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The modern Olympic Games or Olympics are the leading international sporting event
featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around
the world participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games are considered to be
the world's foremost sports competition with more than 200 nations participating. The
Olympic Games are held every four years, with the Summer and Winter Games alternating
by occurring every four years but two years apart. Their creation was inspired by the ancient
Olympic Games, which were held in Olympia, Greece, from the 8th century BC to the 4th
century AD. Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC)
in 1894. The IOC is the governing body of the Olympic Movement, with the Olympic
Charter defining its structure and authority.
The evolution of the Olympic Movement during the 20th and 21st centuries has resulted in
several changes to the Olympic Games. Some of these adjustments include the creation of the
Winter Olympic Games for ice and winter sports, the Paralympic Games for athletes with a
disability, and the Youth Olympic Games for teenage athletes. The IOC has had to adapt to a
variety of economic, political, and technological advancements. As a result, the Olympics has
shifted away from pure amateurism, as envisioned by Coubertin, to allowing participation of
professional athletes. The growing importance of mass media created the issue of corporate
sponsorship and commercialization of the Games. World wars led to the cancellation of the
1916, 1940, and 1944 Games. Large boycotts during the Cold War limited participation in the
1980 and 1984 Games. The first, second, and thirdplace finishers in each event receive
Olympic medals: gold, silver, and bronze, respectively.
HISTORY
The Olympic Movement encompasses a large number of national and international sporting
judges, and every other person and institution that agrees to abide by the rules of the Olympic
Olympic Committee (IOC) is responsible for selecting the host city, overseeing the planning
of the Olympic Games, updating and approving the sports program, and negotiating
sponsorship and broadcasting rights.
The Olympic Movement is made of three major elements:
International Federations (IFs) are the governing bodies that supervise a sport at an
international level. For example, the International Federation of Association Football
(FIFA) is the IF for Association football (soccer), and the Fédération Internationale de
Volleyball is the international governing body for volleyball. There are currently 35
IFs in the Olympic Movement, representing each of the Olympic sports.[73]
National Olympic Committees (NOCs) represent and regulate the Olympic Movement
within each country. For example, the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) is
the NOC of the United States. There are currently 205 NOCs recognized by the IOC.
Organizing Committees for the Olympic Games (OCOGs) are temporary committees
responsible for the organization of each Olympic Games. OCOGs are dissolved after
each Games once the final report is delivered to the IOC.[75]
French and English are the official languages of the Olympic Movement. The other language
used at each Olympic Games is the language of the host country (or languages, if a country
has more than one official language apart from French or English). Every proclamation (such
as the announcement of each country during the parade of nations in the opening ceremony)
is spoken in these three (or more) languages, or the main two depending on whether the host
country is an English or French speaking country.
Olympic flame
The Olympic flame is a symbol of
ancient Greece, where a fire was
Olympics. The fire was introduced
at the 1928 Summer Olympics in
ever since. In contrast to the Olympic flame proper, the torch relay of modern times, which
transports the flame from Greece to the various designated sites of the games, had no ancient
precedent and was introduced by Carl Diem at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.
Usage
Olympic Games at the site of the ancient Olympics in Olympia, Greece. Eleven women,
representing the Vestal Virgins, perform a celebration at the Temple of Hera in which the
torch is kindled by the light of the Sun, its rays concentrated by a parabolic mirror. The torch
briefly travels around Greece via short relay, and then starts its transfer to the host city after a
ceremony in the Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens. The Olympic Torch Relay ends on the day
of the opening ceremony in the central stadium of the Games. The final carrier is often kept
unannounced until the last moment, and is usually a sports celebrity of the host country. The
final bearer of the torch runs towards the cauldron, often placed at the top of a grand
staircase, and then uses the torch to start the flame in the arena. It is considered to be a great
honor to be asked to light the Olympic flame. After being lit, the flame continues to burn
throughout the Games, until the day of the closing ceremony and celebration, when it is
finally put out.
Olympic symbols
Olympic Committee to
promote the Olympic Games.
fanfare, and theme are more
competition, but others, such
as the flag, can be seen throughout the year.
Motto
The Olympic motto is the hendiatris Citius, Altius, Fortius, which is Latin for "Faster,
Higher, Stronger." The motto was proposed by Pierre de Coubertin on the creation of the
International Olympic Committee in 1894. Coubertin borrowed it from his friend Henri
words represent a programme of moral beauty. The aesthetics of sport are intangible." [3] The
known motto, also introduced by Coubertin, is "The most important thing is not to win but to
take part!" Coubertin got this motto from a sermon by the Bishop of Pennsylvania during the
1908 London Games.[5]
The Rings
In his article published in the Olympic Revue the official magazine of the International
Olympic Committee in November 1992, the American historian Robert Barney explains that
the idea of the interlaced rings came to Pierre de Coubertin when he was in charge of the
USFSA, an association founded by the union of two French sports associations and until
1925, responsible for representing the International Olympic Committee in France: The
emblem of the union was two interlaced rings (like the vesica piscis typical interlaced
marriage rings) and originally the idea of Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung: for him, the ring
symbolized continuity and the human being.
Anup Sridhar
badminton player from India.
Career
captain. Anup's best year on tour so far
was 2007 during which he ended the year
as the top Indian badminton player with a
ranking of 25. His highest world ranking
of 24 was achieved in early 2008. Having
importantly, at the 2007 World Championships, the next year holds much promise for this
budding shuttler.
His most famous win was the one over Taufik Hidayat – former world no. 1, gold medalist at
the 2004 Athens Olympics and 2005 World Champion – at the World Championships in what
was one of the longest matches of the tournament. Anup's performance at the World
Championships was rated among the top10 Indian sporting performances of 2007. Anup
started 2008 by winning the prestigious Pramod Mahajan AllIndia ranking tournament in
New Delhi. He followed that up by reaching the prequarterfinals, one round better than last
year, of the Proton Malaysia Super Series where he lost to Hyun Il Lee, the eventual runner
up. He contested in the men's singles event at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. He
defeated Marco Vasconcelos of Portugal in the round of 64 by 2116, 2114. But in round of
16, he lost to Shoji Sato of Japan by 1321, 1721. Anup won his 4th career title at the 2013
Yonex Czech International tournament, beating Indra Bagus Ade Chandra of Italy 2111 21
16 in 30 minutes.