The history of the Olympic Games from ancient Greece to the present. Olympic games lecture

Sports competitions called "Olympic Games" were held in ancient Greece, in Olympia (a city in the northwestern part of the Peloponnese, which in the past was the most important religious and sports center of Greece).

The year of the beginning of the Olympic Games is considered to be 776 BC. e., this date is carved on a plate found by archaeologists along with the name of the Olympic winner in the Koreb run. The date is also confirmed by the ancient authors Paraballon, Hippias, Aristotle and others. The Greek historian Timaeus (about 352-256 BC) and the mathematician Eratosthenes (about 276-196 BC) developed the chronology from the first Games , according to which until 394 AD. e., when the competition was banned by the Roman emperor Theodosius I, 293 Olympiads took place.

The idea of ​​reviving the Olympic Games was proposed at the end of the 19th century by the French public figure Pierre de Coubertin in connection with public interest in the archaeological discoveries in Olympia. The project for the revival of the Olympic Games de Coubertin outlined in his report on November 25, 1892 at the Sorbonne.

The principles, rules and regulations of the games were determined by the Olympic Charter, approved in June 1894 by the International Sports Congress in Paris. According to the charter, the Olympic Games bring together amateur athletes from all countries in fair and equal competition; countries and individuals should not be discriminated against on racial, religious or political grounds. At the same congress, it was decided to hold the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens. For this, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was created.

At the first Games in Athens on April 6-15, 1896, 43 sets of medals were played in 9 sports. 241 athletes from 14 countries took part in the competition. At these Games, such traditions as the performance of the Olympic anthem, participation in the opening ceremony of the head of state hosting the games, and awarding the winners on the last day of the competition were laid. The Athens Olympics became the biggest sporting event of its time. Since then, international competitions, known as the Summer Olympics, have been held every four years (with the exception of the periods of the First and Second World Wars). The location of the Games is chosen by the IOC, and the right to organize them is granted to the city, not the country.

Women have been participating in the Games since 1900.

In 1908, for the first time in the history of the Olympics, qualifying competitions were held in London, and the tradition of participating teams marching under national flags was born. At the same time, an unofficial team standings became widespread - determining the place occupied by teams by the number of medals received and points scored in competitions.

In 1912, the photo finish was used for the first time at the Stockholm Olympics.

In 1920, at the Olympics in Antwerp / Belgium / for the first time in the history of the games, the Olympic flag was raised, and the participants in the competition took the Olympic oath.

The Winter Olympics have been held since 1924. Prior to this, some winter sports were included in the programs of the Summer Olympics. Thus, the championship in figure skating as part of the Olympics was first played in London in 1908, and the first Olympic ice hockey tournament was held in 1920 in Antwerp. Initially, the Winter Olympics were held in the same year as the Summer ones, but in 1992, the timing of their holding was shifted by two years. The Winter Olympics have their own numbering.

During the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam, the tradition of lighting a fire was laid.

At the 1932 games in Los Angeles, for the first time, an "Olympic village" was built specifically for the participants.

Since 1936, the world has been watching the Olympic torch relay.

In 1960, during the Summer Olympics in Rome, an athlete from Denmark, Knud Jensen, died for the first time due to doping.

In 1960, at the Winter Games in the American Squaw Valley, the opening ceremony was first accompanied by a large-scale theatrical performance (Walt Disney was responsible for its organization).

At the 1972 Games in Munich, members of the terrorist Palestinian organization Black September took hostage athletes and coaches of the Israeli team. During the operation to free them, 11 members of the Israeli team and one West German policeman were killed.

In 2004, during the Olympics in Athens, for the first time in the history of the Olympic Games, the IOC insured itself (for $ 170 million) in case of cancellation of the competition due to the threat of terrorism or natural disasters.

The longest were the Games of 1900 in Paris and 1904 in St. Louis (USA). They were combined with the World Exhibitions and lasted several months (May-October 1900, July-November 1904). The St. Louis Olympics also went down in history as "American": out of 625 participants, 533 were Americans, because many European athletes could not come to the competition due to the high cost of travel.

The largest Olympic team ever fielded by a single nation was the Great Britain team at the 1908 London Olympics with 710 athletes.

Several times certain countries did not take part in the Games for political reasons. Thus, Germany and its allies in the world wars were excluded from participation in the games of 1920 and 1948. In 1920, athletes from Soviet Russia were not invited to the Olympics in Antwerp (Belgium). 65 countries boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow in connection with the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan in December 1979. In response to the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, the teams of 13 countries of the socialist camp did not come. The official reason for the boycott was the refusal of the organizers of the 1984 Olympics to provide security guarantees to athletes from the USSR and other Warsaw Pact countries.

There have been several cases in the history of the Games when competitions in some sports were held both before the opening of the games and after they closed. So, the 1920 Antwerp Olympics were officially held on August 14-29, however, the competitions of figure skaters and hockey players were held in April, yachtsmen and shooters - in July, football players - in August and September. In 1956, at the Games in Melbourne, due to quarantine rules, equestrian competitions were held not only six months earlier than the Olympics itself, but also in another country, and on another continent - in Stockholm.

The Olympics first appeared on television at the Berlin Games in 1936. To ensure that as many people as possible could see the athletes' competitions, screens were installed throughout the city. Games were first broadcast on home televisions to Londoners in 1948. In 1956, the Olympic Games were already transmitted to all European countries, and since 1964 - to all continents. /TASS-DOSIER/

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, Brazilian Rio de Janeiro will host the 31st Olympic Games, which have changed dramatically 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 the Olympic program even now. These are 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.

In 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 the 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. A separate type of program was fights 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 Olympics, in 1896 there was no official team classification by country, and the organizers did not pay much attention to the nationality of the 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 USA, 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. The first in the modern history of the Games, the Olympic marathon champion 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 after him.

Many of those who nevertheless got to the 1896 Olympics took part in competitions in various sports. The protagonist of the 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, the anthem of Samaras has been heard over the Olympic stadiums, even if 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.

Summer Olympics 1896 (official name - Games of the I Olympiad; at the time of the event they were called the I International Olympic Games)- the first modern Summer Olympic Games. Held from 6 to 15 April in Athens, Greece. 241 athletes from 14 countries took part in the competition, and women were not allowed. In total, 43 sets of medals were played in 9 sports.

These Games were very different from modern ones - there were no many traditions, such as the Olympic flame and the presentation of gold medals. The organizers did not follow the nationalities of the players and the medal count, so the information that has come down to us can vary greatly. However, now the International Olympic Committee is working on refining the results and other data about the Games.

Games History

On June 23, 1894, the first congress of the International Olympic Committee was held at the Sorbonne (Paris), which was convened by Baron Pierre de Coubertin to announce their project to revive the Olympic Games. The idea of ​​holding such events was not new; during the 19th century, several local sports events were held in various European countries, organized on the model of the Ancient Olympic Games. However, it was Coubertin who first suggested making such Games traditional, international and combining competitions in many different sports.

Coubertin was going to hold the Olympic Games in 1900 in Paris and coincide with the World Exhibition, which was scheduled for this time. However, the news about the upcoming revival of the Olympic Games has already hit the press and was widely discussed in society. The organizers decided that a six-year wait for the Games might reduce interest in them, and the delegates agreed to hold the 1st Games in 1896. For some time, London was considered the new venue for the Games. However, a friend of Coubertin, a Greek poet, writer and translator Demetrius Vikelas, invited to the congress with a report on the tradition of the Ancient Olympic Games, unexpectedly proposed Athens as the venue for the new Games, which would symbolize their continuity with the games in Ancient Greece. Congress approved this proposal, and Vikelas himself was elected president of the International Olympic Committee, since according to the charter this position could only be held by a representative of the country hosting the Games.

Members of the IOC (from left to right): 1. Dr. Willibild Gebhardt (Germany) 2. Baron Pierre de Coubertin (France) 3. Advisor Jiri Gut-Jarkovsky (Czech Republic) 4. Demetrius Vikelas (Greece) 5. Ferenc Kemeny (Hungary) 6. General A. Butovsky (Russia) 7. General Viktor Balk (Sweden) (Athens, April 10, 1896)

Organization of the Games

The news about the revival of the Olympic Games excited the world community. In Greece, with particular enthusiasm, they expected the start of the competition. However, serious difficulties that the organizers of the Games had to overcome soon became apparent. Holding competitions of such a high level required substantial financial costs, while an economic and political crisis was raging in the country.

Current Prime Minister Charilaos Trikoupis was sharply negative about the idea of ​​Coubertin. He considered the costs necessary for holding such a grandiose event to be unbearable for the state, and the very holding of the Games was untimely. opposition leader Delianis took advantage of this to reproach the prime minister for lack of patriotism and political and social pessimism. The press was also divided into two camps - in support of the Games and against them. Coubertin had to hold many conversations and meetings with politicians, officials, businessmen, journalists in order to win them over to his side.

King George I

To demonstrate the importance of his project, its modernity, relevance and national prestige, as well as the reality of implementation, Coubertin presented a letter from the Hungarian representative of the IOC Kemeny, which stated that in the event of Athens' refusal, Hungary would willingly host the first Olympics as part of the festivities on the occasion of the millennium of its statehood. At this time, the king was in St. Petersburg, but Coubertin managed to get an audience with his heir, Prince Constantine, and convince him of the expediency of holding the Games. Upon his return, Georg supported his son.

Prince Constantine

At the end of 1894, the predictions of skeptics came true - the organizing committee announced that the costs of the Games were actually three times higher than the estimated amount named before the start of the construction of sports facilities. An opinion was expressed about the impossibility of holding the Games in Athens. Trikoupis gave the king an ultimatum - either he or the prince. The king was adamant, and on January 24, 1895, the prime minister resigned.

It seemed that the Olympic Games were not destined to take place. Then Prince Constantine personally took the helm of the organizing committee, which in itself has already caused an influx of investment. The prince reorganized the committee, removing all opposition from it, carried out a series of measures to attract private capital, and thereby saved the situation. It is noteworthy that despite the acute shortage of funds, the committee accepted donations only from Greek citizens, thereby maintaining the status of the Olympic Games as a national idea. After some time, the fund for the Games was already 332,756 drachmas, but this was not enough.

To raise funds, a series of Olympic-themed stamps was issued. She gave the commission's budget 400,000 drachmas.

Postage stamps of Greece, dedicated to the first Summer Olympic Games of our time, 1896:

Fist fight

Stadium at the Acropolis

Discus thrower

In addition, 200,000 drachmas went into the fund from ticket sales.

Businessman and philanthropist Georgios Averoff, at the request of the royal family, restored the ancient Marble Stadium at his own expense, donating almost 1,000,000 drachmas. After that, nothing prevented the first modern Olympic Games from being held. In honor of Georgios Averoff and in memory of his grandiose contribution, on the eve of the opening ceremony of the Games, a statue was erected in front of the Marble Stadium, which still stands there today. All of these extra funds helped make the first Games happen.

The organization of the Games was very different from the modern one. There was no Olympic village, the invited athletes provided themselves with housing. Some foreign athletes took part in the Games only because, due to some circumstances, they were in Athens at that time.

Countries

According to the calculations of the International Olympic Committee, representatives of 14 countries took part in the Games, however, according to other sources, 12, or 15 countries participated in the competition. Representatives of some colonies and protectorates spoke not from the mother country, but independently. The exact number of representatives of some countries is also unknown, since it is not known about some athletes whether they took a real part in the competition or were only announced. In addition, international pairs competed in tennis, the results of which were subsequently taken into account by the IOC separately - under the conditional name "mixed team".

Australia- despite the fact that Australia was part of the British Empire, the results of the only representative of this country Teddy Flack were counted separately.

Austria- at the time of the Games, Austria was part of Austria-Hungary, but Austrian athletes competed separately from Hungarian ones at the competitions.

Bulgaria- gymnast Charles Champeau was a citizen of Switzerland, but at the time of the Games he lived in Bulgaria, and his results were counted in favor of the national team of this country.

Great Britain- Irish athletes also played in the squad, since there was a single United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

Hungary- at the time of the Games, Hungary was part of Austria-Hungary, but at the competitions, the Hungarian athletes performed separately from the Austrian ones.

Germany

Greece- some athletes, living in other states, played for Greece.
- Egypt - Dionysios Kasdaglis lived in Egypt, but he is considered a Greek athlete. However, when he competed in a doubles tennis tournament with another Greek, their results were attributed to a mixed team.
- Cyprus - Anastasios Andreou, residing in Cyprus, is considered a Greek athlete, although Cyprus was under British protectorate.
- Izmir- some sources believe that two athletes from the city of Izmir (formerly called Smyrna), which is located in Turkey, which was part of the Ottoman Empire at that time, competed separately.

Denmark

Italy

France

Chile- according to the NOC of Chile, 1 athlete from this country took part in the competition, Louis Subercasioux, but there is no mention of him anywhere else. However, Chile is included in the list of countries participating in the Games.

Switzerland

Sweden

Russia I was going to send my athletes to the Games. In the International Olympic Committee, Russia was represented by General A. D. Butovsky, preparations for the Games were going on in many large cities of Russia: Odessa, Kyiv, St. Petersburg. Lack of funds prevented participation in the Games - only a few athletes left for Athens from Odessa, but all of them could only get to Constantinople, and then returned to Russia. Kyivian Nicholas Ritter got to Athens and applied for participation in wrestling and shooting sports, but then took the application back. Returning to Russia, Ritter began to actively promote the Olympic Games.

Belgium also failed to send its representatives, although it planned to do so.

Countries that participated in the 1st Olympic Games. Yellow dot - the city of Athens

Games Opening Ceremony

The opening ceremony took place on April 6, 1896. 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. In addition, Greece celebrates Independence Day on this day.

Opening Ceremony of the 1896 Summer Olympics

The grand opening of the Games was attended by 80,000 spectators, including almost the entire royal family - King George I, his wife Olga and their children. After a speech by the head of the organizing committee, Crown Prince Constantine, George I announced: "I declare the first international Olympic Games in Athens open. Long live Greece. Long live her people!"

Then a choir of 150 people sang the anthem of the Olympic Games, written by Spyros Samaras to poetry Kostis Palamas.

This first opening ceremony of the Games established two Olympic traditions - the opening of the Games by the head of state where the competitions take place, and the singing of the Olympic anthem. However, there were no such indispensable attributes of the modern Games as the parade of the participating countries, the Olympic flame lighting ceremony and the Olympic oath recitation, they were introduced later.

Closing ceremony of the Games

The closing ceremony of the Games was supposed to take place on April 14, but due to rain it was postponed to the next day, to April 15.

The ceremony began with the performance of the Olympic anthem and the declaration of an ode composed by the Briton, who won the third place in tennis. George Robertson. Then George I presented the athletes with awards - silver medals for champions, bronze runners-up, as well as olive branches. Some athletes were given additional awards, for example, Spiridon Louis received the cup Michel Breal- the person who offered to hold a marathon race. After the presentation, the athletes went through the lap of honor to the anthem of the Games. At the very end of the ceremony, the King solemnly declared the 1st International Olympic Games closed.

Scandals at the 1st Olympic Games

The organizers of the competitions organized swims not in the pool, which was not yet in Athens at that time, but in the sea harbor of the Greek capital. One of the participants in the competition, a swimmer named Williams from the USA, climbed ashore immediately after the start and said that it was impossible to hold competitions in such cold water. The organizers ignored the claims of the American.

The history of the ancient Olympic Games dates back to the 9th century BC. In those days, there were endless devastating wars between the ancient states. One day, the king of Elis, Ifit, went to Delphi to the oracle and asked him what could be done to help his people avoid robberies and wars. The Delphic oracle was known for its accurate and absolutely correct advice and predictions. He advised Ifit to found sports games pleasing to the gods on the territory of his country.

Ifit immediately went to the king of neighboring Sparta, the powerful Lycurgus, and agreed with him to establish Elis as a neutral state. According to the agreement, the Athletic Games were to be held in Olympia every 4 years. This treaty was established in 884 BC. e.

First Olympic Games in Ancient Greece

The first Olympic Games in human history took place in 776 BC. e. At that time, only two Elis cities took part in them - Pisa and Elisa. The names of the winners of the Olympiads were carved by the Greeks on marble columns that were installed on the banks of the Alpheus River. Thanks to this modern world, the names of Olympionists are known, including the very first of them: it was a cook from Elis named Koreba.

As the Olympic Games approached, messengers from Elis rode through all the cities, announcing the upcoming festival and announcing the "sacred truce". The messengers were greeted with joy not only by the Helladians themselves, but also by the Greeks living in other cities.

The establishment of a single calendar took place somewhat later. According to him, the games were to be organized every 4 years during the harvest and grape harvest. Numerous religious ceremonies and sports competitions were included in the festival of athletes, the duration of which at first was one day, after some time - five days, and then - as much as thirty days. Slaves, barbarians (that is, those who were not citizens of the Greek state), criminals, blasphemers had no right to participate in competitions.

Video about the history of the ancient Olympic Games

The order of introduction of various competitions in the Olympic Games

1. The first thirteen games were held only in competitions in the stadiodromos - athletes competed in running over a distance.
2. But since 724 BC, the history of the Olympic Games in Ancient Greece has changed somewhat: athletes began to compete in a double run over a distance of about 385 meters.
3. Even later, in 720 BC. e., another competition was added - the pentathlon.
4. In 688 B.C. e., after another seven Olympics, fisticuffs were added to the program.
5. After another 12 years - chariot competitions.
6. In 648 B.C. e., at the 33rd Olympiad, the list of the program was replenished with pankration. It was the most difficult and cruel type of games, which was a fistfight, which the participants carried out in bronze caps put on their heads. Leather belts with metal spikes were wound around their fists. The fight did not end until one of the wrestlers made the decision to admit defeat.
7. Some time later, the running of heralds and trumpeters, the running of warriors in arms, competitions in chariots that were harnessed by mules, as well as some types of children's competitions, were added to the list of competitions.

After each Olympiad, marble statues of the winners were erected between the Alpheus River and the stadium, which were made at the expense of those cities in which the Olympionists lived. Some of the statues were made with funds that were collected from fines who violated the established rules of the Olympic Games. The ancient Greeks left quite a lot of monuments, statues, various records, thanks to which modern people know the history of the Olympic Games.

Modern Summer Olympics

The history of the Summer Olympic Games is quite complex. For a long time, the Olympics were banned, but Great Britain, France, Greece still held sports competitions, which were secretly called "Olympic". In 1859, the Olympic Games resumed in Greece under the name Olympia. Such competitions have been held for 30 years.

When German archaeologists discovered the remains of sports facilities in Greece in 1875, Europe began to talk more and more about the revival of the Olympics.

The history of the development of the Summer Olympic Games began thanks to the French baron Pierre de Coubertin, who believed that their revival would contribute to:

• Improving the level of physical fitness of soldiers.
• The cessation of national egoism, which was inherent in the Olympic idea.
• Replacing sports competitions with military operations.

Thus, thanks to the initiative of Coubertin, the Olympic Games were officially revived from 1896. The Olympic Charter, adopted in 1894, approved the rules and principles by which the Summer Games should be held. Each Olympics began to be assigned its own serial number, and the place of its holding is determined by the International Olympic Committee.

Modern Winter Olympics

The history of the Winter Olympic Games dates back to the French city of Chamonix, which in 1924 hosted the first winter Olympic sports event - the Olympics. It was attended by about 300 athletes from 16 countries. It was from 1924 that the chronology of the Olympics began to include both winter and summer games. In 1994, the summer and winter games began to be held with a difference of 2 years.

The ideological inspirer and organizer of the Winter Games is Pierre de Coubertin. To implement his idea, he had to show great perseverance and all his diplomatic abilities. First, he created a commission to organize the Winter Olympics. Then Coubertin managed to organize a Week in French Chamonix, after which the following Olympiads began to be held:

• 1928 - Swiss St. Moritz.
• 1932 - Lake Placid (America).
• 1936 - German Garmisch-Partenkirchen. It was during this Olympics that the tradition of kindling the Olympic flame was revived.

This is the history of the Winter Olympics. The further geography of the Winter Olympics included many European countries, the American continent and Eastern countries. In 2014, the next Winter Olympics took place in the Russian resort city of Sochi, and the next Olympic flame will be lit in South Korea in 2018.

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In Paris, in the Great Hall of the Sorbonne, a commission has gathered 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 Olympic Games of modern times were originally planned to be held at the same stadium in Olympia, where the Olympic Games of Ancient Greece were held. However, this required too much restoration work, and the first revived Olympic competitions took place in Athens, the capital of Greece.

On April 6, 1896, at the restored ancient stadium in Athens, the Greek King George declared the first modern Olympic Games open. The opening ceremony was attended by 60 thousand spectators.

The date of the ceremony 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 established two Olympic traditions - the opening of the Games by the head of state where the competitions take place, and the singing 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, however, 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 played - 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 program of the Games, a barrel of wine, a voucher for free meals throughout the year, free sewing of a dress and use of a hairdresser throughout his 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 (6+5+2).

The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources