Реферат: Olympic Games Essay Research Paper

support. Although many cities have achieved a financial profit by hosting the

Games, the Olympics can be financially risky. Montreal, Canada, for example,

spent a great deal of money preparing for the 1976 Summer Games which were due

to "extensive design and construction costs for new facilities. When the

proceeds from the Games were less than expected, the city was left with large

debts"(White 28). Although the Olympic Charter, the official constitution

of the Olympic movement, proclaims that the Olympics are contests among

individuals and not among nations, the IOC assigns to the various NOCs the task

of selecting national Olympic teams. In most cases the NOCs do this by holding

Olympic trials or by choosing athletes on the basis of their previous

performances. From the start of the modern Olympic Games, "male amateur

athletes of every race, religion, and nationality have been eligible to

participate"(White 36). Although Coubertin "opposed the participation

of women in the Olympics and no women competed in 1896", a few female

golfers and tennis players were allowed to participate in the 1900 Games (Gary

39). Female swimmers and divers were admitted to the 1912 Games, and female

gymnasts and track-and-field athletes first competed at the 1928 Games. Women’s

Olympic sports have grown significantly since then, and currently women account

for approximately half of the members of teams, except in teams from Islamic

nations, where the level of female participation is generally lower. Coubertin

and the IOC intended from the start for the Olympics to be open only to

amateurs. Amateurism was determined by adherence to the amateur rule, which was

originally devised in the 19th century to "prevent working-class athletes

from participating in sports such as rowing and tennis"(Gary 21). The

amateur rule prevented athletes from earning any pay from activities in any way

related to sports, and working-class athletes could not afford both to make a

living and train for competition. Olympic rules about amateurism, however, have

caused many controversies over the years. Such questions as whether an amateur

could be "reimbursed for travel expenses, be compensated for time lost at