Реферат: Olympic Games Essay Research Paper

assisted by an executive board, several vice presidents, and a number of IOC

commissions. The IOC’s first president, Demetrius Vik?las of Greece (served

1894-1896), was succeeded by Coubertin himself (1896-1925). The other IOC

presidents have been Count Henri de Baillet-Latour of Belgium (1925-1942), J.

Sigfrid Edstr?m of Sweden (1946-1952), Avery Brundage of the United States

(1952-1972), Michael Morris, Lord Killanin, of Ireland (1972-1980), and Juan

Antonio Samaranch of Spain (1980-) . In order to host the Olympics, a city must

submit a proposal to the IOC, and after all proposals have been submitted, the

IOC will vote. If no city is successful in gaining a majority in the first vote,

the city with the fewest votes is eliminated, and voting continues with

successive rounds, until a majority winner is determined. Typically the Games

are awarded several years in advance in the hopes of allowing the winning city

adequate time to prepare for the Games. In selecting the site of the Olympic

Games, the IOC considers a number of factors, mainly among them is which city

has, or promises to build, the best facilities, and which organizing committee

seems most likely to stage the Games effectively as well as efficiently. The IOC

also considers which parts of the world have not yet hosted the Games. For

instance, Tokyo, the host of the 1964 Summer Games, and Mexico City, the host of

the 1968 Summer Games, "were chosen in part to popularize the Olympic

movement in Asia and in Latin America"(Gorman 69). Because of the growing

importance of television worldwide, the IOC in recent years has also taken into

account the host city’s time zone. Whenever the Games take place in the United

States or Canada, American television networks are willing to pay significantly

higher amounts for television rights because they can broadcast popular events

live, in prime viewing hours. Once the Games have been awarded, it is the

responsibility of the local organizing committee-not the IOC or the NOC of the

host city’s country-to finance them. This is often done with a portion of the

Olympic television revenues and with corporate sponsorships, ticket sales, and

other smaller revenue sources, such as commemorative postage stamps or proceeds