Olympic Games | Scholastic.com - 0 views
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The original Olympics featured competition in music, oratory, and theater performances as well.
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The earliest reliable date that recorded history gives for the first Olympics is 776 B.C.
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The modern Games have a more expansive athletic agenda, and for 2 ½ weeks they are supposed to replace the rancor of international conflict with friendly competition. In recent times, however, that lofty ideal has not always been attained.
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all wars would cease during the contests
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a footrace of about 183 m (200 yd), or the length of the stadium. A cook, Coroibus of Elis, was the first recorded winner.
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The growth of the Games fostered "professionalism" among the competitors
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June 16, 1894. With delegates from Belgium, England, France, Greece, Italy, Russia, Spain, Sweden, and the United States in attendance, he advocated the revival of the Olympic Games.
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Greece was the appropriate country to host the first modern Olympics.
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The council did agree that the Olympics would move every 4 years to other great cities of the world.
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Beginning in 1924 a Winter Olympics was included
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whose headquarters is in Lausanne, Switzerland
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International Olympic Committee (IOC)
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Athletic nationalism was brought to a peak by Nazi Germany, which staged the 1936 Games in Berlin and used the Olympics to propagandize its cause
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The Germans built a powerful team through nationalized training and scientific advances and dominated the Games in terms of medals won.
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The biggest influence on the modern Olympic Games is money. Commercialism exists side by side with the outstanding athleticism and the spirit of friendship imbuing competitors from around the world.
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tremendous potential for profit
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Originally, Olympic athletes were expected to remain strictly amateurs and not earn money even for endorsing products
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Athletes, too, especially in the "glamour sports" such as gymnastics, ice skating, or track and field, can reap tremendous financial gains for winning performances, through product endorsements and personal appearances
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holding of a full-time job
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Winning medals at the Olympic Games has always been considered the most prestigious mark of an athlete, and a source of glory for the athlete's country
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testing of athletes for drug use began for the Olympics in 1968
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were convicted of systematic and overall doping
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As drug testing procedures have improved, more athletes have been caught
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The IOC formed the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in late 1999 to test athletes at the upcoming Olympics and to increase drug testing standards, but how effective WADA will be in the long run is not yet known.
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, it has become clear that a city hosting the Games can anticipate a financial windfall, as spectators and sponsors converge for the event.
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He found ready and unanimous support from the nine countries. De Coubertin had initially planned to hold the Olympic Games in France, but the representatives convinced him that
