The Olympics
The Olympic Games is an athletic festival that originated in ancient Greece and was revived in the late 19th century. Before the 1970s, the Games were officially limited to competitors with amateur status, but in the 1980s, many events were opened to professional athletes. Currently, the Games are open to all, even the top professional athletes in basketball and football. The ancient Olympic Games included as many as 32 different sports. In 1924, the Winter Games were sanctioned for winter sports. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world's foremost sports competition.
Ancient History
Just how far back in history organised athletic contests were held remains a matter of debate, but it is reasonably certain that they occurred in Greece almost 3,000 years ago. However ancient in origin, by the end of the 6th
Olympic Village Boring?
Famed for being a party place, the Olympic Village in Beijing may disappoint on the party front this year. Romantic stories came out of the 2004 Athens Olympics where sparks first flew between Swiss tennis star, Roger Federer, and his longtime girlfriend, Mirka Vavrinec.
In Beijing, the soulless hangar-like disco room - complete with grey walls, grey carpet, sub-zero air conditioning and live Chinese folk music - may well nip any sizzling romance in the bud.
"I suggest they won't find what they need in here, like crazy fun and the happy hour," admitted a member of a shaggy haired Chinese rock band, also performing at the venue, as he sipped a fizzy drink. The beautifully manicured Olympic Village, which is lodging some 10,000 athletes and their trainers in brand new apartments, is getting top marks for organisation, facilities and food, but not for encouraging mingling.
China has pulled out all the stops for the 2008 Olympics, which it promises will be the best ever. The 66-hectare Village has laid on everything from Peking Duck to Chinese massage and has armies of smiling volunteers on hand to help guests. Only the evening entertainment is nothing much to talk about. Gambling in the games room is prohibited, a sign says, and the DVDs on offer are all strictly family movies.
"Is too many smiley and good behavior. No TV and no frozen," complained Kazakh canoeing trainer Alexandr Davydov in broken English, referring to the absence of a fridge in the apartments. "Just sitting in the apartment each night," he sighed.
Still, the guys at least can console themselves that there are a record number of women athletes this year - 45 percent of the total - and that the fun factor has been worse.
In the 1932 Los Angeles games, women weren't even allowed in the Olympic Village, and in the Lake Placid Winter Games of 1980 athletes were housed in a newly built medium-security prison. |
century BC at least four Greek sporting festivals, sometimes called "classical games," had achieved major importance: the Olympic Games, held at Olympia; the Pythian Games at Delphi; the Nemean Games at Nemea; and the Isthmian Games, held near Corinth. Later, similar festivals were held in nearly 150 cities as far afield as Rome, Naples, Odessus, Antioch, and Alexandria.
Of all the games held throughout Greece, the Olympic Games were the most famous. Held every four years between August 6 and September 19, they occupied such an important place in Greek history that in late antiquity historians measured time by the interval between them - an Olympiad. The Olympic Games, like almost all Greek games, were an intrinsic part of a religious festival. They were held in honour of Zeus at Olympia by the city-state of Elis in the northwestern Peloponnese. The first Olympic champion listed in the records was Coroebus of Elis, a cook, who won the sprint race in 776 BC. Notions that the Olympics began much earlier than 776 BC are founded on myth, not historical evidence.
The Olympic Games were technically restricted to freeborn Greeks. Many Greek competitors came from the Greek colonies on the Italian peninsula and in Asia Minor and Africa. Most of the participants were professionals who trained full-time for the events. These athletes earned substantial prizes for winning at many other preliminary festivals, and, although the only prize at Olympia was a wreath or garland, an Olympic champion also received widespread adulation and often lavish benefits from his home city.
Pakistan at the Games
Pakistan have won three Olympic golds in hockey since first making their Olympic debut in the 1948 Games in London. Hussain Shah won a bronze medal in boxing in 1988, and they have also bagged a bronze in wrestling. But in recent times, they have failed to win a single medal as their contingents returned home empty-handed from Sydney (2000) and Athens (2004).
In Beijing, Pakistan's medal drought is expected to continue though there are faint hopes that the once all-conquering hockey team might revive its lost glory. Apart from hockey, Pakistanis are also competing in athletics, swimming and shooting but through wild-card entries as none of the Pakistani athletes were good enough to qualify for the Beijing Games.
Pakistan may not have any realistic chances of winning Olympic medals, but their athletes are having a whale of a time in Beijing. Unlike Westerm athletes, they aren't even bothered by the heat or smog in the Chinese capital. "Beijing is a bit hot but it's not unbearable," said Pakistan hockey team's head coach Khawaja Zakauddin, a former Olympic gold medalist. "In fact, the weather is better here than in Lahore."
Zaka said that he and his players are very pleased with the excellent arrangements made at the picturesque Athletes' village. According to him food is not a problem as there is a wide range of dishes to choose from. An interpreter given to the Pakistani contingent by the event's organisers help the visitors overcome the language barrier and the presence of coach, Naveed Alam, who had coached in China for three years, is an additional bonus.
At the massive dining area, Pakistani hockey players generally make a beeline for the burgers. "They like burgers, pasta and other European dishes," said Zaka. "In addition, there are also some Asian dishes and our boys mostly opt for the fried chicken, which is not bad."
Stars To Watch Out For
Michael Phelps
Swimming phenomenon, legend, superstar, golden boy. Whatever you call this 23-year-old American, he has proved to be rather useful in the pool. At Sydney in 2000, Phelps made headlines when he became the youngest
Olympic Rings
These five rings - blue, yellow, black, green and red - represent the five parts of the world now encompassed by Olympism and ready to compete against each other. Moreover, the six colours (including the white background) thus combined represent those of all nations, without exception. The blue and yellow of Sweden, the blue and white of Greece, the French, English, American, German, Belgian, Italian and Hungarian tricolours, the yellow and red of Spain are side by side with the new Brazilian and Australian flags, the old Japan and the new China. It is a true international emblem.
The results of a survey carried out in six countries (Australia, Germany, India, Japan, Great Britain and the USA) in 1995 showed that 92% of those questioned correctly identified the Olympic rings, which made them the most-recognised symbol. 86% of those questioned associated the Olympic rings with the world's greatest sports event: the Olympic Games.
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American male swimmer at an Olympics in 68 years. Five months later, in the 200m butterfly, he was the youngest man ever to set a swimming world record. The boy from Baltimore hit Athens in 2004, equalling Mark Spitz's record of four golds won in single person events. He finished with eight medals in one Olympics, a feat only achieved by Russian gymnast Alexander Dityatin at Moscow in 1980. Phelps will be racing up to 20 times in Beijing, going for a record eight golds and every ounce of his competitive spirit will be needed. He says: "It's either nothing or 'I have to get my hand on the wall before they do'."
Rivals:
American team-mate Ian Crocker has the potential to ruin the Phelps party as the two will go head-to-head in the 100m butterfly. Another American who may feel as though he was born at the wrong time is Ryan Lochte - he goes up against his friend in the 200m. After narrowly losing to Phelps in the 400m individual medley in the trials, Lochte said: "I always feel like he's beatable. He's just a regular person."
What Phelps says about a possible eight golds: "I don't think anything is too high. The only way to think like that is if you put limits on yourself. The more you use your imagination, the faster you go. If you think about doing the unthinkable, you can. The sky is the limit."
In action:
All the swimming takes place in the National Aquatics Centre.
Allyson Felix
Allyson Felix has dominated the 200m since taking silver at the last Olympics as an 18-year-old. She is the owner of the fastest 200m by a woman this century and at the 2007 World Championships, she won her main event as well as the 4x100m and 4x400m relays. In doing so, she became only the second female to win three golds. The only things missing from her collection are an Olympic gold medal and the 200m world record. Can she achieve both in Beijing? At Crystal Palace recently she trailed home in fourth place behind Jamaican rival Sherone Simpson and left the track shaking her head after a rare defeat.
Rivals:
Simpson heads a trio of Jamaican contenders. Veronica Campbell-Brown beat Felix in Athens and has run 21.94 seconds this year, while Kerron Stewart has also gone under 22 seconds in 2008. The US have sprinting strength in depth so Muna Lee, the 100m champion at their trials, and Marshevet Hooker cannot be counted out. What she says: "It all happened so fast for me. You do just sometimes look around and realise that and go: 'Wow'."
In action:
The first two rounds take place on August19, the semi-finals on August 20 and the final on August 21.
