Реферат: Olympic Games Essay Research Paper

taken in the name of all the athletes by a member of the host’s team. The oath

asserts "the athletes’ commitment to the ideals of sportsmanship in

competition"(Gorman 22). Medal ceremonies are also an important part of the

Modern Games. After each individual event during the Games, medals are awarded

in a ceremony to the first-, second-, and third-place finishers. The ceremony

occurs after each event, when these competitors mount a podium to receive gold

(actually gold-plated), silver (silver-plated), and bronze medals. While the

national flags of all three competitors are hoisted, the national anthem of the

winner’s country is played. Some critics have suggested that because the medal

ceremony seems to contradict the IOC’s vow to internationalism, these national

symbols should be replaced by the hoisting of the Olympic Flag and the playing

of the official Olympic Hymn. Originally there was another parade of nations

during the closing ceremonies of the Games. At the end of the 1956 Summer Games

in Melbourne, Australia, the athletes "broke ranks and mingled together to

celebrate the occasion, and this custom is continued throughout subsequent

games"(Gorman 24). After the athletes join in the main Olympic stadium in

celebration, the president of the IOC invites the athletes and spectators to

meet again at the site of the next Games. The IOC president then declares the

Games officially over, and the Olympic Flame is extinguished. While the exact

origin is unknown, there have been many popular myths surrounding the beginning

of the Ancient Olympic Games. Two of the more popular myths surround the

legendary Hercules and a young hero named Pelops . The most common myth of the

beginning of the Ancient Olympics is the story of the hero Pelops and was

displayed prominently on the east pedimental sculptures of the Temple of Zeus.

Pelops was a prince from Lydia in Asia Minor who sought the hand of Hippodamia,

the daughter of King Oinomaos of Pisa. Oinomaos challenged his daughter’s

suitors to a chariot race under the guarantee that any young man who won the

chariot race could have Hippodamia as a wife. Any young man who lost the race

would be beheaded, and the heads would be used as decoration for the palace of