The Olympic Games
The history of the Olympic Games has always been closely related to the city that hosts it. This
is because it’s the city and not the country that makes the bid to hold the Olympic Games.
Understandably, the competition to hold the Olympics is fierce as it can bring great prestige and
prosperity to the city.
From its rebirth in Athens in 1896 to the present day, the modern Olympic Games have gone
through many changes. Women were not officially admitted to the Olympics until the Stockholm
games of 1912, though they had participated in some events before then. In the ancient games
in Greece, women were not even allowed to watch the games, let alone participate.
The Olympic emblem is also a relatively new addition to the game. The first emblem was
designed in 1913, although the Five Rings weren’t included until the Antwerp games of 1920.
The first emblem was designed in 1913, although the five rings weren’t included until the
Antwerp games of 1920. The five rings represent the union of the five continents of the world,
and the colors were chosen because at least one of the five colors exist in each flag of the world’s
nations.
The Olympic torch, which had been part of the ancient games, was reinstated as part of the
opening ceremony in the 1928 games in Amsterdam. The idea of the torch relay (carrying a lit
torch from Greece to the next Olympic venue) was introduced in the Berlin games in 1936. The
relay included some 3,000 runners who carried the torch from Greece to Germany, crossing a
total of seven countries.
The 1990s also saw the massive commercialization of the Olympics. In 1992, during the opening
ceremony of the Barcelona games, Freddie Mercury and Monserrat Caballé sang and Olympic
anthem that topped the charts in many countries. The Atlanta Games in 1996 had an estimated
TV audience of 2.3 billion people a day, but many claim that the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney
were the most successful ever at the time. Attendances reached record lever, with the numbers
of spectators at some athletic events often exceeding 100,000.
With all its popularity, it is also becoming much more difficult to host the event as the number
and variety of sports grow along with the number of contestants and spectators. It has been
suggested that it might be worth establishing and Olympic city, built specifically to host the
games and paid for with contributions from all participating nations. The big problem, of course,
would be to decide where this city should be built. So at present it looks like the games will
continue to travel the world, hosted by some of the world’s greatest cities and bringing in their
wake both glory and disruption.
1. According to the article…
a. The Olympic Games first started in 1896
b. The first time women participated in the Olympic Games was in 1912
c. Ancient Greeks were more tolerant towards women
d. The modern Olympic Games have remained the same for the most part
2. The word fierce in paragraph 1 is closer in meaning to…
a. Fair
b. Aggressive
c. Expensive
