First Olympic Games. History of Olympic Games

MOSCOW, 6 April. /TASS/. Exactly 120 years ago, Athens hosted the grand opening of the first modern Olympic Games. The French baron Pierre de Coubertin made his dream come true - he organized a sports festival, which, by analogy with the ancient Greek games, was called the Olympics. The grand opening took place on April 6, 1896.

120 years after the first Summer Games in Athens in the Brazilian Rio de Janeiro will be held the 31st in a row Olympic Games which have changed drastically over the years. The number of medals played increased seven times, the number of participants increased 40 times, and countries increased 15 times. In Athens in 1896, women did not participate, as well as athletes from Russia and many other countries - primarily for financial reasons.

At the first Olympic Games of our time, competitions were held in only nine sports that are considered classic - they are included in Olympic program and now. It's wrestling, cycling, Athletics, swimming, gymnastics, shooting, tennis, weightlifting and fencing. A total of 43 sets of medals were played.

Dumbbell lift and 12-hour track bike race

Unlike sports that have survived to this day (albeit often with noticeably changed rules), individual disciplines ceased to exist over time or were reformatted. So, only one set of awards was played in the fight - without weight categories that appeared later, and unified rules. The cycling program included such events as a 12-hour race and a 100-kilometer race on the track, and the road race took place from Athens to Marathon.

AT athletics 12 sets of awards were played, this sport at the 1896 Games became the most popular and ended with the triumph of athletes from the United States, who won nine medals. The "Queen of Sports" has been preserved in its original form for 120 years - until now the program of the Games includes 100, 400, 800 and 1500 meters and 100 meters hurdles, a marathon, long jump, high jump, triple and pole vault, shot put and discus throw. The fundamental difference was due to the peculiarities of the ancient Marble Stadium restored for the Olympics - the athletes did not run in a circle, but in a straight line.

Unlike modern Games, 120 years ago, all swimming competitions were held in open water - there were no artificial pools in Athens. Swims were held at 100, 500 and 1200 m freestyle. A separate discipline was swimming in the 100 meters for the sailors of Greece, and the winner was almost a minute behind the time of the champion in the "open" tournament - the Hungarian Alfred Hajos. Hayosh also won the 1200-meter race, later recalling that during the swim he thought only about how to survive: the organizers took the participants on boats to the open sea, from where they, having overcome the Olympic distance, had to swim to the shore.

The gymnastic program has hardly changed either - in Athens they competed on pommel horse, rings, crossbar, parallel bars and vault, team tournaments on uneven bars and crossbar were also held. Only rope climbing did not get along in the Olympic program.

Of the shooting disciplines, shooting from a pistol at 50 m and a high-speed pistol at 25 m have been preserved. 120 years ago, shooters also competed in accuracy from an army rifle at 200 and 300 m, as well as an army pistol at 25 m.

Tennis players held the usual individual and doubles championships, in fencing, awards were played among foil fencers and saber fencers. separate view programs have become a fight among the so-called "maestro" - fencing teachers. It was the only discipline at the 1896 Games where professionals were allowed.

Finally, in weightlifting, now outlandish competitions took place in the bench press with two hands and lifting the dumbbell with one hand - without weight categories.

120 years ago, Olympic champions received silver medals, second-place finishers received bronze medals, and third places were not taken into account at all. Only later did the International Olympic Committee include the third winners in the medal standings, while data on them from the 1896 Games are still being specified.

241 athletes against 10 thousand

In Rio de Janeiro, 306 sets of awards in 28 sports will be played at the 2016 Games, and the number of expected participants exceeds 10,000 people from 206 countries whose National Olympic Committees are recognized by the IOC. 120 years ago in Athens, according to official figures, 241 athletes from 14 countries competed.

The statistics of the Games of 120 years ago are still not complete. Information about the nationality of the participants varies. Unlike later Olympiads, in 1896 there was no official team standings by country, and the organizers did not pay special attention on the nationality athletes, which was recorded in the protocol from their words. For example, Austrian and Hungarian athletes competed separately, and not for a team from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, two-time Olympic champion in athletics Teddy Flack was considered an Australian, although Australia was part of the British Empire in those years.

The number of participants and countries of the first Games in Athens was also affected by serious financial problems in Greece related to the organization of the Olympics. Athletes had to provide themselves with housing in Athens, not everyone had the opportunity to pay for the move - especially from other continents. The lack of financial resources, by the way, was the reason for the absence of athletes from Russia at the first Olympic Games.

At the same time, a solid delegation arrived from the United States, and it was the Americans who won the unofficial overall standings - 11 gold medals, which is one more than the hosts. The Greeks, however, did not turn out to be equal in the total number of medals - 46, besides, the hosts won in the main, in their opinion, form of the Olympic program - the marathon. First in modern history Olympic champion marathon runner Spyridon Louis became a national hero, the Olympic Stadium in Athens, the main object of the 2004 Olympics, also held in the Greek capital, was named in his honor.

Many of those who nevertheless got to the 1896 Olympics took part in competitions in various sports. Main character Athens Games, an athlete from Germany, Karl Schumann, competed in wrestling, gymnastics, athletics and weightlifting. He became a three-time champion in gymnastics, also winning the wrestling competition.

The 1896 Olympic Games were the only ones held without the participation of women. Four years later, the Olympic competitions in golf, croquet, sailing and tennis were organized in Paris for ladies.

"Royal" opening and the anthem of the Olympics

The Olympic Games are not only points, seconds and medals. Many attributes of the Olympics, without which it is difficult to imagine competitions in the 21st century, appeared 120 years ago, others were not heard of in those years. The first Modern Games were opened on April 6, 1896 by King George I of Greece, and his son Prince Constantine became the head of the organizing committee, without whose efforts the Games would not have taken place. George I also closed the Games on April 15, presenting silver medals to the first modern Olympic champions. Inherent was the Games of 1896 and the current compactness - so, four years later in Paris, the Olympics were held for more than five months.

120 years ago, the Olympic Anthem, written by Spyridon Samaras and based on the verses of Kostis Palamas, was played for the first time. In subsequent years, the organizers of the Games wrote their own anthem, but since 1960, it is the anthem of Samaras that has been heard over the Olympic stadiums, albeit sometimes performed in the language of the host country.

However, many Olympic traditions have not yet existed for 120 years - neither gold medals for the winners, nor the Olympic flame with the corresponding lighting ceremony and procession through the host country, nor the Olympic oath. Neither officially accredited journalists nor volunteers were present at the 1896 Olympics.

BAKU, April 6 - Sputnik. One hundred and twenty years ago, the first modern Summer Olympic Games opened in Athens, Greece. In 1896, the Olympic Games were held from 6 to 15 April in Athens, Greece.

June 23, 1894 in Paris Great Hall The Sorbonne met a commission to revive the Olympic Games. Baron Pierre de Coubertin became its general secretary. Then the International Olympic Committee (IOC) took shape, which included the most authoritative and independent citizens of different countries.

The first modern Olympic Games were originally planned to be held in the same stadium in Olympia where the Olympic Games were held. Ancient Greece. However, this required too much restoration work, and the first revived Olympic competitions took place in Athens, the capital of Greece.

Already on April 6, 1896, at the restored ancient stadium in Athens, the Greek King George declared the first Olympic Games of our time open. The ceremony was attended by 60 thousand spectators.

The date was not chosen by chance - on this day, Easter Monday coincided in three directions of Christianity at once - in Catholicism, Orthodoxy and Protestantism. This first opening ceremony of the Games laid two Olympic tradition- the opening of the Games by the head of state where the competitions are held, and the performance of the Olympic anthem. However, there were no such indispensable attributes of the modern Games as the parade of the participating countries, the ceremony of lighting the Olympic flame and the pronouncing of the Olympic oath; they were introduced later. There was no Olympic village, the invited athletes provided themselves with housing.

241 athletes from 14 countries took part in the Games of the I Olympiad: Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Hungary (at the time of the Games, Hungary was part of Austria-Hungary, but Hungarian athletes competed separately), Germany, Greece, Denmark, Italy , USA, France, Chile, Switzerland, Sweden.

Russian athletes were quite actively preparing for the Olympics, but due to lack of funds, the Russian team was not sent to the Games.

As in ancient times, only men took part in the competitions of the first modern Olympiad.

The program of the first Games included nine sports - classical wrestling, cycling, gymnastics, athletics, swimming, bullet shooting, tennis, weightlifting and fencing. 43 sets of awards were played.

According to ancient tradition, the Games began with athletics competitions. Athletics competitions became the most massive - 63 athletes from 9 countries took part in 12 events. The largest number of species - 9 - was won by representatives of the United States.

The first Olympic champion was the American athlete James Connolly, who won the triple jump with a score of 13 meters 71 centimeters.

Wrestling competitions were held without uniform approved rules for wrestling, there were also no weight categories. The style in which the athletes competed was close to today's Greco-Roman, but it was allowed to grab an opponent by the legs. Only one set of medals was played among five athletes, and only two of them competed exclusively in wrestling - the rest took part in competitions in other disciplines.

Since there were no artificial pools in Athens, swimming competitions were held in an open bay near the city of Piraeus; the start and finish were marked with ropes attached to the floats. The competition aroused great interest - by the beginning of the first swim, about 40 thousand spectators had gathered on the shore. About 25 swimmers from six countries took part, most of them are naval officers and sailors of the Greek merchant fleet. The medals were played in four types, all heats were held in "freestyle" - it was allowed to swim in any way, changing it along the distance. At that time, the most popular swimming methods were breaststroke, overarm (an improved way of swimming on the side) and "trend-style". At the insistence of the organizers of the Games, the program also included an applied type of swimming - 100 meters in sailor's clothes. Only Greek sailors participated in it.

In cycling, six sets of medals were contested - five on the track and one on the road. Track races were held at the Neo Faliron velodrome specially built for the Games.

Eight sets of awards were played in artistic gymnastics competitions. Competitions were held outdoors, at the Marble Stadium.

In shooting, five sets of awards were played - two in rifle shooting and three in pistol shooting.

Tennis competitions were held on the courts of the Athens Tennis Club. Two tournaments were held - in singles and doubles. At the 1896 Games, there was not yet a requirement that all team members represent one country, and some couples were international.

Weightlifting competitions were held without division into weight categories and included two disciplines: squeezing a ball bar with two hands and lifting a dumbbell with one hand.

In fencing, three sets of awards were played. Fencing became the only sport where professionals were also admitted: separate competitions were held among "maestro" - fencing teachers ("maestro" were also admitted to the 1900 Games, after which this practice ceased).

The culmination of the Olympic Games was the marathon. Unlike all subsequent Olympic competitions in marathon running, the length of the marathon distance at the Games of the I Olympiad was 40 kilometers. The classic length of a marathon distance is 42 kilometers 195 meters. The Greek postman Spyridon Louis finished first with a result of 2 hours 58 minutes 50 seconds, who became a national hero after this success. In addition to the Olympic awards, he received a gold cup, established by the French academician Michel Breal, who insisted on the inclusion of marathon running in the Games program, a barrel of wine, a voucher for free meals throughout the year, free tailoring of dresses and use of hairdresser services throughout life, 10 centners of chocolate, 10 cows and 30 sheep.

The winners were awarded on the closing day of the Games - April 15, 1896. Since the Games of the First Olympiad, a tradition has been established of performing the national anthem in honor of the winner and raising the national flag. The winner was crowned with a laurel wreath, he was awarded a silver medal, an olive branch cut in the Sacred Grove of Olympia, and a diploma made by a Greek artist. The second place winners received bronze medals. Third-place finishers were not counted at the time, and only later were included by the International Olympic Committee in the country medal standings, however, not all medalists were accurately identified.

The greatest number of medals was won by the Greek team - 45 (10 gold, 17 silver, 18 bronze). The second was the US team - 20 awards (11 + 7 + 2). The third place was taken by the German team - 13.

The history of the Olympic Games has more than 2 thousand years. They originated in ancient Greece. At first, the games were part of the festivities in honor of the god Zeus. The first Olympiad was held in ancient Greece. Once every four years, athletes gathered in the city of Olympia in the Peloponnese, a peninsula in the south of the country. Only running competitions were held at a distance of one stadium (from the Greek stages = 192 m). Gradually, the number of sports increased, and the games turned into significant event for the entire Greek world. It was a religious and sports holiday, during which a mandatory "sacred peace" was declared and any military action was prohibited.

History of the first Olympiad

The period of truce lasted a month and was called ekecheiriya. It is believed that the first Olympiad took place in 776 BC. e. But in 393 AD. e. Roman Emperor Theodosius I banned the Olympic Games. By that time, Greece lived under the rule of Rome, and the Romans, having converted to Christianity, believed that the Olympic Games with their worship pagan gods and the cult of beauty are incompatible with the Christian faith.

The Olympic Games were remembered at the end of the 19th century, after they began to carry out excavations in ancient Olympia and discovered the ruins of sports and temple facilities. In 1894, at the International Sports Congress in Paris, French public figure Baron Pierre de Coubertin (1863-1937) proposed organizing the Olympic Games along the lines of the ancient ones. He also came up with the motto of the Olympians: "The main thing is not victory, but participation." De Coubertin wanted only male athletes to compete in these competitions, as in ancient Greece, but women also participated in the second Games. Five multi-colored rings became the emblem of the Games; colors were chosen that are most often found on flags various countries peace.

The first modern Olympic Games took place in 1896 in Athens. In the XX century. the number of countries and athletes participating in these competitions has grown steadily, and so has the number of Olympic sports. Today it is already difficult to find a country that would not send at least one or two athletes to the Games. Since 1924, in addition to the Olympic Games, which take place in the summer, they began to arrange and winter Games so that skiers, skaters and other athletes involved in winter sports can also compete. And since 1994, the Winter Olympic Games have been held not in the same year as the summer ones, but two years later.

Sometimes the Olympic Games are called the Olympics, which is incorrect: the Olympics is a four-year period between consecutive Olympic Games. When, for example, they say that the 2008 Games are the 29th Olympiad, they mean that from 1896 to 2008 there were 29 periods of four years each. But there were only 26 Games: in 1916,1940 and 1944. There were no Olympic Games - world wars interfered.

The Greek city of Olympia today attracts crowds of tourists who want to look at the ruins of the ancient city excavated by archaeologists with the remains of the temples of Zeus, Hera and visit the Archaeological Museum of Olympia.

The Olympic Games came to us from Ancient Greece. It would be a mistake to assume that the mountain in the north of Greece, Olympus, gave them their name. According to myths, it was the dwelling place of the gods. The ancient Olympic Games were held much further south - in the town of Olympia on the banks of the Alfea River. The Sacred Olive Grove grew here, from the branches of which wreaths were woven for champions, and a temple to Zeus was erected. According to one of the legends, it was he who founded the games, according to another - they were invented by the greatest of the ancient Greek heroes Hercules, according to the third - the founder of the ancient kings of Mycenae PELOPS, after whom the Peloponnese peninsula is named.

The first Olympiad known to us took place in 776 BC. The first winner was the cook KOREB, ​​who was ahead of everyone in the race for a stage (the length of the then stadium) - 192.27 m. summer period, in the first year of which the Olympic Games were held). In 394, games were banned, and with the victory of Christianity, all pagan temples were set on fire. What did not burn in Olympia was destroyed in the 6th century by an earthquake, when the river changed its course, flooded and silted up the Sacred Grove.

As a result of archaeological excavations, which began in 1766, sports and temple facilities were discovered in Olympia.

For a long time, sports competitions of this magnitude were not held anywhere in the world. The very word "sport" appeared in English language in the 30s of the 19th century.

The desire to revive the Olympic mindset and culture spread fairly quickly throughout Europe. The French baron Pierre de Coubertin said then: “Germany unearthed what was left of ancient Olympia. Why can't France restore its old grandeur?

According to Coubertin, it was precisely the weak physical condition of the French soldiers that became one of the reasons for the defeat of the French in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871. He sought to change the situation by improving physical education French. At the same time, he wanted to overcome national selfishness and contribute to the struggle for peace and international understanding.

The Youth of the World was to face off in sports, not on the battlefield. The revival of the Olympic Games seemed in his eyes the best solution to achieve both goals.

He initiated the revival of the Olympic Games.

At a congress held June 16-23, 1894 at the Sorbonne University in Paris, he presented his thoughts and ideas to the international public. On the last day of the congress, it was decided that the first modern Olympic Games should take place in 1896. Athens was unanimously chosen as the host, since ancient Greece was the birthplace of the Olympics.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was founded, with the Greek Demetrius Vikelas as its first president and Baron Pierre de Coubertin as its general secretary.

General Aleksey Butovsky joined the IOC from Russia.

The first Games of our time were a great success. The Games have become the largest sporting event ever since ancient Greece.

Greek officials were so pleased that they put forward a proposal to hold the Games of the Olympiad "forever" in their homeland, Greece. But the IOC introduced a rotation between different states, so that every 4 years the Games change the venue.

It brought together 311 athletes from 13 countries competing in 41 sports. The Games were held for 12 days from 6 to 15 April 1896 in Athens and became the largest international event...

The grand opening was attended by 80 thousand spectators. The first champion of those modern Games was the American James CONNOLLY, who won the triple jump with a score of 13.71 m. But the main event of the Olympics was the marathon run, which was won by the Greek Spiridon LUIS. He became a national hero.

Then the tradition was born to perform the national anthem and raise the flag of the state in honor of the winners.

German gymnast Karl Schumann, who became an Olympic champion.

Initially, Coubertin wanted to make the Olympic Games an amateur competition, in which there was no place for professionals involved in sports for money.

It was believed that those who received money for playing sports had an unfair advantage over those who practice sports as a hobby. Even coaches and those who received cash prizes for participation were not allowed.

In particular, Jim Thorpe in 1913 was deprived of medals - it was found that he played semi-professional baseball. After the war, with the professionalization of European sports, the requirement for amateurism in most sports fell away.

Resurrected by enthusiasts, the Olympic Games have now become the world's largest and most important event. The only thing that could not be adopted from the ancient Greeks was to stop all wars and consider criminals those who violated the peace during this period.

Greetings, my inquisitive readers! All of you, of course, know from the Olympic Games, even from time to time, I'm sure, you cheer for our Russian athletes in front of the TV screens. But has anyone wondered why these sports competitions are so named, where they took place for the first time and how old they are?

I think everyone can give a short answer to one or two questions. Well, so that you can freely talk about the history of the Olympics, I propose to get acquainted with the topic called "The first ever Olympic Games" closer.

Lesson plan:

How it all began?

Ancient history will always remain a mystery to us, which even historians are unable to fully reveal. So it is in this matter. There is no reliable information about who actually and when founded the first Olympic Games in the history of mankind. Everything related to ancient times is always shrouded in myths.

The king of the small country of Elis, named Ifit, was preoccupied with one question: how to save his people from robberies and war, and came to the soothsayer for advice. The oracle's answer was a little strange: "We need to found games that are pleasing to the gods!" And Ifit went to his neighbor - the ruler of Sparta, announced a prediction, agreed on peace and, in gratitude, promised to organize athletic competitions.

The ancient Greek rulers established the order of the games and entered into a sacred alliance. Established competitions were to be held every four years in the ancient Greek town of Olympia. So the competition got its name Olympic.

There is another version of the appearance of the Olympic Games, according to which they began to be held thanks to the son of the god Zeus - Hercules, who brought the sacred olive branch to Olympia, marking the victory of his father over his ferocious grandfather.

According to other information, the same Hercules, with the help of athletic competitions, immortalized the memory of King Pelops for his victory in chariot races.

Which version do you prefer?

Organization of the first games

Whatever myth about the appearance of the first Olympic Games we no longer tend to, according to the documents, the date when they took place for the first time is dated to 776 BC. On the bronze disc of King Ifit, the rules of the competitions were written down and a clause on a mandatory military truce for the duration of their holding was introduced. The words of the text of reconciliation are inscribed around the disk.

The venue for the competition, Olympia, was declared sacred, where one could enter only without weapons. Anyone who encroached on the shrine, holding a sword in their hands, was proposed to be considered a criminal.

It was decided to hold competitions between harvest and grape harvest, in the sacred month, which began after the summer solstice. At first, the sports festival lasted one day, then the competition time was extended for five days, and later they began to compete for a month.

A specially created commission appointed the day of the beginning of the Olympic Games, and messengers traveled from Elis in different directions to announce the beginning of the truce and the date of the holiday. A month before the start of the competition, athletes from various ancient Greek states came to Olympia to train. The envoys of the warring policies of Ancient Greece gathered together to conduct peace negotiations and settle conflicts.

Who could participate in ancient Greek competitions?

In order to apply for participation in the Olympic Games, one could not be a slave, or a barbarian, or a criminal. The ancient Greeks considered everyone who was not a citizen of their state barbarians. There was no age limit for the participants in the competition - both an adult man and a young man under the age of 20 could become one.

At first, only athletes from Elis took part in the competition. After a dozen games, residents of other cities of ancient Greece were allowed to participate in the number of participants, and then athletes from the ancient Greek colonies joined them.

Olympic sports

In the programs of the Olympics of Ancient Greece, various sports were included gradually.

At first, only running was included in the competition of athletes.

These were short-distance competitions, when athletes ran from one end of the stadium to the other. Subsequently, a double run was added, when the distance included the way there and back. The fifteenth Olympic Games included long-distance running in their program. The sixty-fifth competitions were distinguished by a running competition with weighting - shields, helmets, leggings were hoisted on the athletes.

In the second decade of the Olympic years, chariot riding was included in the competition program, as well as pentathlon, which included wrestling, running, long jump, javelin and discus throwing.

During the thirty-third Olympiad in ancient Greece, such a sport as pankration appeared - martial arts with kicks and hands, suffocating techniques. By this time, the athletes had already skillfully competed in fisticuffs, for participation in which they protected their heads with a bronze cap, and their hands with leather belts with metal tips. Around the same time, horse racing was added to the Olympic program.

Ancient Greek Olympic winners

Why did the athletes try so hard, enduring physical exercise and exercising every year? Of course, for the sake of glory, to glorify both themselves and the city they came from!

The tradition that existed in Ancient Greece to carve the names of the winners of the Olympics on marble columns that were installed along the banks of the Alpheus River played an invaluable role - the name of the first winner has come down to the present. They became a cook from Elis named Koreba.

All the winners of the competitions were called Olympionists. For their victory, the athletes were rewarded with a wreath of olive leaves and money.

But the most important reward awaited them at home, in their city, when the heroes received various privileges. They gained fame throughout ancient Greece and were honored at the level of great warriors. If an athlete wins Olympic competitions three times, then in the city of residence he was given a bust and entered in the book of prominent citizens.

If you already know such philosophers as Pythagoras and Plato, then it will be interesting for you to know that at one time the first was a champion in fisticuffs, and the second in pankration.

Why is it over?

The Olympic Games in ancient Greece began to lose their significance in the 2nd century BC. They began to turn into ordinary local competitions.

The reason for this is the conquest of the country by the Romans, who did not care about sports spirit, they saw only a spectacle in the games. The change of religion to Christianity put an end to the Olympics. Many scholars say it was the Roman Emperor Theodosius who officially banned the competition in 393 AD with his code of laws against paganism.

Only after centuries, in 1896, the Olympics was revived again thanks to the initiative of the Frenchman Pierre de Coubertin.

5 Interesting Facts About the Ancient Olympic Games

1. Women were not allowed to the Olympic Games, not only as participants, but also as spectators. An exception was made only for the priestess and chariot drivers.
2. All athletes participating in the first Olympic Games performed completely without clothes. Yes, yes, they ran naked!
3. An athlete who violated the rules in pankration competitions was beaten by a judge with a stick.
4. The Olympic Games were to be repeated after 1417 days. This period of time was called Olympic year».
5. It is noteworthy that the athletes used dumbbells for the distance of the jump from a place. Apparently, with them jumped into the distance more confidently.

And in 1978, an animated film was shot about how the Cossacks became Olympians. Do you want to see it? Then run turn on the video)

Here is such an interesting sports history. Now you can easily show off your knowledge in the classroom. I look forward to seeing you again on the ShkolaLa blog, check back for new interesting stories.

Good luck in your studies!

Evgenia Klimkovich.