The Olympic Games Essay Example for Free

The Olympic Games Essay There were many factors that helped shape the Olympic Games from 1892 to 2002. Originally, Olympic Games were conducted in Ancient Greece in hopes of uniting its city-states Athens and Sparta and to promote peace through sports activity. When Olympic Games were resurrected in 1892, they had the same goal of promoting peace in the world. Over time factors such as nationalism, The Cold War, changes in global economy and a rise in feminism facilitated changes in the Olympic Games. However, a great additional document to add would be a personal letter from one of the German athletes or a bar graph before the world wars had taken place. During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, World War I and World War II occurred followed by The Cold War. Countries entered the Olympic Games in hopes of finding peace through friendly competition, while leaving their individual problems behind. In document 1, Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic movement in 1892 thought, â€Å"Reduction of the chances of war helps promote peace†. This quote means that when the countries came together for friendly competition at the Olympic Games, wars weren’t taking place. Pierre de Coubertin also believed that the Olympics Games helped promote peace and as founder, he wanted everyone to feel a sense of unity within them. The author of document 6 shares the same belief. The Soviet Union committee believed that, â€Å"a consistent and peaceful foreign policy† had a dramatic influence on the 1980 Olympics. The Soviet Union/USSR believed this because in 1980 the pressure on Soviet Union to end the Cold War was increasing. By hosting Olympic Games in 1980, USSR was eager to show their will to come together with the world in a peaceful manner. Although Pierre de Coubertin and the Soviet Union Committee believed that the Olympic Games would help promote peace, some nations and countries just wanted to win out of pride and return home with glory. Nationalism is another factor that played part in shaping the Olympic Games. In document 3, Arnold Lunn, a British Olympic team official at the 1936 games believed, â€Å"The Nazis had to prove that they were the best at skiing† and that â€Å"Nazism is better than democracy. † However, because the 1936 games were held before World War II, it brought the conflict of various ideologies. Due to their belief in their supremacy, the German athletes were forced to cheat such as using closed course for practice. They just couldn’t afford to lose. Also, in document 4, Bob Matthias, a United States competitor from the 1952 games, expressed his point of view. Bob Matthias stated, â€Å"There were many pressures on the American athletes to defeat the Soviet team†¦ they were in real sense the enemy†. Because he was a USA competitor, it was the natural feeling of patriotism towards his country to feel this way towards the USSR, USA’s enemy. This also made the Olympic Games seem like a battle between countries, capitalist and communist ideologies, instead of a friendly competition between countries. In addition, document 10 expresses national pride. Ali Kabir, a sports writer for the newspaper Dawn states, â€Å"our team finished 2nd to India in the 1956 Olympics†¦ the current national team tarnished the country’s name†. Ali believed that the Pakistan’s men’s field hockey team won at the 1956 and the 1960 Olympics because they felt pride towards their country. He also believes that the current national team lost pride in their country, therefore they didn’t prevail. As you can see, documents 3, 4 and 10 show how nationalism affected the Olympic Games. Another factor that had major influence on the Olympic Games in addition to nationalism was the global economy. Many countries wanted to host the Olympics to attract visitors to their country and to demonstrate their power. The Olympic Games were also beneficial for the economy. Ryotaro Azuma, mayor of Tokyo and chairman of 1964 games committee stated, â€Å"Without the magic of the Olympics, we might not have gotten what we needed to rise as a world power†. Ryotaro believed this, because as a Mayor he saw firsthand the important role of tourism for the city of Tokyo, which has become one of the top economic cities in the world. Ryotaro Azuma also believed that the Olympic Games helped Tokyo achieve this economic success. Furthermore, document 7 was written from a Japanese economist stating his point of view. This person states, â€Å"Korea failed to display its industrial and economic power worldwide. † He believed that although Seoul was hosting the Olympics of 1988, they did not use the opportunity to benefit economically. He also believed that other countries such as Japan and USA dominant over South Korea on political, industrial and economic terms because they were actively sponsoring the Games. Yet another document, document 9, is a bar graph representing the amount of money spent for broadcasting different Olympic Games. Since it is clear that this amount increased by hundreds of millions from Game to Game, one could infer that the Olympic Games could be used by the host countries to â€Å"show off† through publicity and broadcasting and to also bring in huge revenues . Lastly, a major driving factor shaping the Olympic Games was the feminist movement. Document 2 is a picture of Sybil Newall, a British competitor in the 1908 games. At that time, only two percent of women were athletes. Sybil was one of the few women who was able to participate in the Olympic Games. In Document 8, a female Algerian athlete by the name Hassiba Boulmerka was greatly involved in the feminist movement. She participated in the 1992 games. Hassiba believed that all women were very capable of being athletes just as well as any other man even though at that time in her society women were turned down. She also believed women had potential; she wanted to see women rise up in the world and be equal to any man. Her belief materialized in the rate of participating female athletes, which grew to twenty-nine percent. This growth is ongoing as many more females participate in Olympic Games each year. Factors such as nationalism, a rise in feminism and the global economy allowed the Olympic Games movement to become what it is today. Today, the Olympics promote the importance of the feminist movement, importance of religious and national freedom and peaceful co-existence of various cultures. From Ancient Greece to modern day Olympic Games, the transformation is incredible!