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The Olympic Games — the world’s athletic extravaganza
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Wednesday, 23 July 2008
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Rev. John C. Blackford
Religion Columnist
The site of this year’s Olympic Games will be Beijing, China. From August 8-24 the best athletes from around the world will compete for the most sought-after honors in the field of sports.
The first Olympic competition was held in 776 B.C. in ancient Greece, and it and succeeding games constituted the one international bond which held through all wars and political differences. Peace reigned for the period of the games, and brought a spirit of good will and respite from armed conflict.
The early Olympics featured only one sport, a footrace covering 630 feet. There were only two prizes, the acclaim of the known world and the olive wreath of victory. Our modern Olympic Games are a revival of the early games, but consist of many more events.
The ancient games were all held in Greece, but now are awarded to various countries. Then and now, though, they are held every four years.
The word, Olympic, comes from the name of the highest mountain in Greece, Mount Olympus. It is about 10,000 feet high, and on the borders of Thessaly and Macedonia. This peak was believed by the Greeks of that time to be the home of the greater gods; hence, it was considered to be heaven.
The games were held in a nearby plain, and dedicated to the chief god Zeus. They were held every four years, a time frame called an Olympiad.
For over 1000 years, from 776 B.C. until 393 A.D., these games were held. It was the taint of dishonesty, professionalism and commercialism which finally killed this great athletic event, and ended the benefits it had brought for centuries.
Late in the 19th century a sense of what a renewal of the Olympic Games could do for the world led to the first modern games in Athens, Greece in 1896. Modest success encouraged the sponsors, and so Olympics were held in 1900 in Paris.
They were continued in 1904 (in St. Louis, MO) and in 1908 and 1912. The 1916 games were to be held in Berlin, Germany, but were cancelled because of the World War.
The Olympics were continued in 1920 with Belgium as the host nation. This country had been terribly ravaged during the late war, and its offer to hold the games was considered a wonderful peacemaking gesture. The first winter Olympics were held that year.
At the 1896 games 13 countries were represented by 311 athletes. Four years later women competed for the first time, and numbered 11 of the 1330 athletes. Golf and tennis were new events.
World War II forced the cancellation of the Olympics in 1940 and 1944. In 1952 the Soviet Union participated for the first time in the summer games. The 1956 winter Olympics in Italy were the first to be televised.
The International Olympic Committee oversees the entire operation. It is a self-perpetuating, non-representative body which decides where the games will be held and which events will be included. Other committees select and send teams to the games, and still others prepare the places of competition and act as hosts.
As China prepares for the great influx of athletes, media persons, visitors and others, it is finding what a great task is involved in hosting the Olympic Games. In order not to offend those who attend it is taking measures that are unique.
It was announced recently that dog meat is off Olympic menus. Dog, known in Chinese as “fragrant meat,” is eaten by some Chinese for its purported health-giving qualities. Dog meat has been struck from the menus of officially designated Olympic restaurants, and other outlets are being discouraged from offering it.
The first Olympics were in honor of the gods. It is ironic that China, a communist nation which is officially godless, is the seat of the 2008 games. Many of the athletes and others at the Olympics are Christians, and will bear their witness, directly and indirectly.
Also, it is estimated that up to 50 million Chinese are followers of Christ. They will make their presence felt, and also will be encouraged by the presence of fellow believers from around the world.
We need to hold up the 2008 Olympic Games in our prayers.
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