Olympic Champion Matt Biondi

Matt Biondi is living proof that dreams do come true — provided you are willing to work long enough and hard enough to achieve them. Matt is one of only 10 modern Olympic athletes to win eight or more Olympic gold medals. He won eight Olympic gold medals, two Olympic silver medals, and one Olympic bronze medal.

Matt Biondi has also won six World Championship gold medals, two silver, and three bronze. In the Pan Pacific Games, Matt has won two bronze medals, three silver medals, and nine golds. That is a lot of medals and he deserves every one of them.

Matt has loved swimming since early childhood but he didn't start swimming seriously and year-round until he was in high school. By the time he graduated, he was considered the top schoolboy sprinter in America. He set a National High School record of 20.40 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle. That was the beginning of a long an medal-filled career.

After high school Matt was offered a scholarship to the University of California, Berkeley, to swim and play water polo. The Berkeley swim team hrived with Matt as a member. Nobody expected it to happen, but Biondi qualified for a place on the 4 x 100 meter freestyle relay team for the 1984 Olympic Games that were held in Los Angeles, California. The U.S. team won the competition in record time and Matt was on his way to greatness.

When he swam with the 4 x 100 freestyle relay team in 1984, Matt hadn't yet graduated from college, so he returned to Berkeley.

Over the years, Biondi has set a total of 12 individual swimming records.

Biondi married Kristen in 1995 and today he lives in Kamuela, Hawaii. Matt teaches math, U.S. history, personal excellence, and swimming at Parker School, a small private prep school.

Olympic Champion Birgit Fischer

Birgit Fischer was born in what was then "East" Germany. The Berlin Wall was still in place, and east and west were firmly separated. Birgit is a kayaker who was an Olympic athlete for what was then East Germany in two Olympic Games. Then she was an Olympic athlete an astounding four additional times for Germany after East and West Germany were reunited.

What is even more amazing is that Birgit Fischer won her first Olympic gold medal in flatwater canoeing when she was just 18 years old in 1980 — but she won the last of her eight Olympic gold medals for flatwater canoeing in 2004 when she was 42 years old.

Birgit Fischer announced her retirement twice — once after the 1988 Olympics held in Seoul, Korea, where she won two gold medals; and again after the 2000 Olympics held in Sydney, Australia, where she also won two gold medals. After both these retirement announcements, she returned to competition. Once a competitive athlete, always a competitive athlete — or at least as long as it is possible to be a competitive athlete, and for Birgit Fischer, that time for competing lasted an amazing 24 years.

After the 2004 Olympic Games held in Athens, Greece, she was voted Sportswoman of the Year in Germany — a well-deserved honor.

In 1984 Birgit Fischer married Jörg Schmidt, who was also a canoeist. Sadly, the marriage didn't last and it ended in divorce in 1993. The couple had two children. Today Birgit Fischer lives in Brandenburg, Germany, with the two children. She likes to "dabble" in politics from time to time and even made an attempt to become a member of the European Parliament for the Free Democratic Party in 1999. Her bid for election was unsuccessful.

Birgit Fischer won a total of eight Olympic gold medals and four Olympic silver medals.

Olympic Champion Carl Lewis

There are a great many outstanding, memorable, and famous Olympic athletes, but right there in the top echelon is Carl Lewis. Carl Lewis is definitely, memorable and definitely a champion by anybody's standards!

Carl Lewis won 10 Olympic medals, and nine of them were gold medals. He also won 10 World Championship medals and eight of those were gold, too.Lewis won a lot of contests and set a lot of records in the long jump and the 100 meters, and he was very well known — some might say famous — in the rest of the world. But in the United States, track and field isn't big. It wasn't big then and it isn't big now, so most Americans had no idea who Lewis was. It didn't take long for them to find out.

As luck would have it, America was in for a real treat. The Olympic Games were held in Los Angeles, California, in 1984 and there was a champion waiting in the wings to make America proud — that champion was Carl Lewis.

Lewis, when asked what his goal in life was, said, "To become rich and famous." That's easier said than done, of course.

Lewis's main competitor and sometimes nemesis was the Canadian Ben Johnson. There was a lot of "talk" and many accusations exchanged. The competition between the two men could not be called "friendly."

At the 1988 Olympic Games, Ben Johnson narrowly beat Carl Lewis in the 100-meter final. After the race, Johnson said, "They can break my record, but they can't take my gold medal away." Johnson was wrong. They in fact did take his medal away three days later, when he tested positive for steroids, and Lewis was awarded the gold medal.

Drugs, Athletes and the Olympic Games

Athletes are competitive. Olympic athletes are more competitive than others. No matter what sport they compete in, it is the goal of an Olympic athlete to be the best in the whole world at his sport of choice. If the athlete runs, he wants to run ever faster. If the athlete jumps, he wants to jump higher or longer. If the athlete swims, he'd like to have the endurance of a fish.

Athletic competition on the Olympic level creates a situation that is ripe for the abuse of drugs that will enhance physical prowess and performance. It should come as no surprise that "doping" in the Olympic Games has been the lead story of TV news broadcasts and made the headlines of newspapers all over the world.

The history of the use of performance-enhancing drugs in the Olympics can be traced back as far as 1904. Thomas J. Hicks won the marathon that year and it was later found that his coach had given him strychnine and brandy before and during the race. Over the years, the performance-enhancing drugs have become more and more sophisticated and harder and harder to test for.

If as much effort had been put into finding a cure for cancer as has been put into developing better and less traceable performance-enhancing drugs, perhaps the world would be cancer-free by now.

We'll never know how much doping occurred in the Olympic Games before 1967 because there were no doping rules in place before then. In 1960, road cyclist Knud Enemark Jensen fell off of his bicycle and later died. It was proven that Jensen was under the influence of amphetamines at the time of his death. So far, Jensen's is the only death caused by doping during the Olympic Games, but it may not be the last.

Olympic Champion Mark Spitz

There will never be another Olympian athlete who created as much excitement as Mark Spitz, or as much controversy. Mark Spitz's career is filled with moments of unbelievable triumph and devastating failure. It seems that Mark is either on top of a mountain or at the bottom of the sea, with nothing much in between.

Mark Spitz started swimming at the ripe old age of nine. His dad took Mark to the Arden Hills Swim Club to train under the celebrated Sherm Chavoor. Chavoor was a lifelong mentor to Spitz. (At the age of 73, Chavoor died of cancer in 1973.)

Mark was every coach's dream athlete. By the time he was 10 years old, he already held 17 national age-group records and one world record. No doubt, visions of Olympic gold medals were dancing in the heads of his father and his coach. Mark's dad told him, "Swimming isn't everything; winning is!" Apparently Mark took that thought to heart, because he did some serious winning.

To say that Mark Spitz got a tad cocky would be an understatement. He became a little too sure of himself and, apparently believing all of his press, bragged before the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, Mexico, that he would "win six golds." He didn't.

Mark rededicated himself to training and by the time the 1972 Olympics held in Munich, Germany, rolled around, he was ready. He won a total of seven gold medals (three individual medals and four team medals). It's still a record.

Tragedy struck. The 1972 Munich Massacre happened. People died. Spitz, who is Jewish, was truly afraid for his life. He left to go to London before the closing ceremonies.

Mark Spitz today lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two sons. He engages in his favorite activities — sailing and traveling — as often as possible. Spitz describes himself as "an entrepreneur."

Politics, History, IOC and the Olympic Games

The Olympic Games draw the attention of the entire world. It's a situation that is completely irresistible to a politician. All of that "limelight" practically demands that they somehow get into the act and get their "message" out there.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) does its best to keep politics out of the Olympic Games, but that's nearly an impossible task. The first time that the Olympic Games were used by a politician for personal gain was in 1936 when Hitler used the Olympic Games that were held in Berlin to further his cause.

The athletes themselves rarely express their political opinions. The athlete's objective is the competition rather than furthering a political cause — usually. During those same Olympic Games in 1936 that Hitler used to further his political cause, Luz Long (of Germany) helped Jesse Owens (an African American) win the long jump, at the expense of his own silver medal.

There was one occasion, however, where the athletes themselves were involved in using the Olympic Games to further their own political agenda. It happened during the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. Two black track and field athletes from the United States, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, while standing on the victory stand after the 200-meter track-and-field race, performed the "Black Power" salute.

The IOC was not amused. The then president of the IOC, Avery Brundage, gave the United States Olympic Committee a choice. They could either send Tommie Smith and John Carlos home, or withdraw the complete track and field team. The two athletes were sent home.

Politics are still alive and well in the Olympic Games today, but rather than political statements being made during the games, governments opt to boycott the games altogether or they refuse to allow their athletes to compete against athletes of a rival political faction and depend on the media to get their message out.

For example, the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran specifically orders its athletes not to compete in any Olympic heat, semifinal, or final that includes athletes from Israel, and the media publicizes the reason for the lack of participation by the Iranian team.

Olympic Champion Paavo Nurmi

"Success in sport as in almost anything comes from devotion. The athlete must make a devotion of his specialty." That is what Paavo Nurmi is quoted as having said. He should know!

Paavo Nurmi is arguably the most famous person to ever hail from Finland. During the late 1920s, Finland had just gained its independence from Russia. It had been a long and difficult journey and Finland had little standing among the free nations of the world. It is said that Paavo Nurmi ran Finland onto the world map. That's a good description of what his successes in running accomplished.

Paavo was a very private person who didn't really like being in the spotlight. It's said that he had "tunnel vision" when it came to running. Running was his passion, and he was never satisfied with his performance — not even when he won gold medals.

In spite of his dislike of the spotlight, however, Paavo was seen as the unofficial goodwill ambassador for Finland at a time when Finland needed all the help that it could get.

Paavo Nurmi was an athlete who was way ahead of his time. He trained with an intensity and determination never before seen in athletics of any kind. All that Paavo Nurmi was interested in was running. It was his passion and his sole ambition was to run faster and further than any human being before him.

He used a stopwatch to increase his speed and his endurance and over a running career that lasted 12 years, he set 25 world records at distances from 1,500 meters to 20,000 meters.

He was born in 1897 in Turku, a city in southwestern Finland. Paavo Nurmi died at the age of 76 and he was laid to rest in his hometown in 1973.

Olympic Champion Nikolai Andrianov

Nikolai Andrianov has gone down in Olympic history as one of the all-time great gymnasts, but it was a long and rocky road for him. Things didn't start out with the best of circumstances for young Nikolai Andrianov. When he was only 11 years old, his father deserted the family. Life for the family — Nicolai, his mother, and three sisters — was difficult, to say the least.

Nikolai reacted to his father's desertion and the subsequent lack of income by becoming a "bad" boy or a "wild child." He picked fights. He skipped school. His teachers considered him incorrigible. To say that things were not going well is an understatement.

Then one day a friend of Nikolai's, Zhenya Skurlov, talked young Nikolai into going to a gymnastics class with him. Nikolai was a natural and the teacher, Nikolai Tolkachev, agreed to coach him.

It was apparent to Tolkachev that Nikolai needed a strong masculine influence in his life, and so Tolkachev took Andrianov to live with him. After only five years of instruction, Nikolai Andrianov made his debut as a gymnast at the Junior Spartakiade in Yerevan, USSR. A year later, Andrianov earned an alternate spot on the 1970 Worlds team.

Nikolai continued to hone his craft and continued to collect medal after medal. Finally, his big chance came at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, Canada. He collected seven Olympic medals — four gold medals, two silver medals, and one bronze medal. He was also awarded Best All Around.

Nikolai Andrianov retired from competing in 1980 and took over as head of the Vladimir gymnastics school, replacing his coach Nikolai Tolkachev. Later, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Nikolai Andrianov relocated to Japan, where he now coaches Japanese gymnasts.

The 1972 Munich Massacre and Olympic Games

It happened during the 1972 Summer Olympic Games that were held in Munich, West Germany, and it remains one of the darkest days in Olympic Games history. The "Munich Massacre," as it has come to be known, started when men from the militant group Black September took members of the Israeli Olympic team hostage.

Black September had close ties with the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, or Fatah. The leader of the Palestinian National Liberation Movement was the infamous Yasser Arafat. Tensions were high, to put it mildly.

Before the Munich Massacre was over, 11 Israeli athletes and coaches and one German police officer were dead. Five of the eight Black September terrorists were also dead. It was a dark time in the world. The Olympic Games, the very symbol of world peace and unity, had been violated.

In an effort to erase the bad memories of the 1936 Olympic Games that were held in Berlin, the West German Olympic Committee intentionally relaxed security at the Olympic Village. There were no armed guards, and the athletes came and went as they pleased. They were never, or at least rarely, asked to show their identification when leaving or entering the village. It turned out to be a recipe for disaster.

There have been rumors about the participation of West Germany in the Munich Massacre. Nothing has ever been proven, but the events pretty much speak for themselves. The three Black September terrorists who were captured were later released after a Lufthansa airline was hijacked. Lufthansa is based in what was then West Germany.

Since that horrible day that began at 4:30 AM on September 5, 1972, security for all Olympic athletes has been vigilant, to say the least. Some Olympic athletes complain about the degree of security, but in light of the Munich Massacre, it is unlikely that security will ever again be lax.

The History of the Olympic Emblem

We all recognize the Olympic emblem. No words are needed. When you see those five interlocking circles, unless you've been living under a rock or on a different planet all of your life, you know what they represent.

The Olympic emblem was not part of the ancient Olympic Games. The emblem was designed in 1913, adopted in 1914, and first displayed at the Summer Olympic Games of 1920 held in Antwerp, Belgium. Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the Frenchman who founded the International Olympic Committee, designed the emblem.

The Olympic emblem is always displayed on a white background. There are five interlocking circles, blue, yellow, black, green, and red (in that order). The five circles represent the five continents of the earth.

The colors do not represent specific continents. There are a lot of very colorful and imaginative explanations about what the colors represent, but the truth is that the five rings simply represent the five continents. The Americas are all represented by one ring, and Antarctica isn't represented at all. There is no color assigned to any particular continent.

The idea behind the symbol is that the athletes from the five continents come together to complete in sporting events and that all of the politics and personal agendas be checked at the door, so to speak. Of course, everybody doesn't check their politics and personal agendas, and when that happens, the true spirit of the Olympic Games is violated. It's happened before, and it will very likely happen again, but the idea of a venue for athletes from all continents to compete is always there, and the Olympic emblem is always there as a reminder for the purpose of the Olympic Games.

Famous Olympic Champion Larissa Latynina

Between the Olympic Games held in Melbourne, Australia, in 1956 and the Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan, in 1964, Larissa Latynina collected more Olympic medals than any other athlete in the history of the Olympics, male or female, in any sport. She collected a total of 18 Olympic medals during the three Olympic Games that she participated in — nine gold medals, five silver medals, and four bronze medals. Some believe this is a record that will never be broken.

Larissa Latynina was born on December 27, 1934, in Kherson, Ukraine (then part of the Soviet Union). She began training as a ballet dancer, but when her choreographer moved to another city, she turned to gymnastics. After Larissa finished high school in 1953, she was sent to Kiev to go to the Lenin Polytechnic Institute and continue training as a gymnast.

Larissa made her debut on the international stage of gymnastics at the World Championships in 1954, where she won a gold medal in the team competition. She was 19 years old. It was the first of many medals that Larissa would earn before she retired from competing after the 1966 World Championships at the ripe old age of 35.

After Larissa retired from competition, she became a coach for the Soviet national gymnastics team. She held the coaching position until 1977. After she left her coaching position, she organized the gymnastics competition at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, Russia. Then Larissa Latynina really did retire and today she lives on an estate near the town of Semenovskoye, outside of Moscow.

There are a few great athletes that come to mind when we think of the Olympic Games. Larissa Latynina is at the top of that distinguished list, in my opinion.

The 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games

It could be that when you are reading this, the Olympic Games of 2008 have already been played. But while I am writing this, the games are still in the future… not far in the future but they haven't yet started.

There are always problems of some kind associated with the Olympic Games. The Olympic Games of 2008 are no different.

The games will be held in Beijing, China. As is the custom, the Olympic torch circles the globe and is carried through the streets of cities, large and small, along the route. This year there have been loud and sometimes even violent objections as the torch makes its way around the world. The protests are not about the Olympic Games or the Olympic athletes but about China — specifically, China's record of human rights abuses.

People take human rights seriously, as they should; but people also take athletic competitions seriously, and that is also as it should be. The problems materialize when the two collide — and there has certainly been a major collision this year.

At the moment, it is not altogether clear whether the United States will even send athletes to compete in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing. There are loud calls for a boycott of the games. The point of boycotting the Olympic Games is to embarrass the host nation and/or to force changes to the policies to which the protesters object.

So far, boycotting the Olympic Games has never resulted in a change being made by a host nation. Of course, the fact that boycotting the Olympic Games is totally ineffective won't stop those who have strong feelings about government policies from insisting that the Olympic Games be boycotted.

The Summer Olympic Games are yet to be played as I write this, and it is my sincere hope that the athletes from all nations can come together in the spirit intended by the Olympic Games and compete.

The History of the Modern Olympic Games and the first modern-day boycott

The road between the revival of the Olympic Games that began back in the 16th century after a long sleep and the Olympic Games that we know today has been fraught with problems as well as triumphs.

In 1896 the Olympic Games were held in Athens, Greece. There were 241 participants from 14 nations. At the 2006 Winter Olympics that were held in Turin, Italy, 2,633 athletes from 80 countries competed in 84 events.

The Olympic movement is very proud of the great strides that have been made in the Olympic Games of today, and well they should be. This progress, however, has not been won without a lot of problems and stumbling blocks on the road.

When athletic competitions between athletes that represent their home nations collide with political stances of those nations that are at odds with one another, you can bet that the "fur will fly," as the saying goes. Boycotts happen!

The first modern-day boycott of the Olympic Games happened in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. The Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland refused to allow their athletes to compete because of the "repression" of the Hungarian uprising by what was then the Soviet Union. That was only the first of many boycotts over the years.

Sometimes nations that have political differences will boycott all of the games that are held in rival nations. Sometimes rival nations will not allow their athletes to compete in the same events.

The Olympic Games has had its share of scandals, too. Judges that have been paid off, doping, and other infractions of the rules have plagued the Games and continue to do so. And yet, the Olympic Games survive! The Olympic Games thrive not because of the nations that compete, but because of the athletes from those nations that are the very best and want to prove it to the world.

Modern Revival of the Ancient Olympic Games

The original Olympic Games were played between 776 BC and 393 BC, according to most scholars. During that time, the number of games increased from one to 20, and the Olympic Games Festival or celebration increased from one day to several days.

In ancient times, the Olympics were religion-based. Contests were held between sacrifices and ceremonies honoring Zeus and Pelops (a divine hero and mythical king of Olympia famous for his legendary chariot race with King Oenomaus of Pisatis).

Then in 393 AD, Emperor Theodosius I proclaimed Christianity the religion of the empire and banned pagan rites. The Olympic Games were outlawed as a pagan festival.

The Olympic Games were not dead, but they did lay dormant for a very long time. It wasn't until the 16th century AD that an "Olympic Games" sports festival was held at Chipping Campden in the English Cotswolds. The festival was held for several years, and others attempted to revive the Olympic Games, without a lot of success.

Then in 1859, a wealthy Greek philanthropist, Evangelos Zappas, sponsored the revival of the first modern international Olympic Games. The first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens city square. The Ottoman Empire sent athletes to compete against the athletes from Greece, making the games the first international games. Zappas used his own personal funds to rebuild the ancient Panathenian stadium. The stadium was first used for the Olympic Games of 1870 and then was used again in 1875.

Evangelos Zappas refurbished the Panathenian stadium again with his own money, and the stadium was the site for the Olympic Games of 1896. The Olympic Games of 1896 included the participation of athletes from 14 nations.

It took a lot of years between the early attempts to revive the Olympic Games and the Olympic Games that we know today where athletes from every continent in the world compete in hundreds of different contests.

The Olympic Flag, Its Symbolism and History

The Olympic Games are full of symbolism. The official emblem of the Olympic Games is five interlocked rings of different colors (blue, yellow, black, green, and red) on a white background.

The emblem was designed by Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the Frenchman who founded the International Olympic Committee in 1913.

The emblem was adopted by the International Olympic Committee in 1914 and was first displayed at the Olympic Games that were held in Antwerp, Belgium, in 1920.

The Olympic emblem is emblazoned on the Olympic Flag. The Olympic flag has a white background with the five rings in blue, yellow, black, green, and red on the foreground. The five rings represent the five inhabited continents of earth, and the six colors included in the Olympic flag are the six colors that appear on all of the national flags of the world today.

One Olympic flag is raised during the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games and lowered during the closing ceremonies. Another Olympic flag is used when the Olympic oath is administered. During the closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games, the mayor of the host city passes the flags to the mayor of the city that will next host the games.

The ceremony of passing the flag from one Olympic hosing city to the next is called the "Antwerp Ceremony" because that is where the tradition began. There are three Olympic flags that differ from all other copies of the Olympic flag. They have a five-colored fringe around them, and they are tied with five colored ribbons to a flagstaff.

The same flag was used beginning at the 1920 Olympic Games until the 1984 Olympic Games. The flag was called the Antwerp Flag because that is where the tradition began. The Antwerp Flag was retired in 1984 and is on display at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland.

In 1988 the Seoul Flag was presented to the IOC at the Olympic Games that were held in Seoul, South Korea, and is the flag that is used today.

The Olympic Oath and Its History

There hasn't always been an Olympic Oath. The first time the Olympic Oath was used was at the Summer Olympic Games held in 1920 in Antwerp, Belgium. David O'Connor is usually given credit for conceiving the idea of an oath, but the Olympic Oath was actually written by Ethelbert Talbot.

The Olympic Oath is taken by an athlete from the host country while he/she holds a corner of the Olympic Flag. Victor Boin, the first athlete to take the Olympic Oath, was a Belgian freestyle swimmer, water polo player, and épée fencer. He competed in the 1908, 1912, and 1920 Summer Olympics.

The oath that Victor Boin read in 1920 was:

"We swear. We will take part in the Olympic Games in a spirit of chivalry, for the honor of our country and for the glory of sport."

The Olympic Oath has gone through a few changes over the years. The oath that will be read at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, will read:

"In the name of all the competitors I promise that we shall take part in these Olympic Games, respecting and abiding by the rules which govern them, committing ourselves to a sport without doping and without drugs, in the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of sport and the honor of our teams."

The part about doping and drugs was not added until the 2000 Summer Olympics. The word "swear" was replaced with "promise," and the word "country" was replaced by "team" early on.

Today an Olympic judge from the host country also holds a corner of the Olympic flag and reads the following oath:

"In the name of all the judges and officials, I promise that we shall officiate in these Olympic Games with complete impartiality, respecting and abiding by the rules which govern them in the true spirit of sportsmanship."

The Olympic judges weren't required to take an oath until the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Japan.

Olympics Closing Ceremonies and International Olympic Committee (IOC)

The Olympic Games are steeped in tradition, and that is as it should be. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is in charge of all aspects of the Olympic Games no matter what country is the host nation. The IOC is charged with keeping the Olympic Games fair, above reproach, and nonpolitical in nature. The host nation can plan events, but those events must be approved by the IOC. The host nation can include additional segments to the opening and closing ceremonies provided the plans are approved by the IOC.

The opening ceremony is marked by a parade of athletes separated by the countries which they represent. The Olympic flag is raised, and the Olympic fire is lit. The games are played. The contests are held. Winners are declared and medals are awarded, all according to the rules as specified by the IOC.

When the last Olympic event has been completed (usually the men's marathon), the closing ceremony commences. The president of the IOC gives a speech in which he calls for the athletes of the world to prepare and gather together again in four years to compete in the next Olympic Games.

There is a trumpet fanfare, and the Olympic fire is extinguished. The Olympic anthem is played and the Olympic flag is slowly lowered. The athletes then enter the stadium again but this time as a group without the designations of country or flag. They circle the track and exit the stadium. When the last athlete exits the stadium, the Olympic Games are over.

An interesting note: It was customary until 1956 for the athletes to circle the stadium in groups divided by the nations they represented until 1956. A Chinese teenager who lived in Australia at the time suggested that the athletes be allowed to mingle without country designation during the final parade. That idea was accepted by the IOC and today there is no national division as the participating athletes circle the stadium for the final time.

Olympics Opening Ceremonies and International Olympic Committee (IOC)

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is the only authority that governs the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games no matter what country they are held in. Every aspect of the opening ceremonies must be approved by the IOC.

As a matter of fact, the IOC has complete control of all activities associated with the Olympic Games from the first moment until the last. There are those who believe that the host nation is in charge, but it is not.

The protocol of the opening ceremonies begins with the high-placed government official of the host nation going to his appointment place on the tribune and then the competitor's parade starts. The first group of athletes is always those who represent Greece, where the ancient Olympics originated. The last group of athletes is those who represent the host nation. The athletes of the other nations are placed in alphabetical order based on the language of the organizing country.

Each group of athletes is dressed in their official Olympic uniform and is preceded by a shield bearing the name of the country and by an athlete carrying the country's national flag.

The president of the Olympic Committee of the Host Nation makes a welcoming speech. His speech is followed by a speech by the president of the IOC. The IOC president asks the chief of state to proclaim the Games open.

There is a trumpet fanfare as the Olympic flag is raised. A runner enters the stadium carrying the Olympic flame on its last leg of its trip around the world, which began in Olympia, Greece. The athlete circles the track once, and then climbs the steps and lights the Olympic fire. The fire burns throughout the games both day and night.

Olympics Opening Ceremonies and International Olympic Committee (IOC)

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is the only authority that governs the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games no matter what country they are held in. Every aspect of the opening ceremonies must be approved by the IOC.

As a matter of fact, the IOC has complete control of all activities associated with the Olympic Games from the first moment until the last. There are those who believe that the host nation is in charge, but it is not.

The protocol of the opening ceremonies begins with the high-placed government official of the host nation going to his appointment place on the tribune and then the competitor's parade starts. The first group of athletes is always those who represent Greece, where the ancient Olympics originated. The last group of athletes is those who represent the host nation. The athletes of the other nations are placed in alphabetical order based on the language of the organizing country.

Each group of athletes is dressed in their official Olympic uniform and is preceded by a shield bearing the name of the country and by an athlete carrying the country's national flag.

The president of the Olympic Committee of the Host Nation makes a welcoming speech. His speech is followed by a speech by the president of the IOC. The IOC president asks the chief of state to proclaim the Games open.

There is a trumpet fanfare as the Olympic flag is raised. A runner enters the stadium carrying the Olympic flame on its last leg of its trip around the world, which began in Olympia, Greece. The athlete circles the track once, and then climbs the steps and lights the Olympic fire. The fire burns throughout the games both day and night.

Olympic Medal Presentation Rules in Summer Olympics

The Summer Olympics includes 28 sports with 38 disciplines, and medals are awarded for all of them. Of course, the list of Olympic sports is not written in stone. Sports have been added and there have been occasions when sports were eliminated. Either adding or subtracting Olympic sports always is marked by strong opinions of both sides.

The medal presentation ceremony is governed as is every aspect of the Olympic Games by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The athletes are made aware of the rules regarding their behavior during medal presentation ceremonies and any deviation from those rules is sufficient reason for an athlete being sent home and not allowed to ever again compete in the Olympic Games.

An infraction of the rules at the medal ceremony has only happened once. During the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City two black track-and-field athletes from the United States, Tommie Smith and John Carlos performed the "Black Power" salute. They were sent home.

After an Olympic event, when the medal winners have been decided, a medal ceremony is held. Each ceremony is exactly identical to every other medal ceremony. The event champion (gold medal) stands in the center and on the highest elevated platform. The second-place finisher (silver medal) stands to the left (facing the flags) on a slightly lower platform, and the third-place finisher (bronze medal) stands on the right, also on a slightly lower platform.

The medals are then presented to the winners.

The flags of the winning athletes are raised, with the event champion's flag in the center and slightly higher than the other two flags. The national anthem of the event champion is played, and the ceremony is complete.

The List of Olympic Sports

The list of Olympic sports is not exactly written in stone. The list of Olympic sports consists of all of the games, contests, and events of both the Summer Olympic Games and the Winter Olympic Games. Currently the Olympic sports list consists of 35 sports with 53 disciplines and more than 400 events, which are divided into Summer Olympic events and Winter Olympic events. The Summer Olympic events include 28 sports with 38 disciplines, and the Winter Olympic events include 7 sports with 15 disciplines. (The 400 events include all of the qualifying competitions and heats.)

The list of Olympic sports is fluid. Polo and tug of war are sports that were once Olympic sports but are no longer included. But just because a sport is dropped doesn't mean that it will never be included again. Tennis, for example, was dropped but was reinstated in 1972. Curling was also dropped and reinstated in 1988.

Baseball and softball will be played at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China, but they will not be included thereafter unless they are reinstated.

In order for a sport to be included on the Olympics sports list, it must be widely practiced in at least 75 countries, on at least four continents. But just because a sport meets those requirement it doesn't mean that it will be included on the Olympics sports list. And if it is included on the list, that doesn't mean that it will actually be played at the Olympic Games.

Some sports are just simply sports without subcategories. That is, baseball is baseball, basketball is basketball, and tennis is tennis. But some sports are broken down into subcategories, or "disciplines." The aquatics category, for example, consists of diving, swimming, synchronized swimming, and water polo.

Olympic Sports in History

In the ancient and original Olympic Games, there was only one sport. The one sport was a foot race that was a winner-take-all event. There was no award given to the second- and third-place finishers. The winner was declared, he gained the prestige of winning and, in a ceremony that followed, he was awarded a crown of olive leaves. Only men were allowed to compete in the ancient Olympics.

The original Olympic Games consisted only of a foot race but over time other events were added. There were no team sports in the ancient Olympic Games, however. All competition was individual competition. Not necessarily in the order given, but the sports that were added to running and became part of the ancient Olympic Games were:

Boxing

Discus (part of Pentathlon)

Equestrian Events

Javelin (part of Pentathlon)

Jumping

Pankration

Pentathlon

Wrestling

Some of the sports that were added to the ancient Olympic Games bear little resemblance to the same sports that are part of our modern Olympic Games. In ancient Olympic boxing, for example, gloves were not used. Men wrapped leather around their hands. The fight was not divided into rounds. The fight continued until one man could not get up and it was permissible to hit a man when he was down. The word "brutal" comes to mind.

Chariot racing which has been depicted in many movies over the years was also added to the ancient Olympic Games in about 680 BC. There were four horse and two horse chariot races. The races were basically the same aside from the number of horses. Chariot racing, however, was not considered a prestigious sport in and of itself. Wealthy men gained prestige according to the number of chariots that they had in the race.