccer), and
the FIVB, the international
governing body for volleyball.)
2. National Olympic Committees
(NOCs),
regulate the Olympic Movement within
each country.
Carry out many different functions in their
respective countries,
from the development of sport at all
levels, to the creation of educational
programmes, to the ongoing training of
sports administrators.
The NOCs ensure that all the programmes
carried out at a national level conform to
the principles of the Olympic Charter.
3. Organizing Committees for the Olympic Games
(OCOGs),
Are responsible for the practical organization
of the Games.
create or update the competition venues,
stadiums, training halls and the Olympic
village.
It also has to put in place an efficient transport
system and medical services for everyone,
from
- Theathletes to spectators.
volunteers ‘activities vary widely: from
transporting athletes to hospitality and
administration, to give just a few examples. -
- OCOGs are dissolved after the celebration of
each Game, once all subsequent paperwork
Olympic symbols
The Olympic flag with five interwind
rings on a white background, was
designed in1914 by Baron de Coubertin.
but the first Games at which it was
flown were Antwerp, 1920.
These five intertwined rings represent
the unity of five continents (the
Americas are considered one).
These colors, white (for the field), blue,
black, red, yellow, and green, were
chosen such that each nation had at
least one of these colors in its national
-It is hoisted at each celebration of the
flag.
Games.
Olympic Motto
The official Olympic Motto is
"Citius, Altius, Fortius", a Latin
phrase meaning "Swifter, Higher,
and Stronger".
-Coubertin's ideals are probably
best illustrated by the Olympic
Creed:
"The most important thing in the Olympic
Games is not to win but to take part, just as
the most important thing in life is not the
triumph but the struggle. - The essential thing
is not to have conquered but to have fought
well.