1960 Torch Relay

The Olympics have shown over the decades that they can be affected by political conflict. However, it seems that this is the point of the Olympics, to illustrate national pride, by competition. Bloodshed should not be the way for pride of one’s country to be shown, but it should be shown through competition, in the words of the founder of the modern Olympic movement, Pierre de

The olympics were shaped due to social reasons. Document 1’s author, Pierre de Coubertin, who is the founder of the modern Olympics, is a reliable asset to pursuing ideal peace with many other countries. The reason why he wants peace is because he wants to have the “disappearance of war” to be “utopians” which shows that he believes that the olympics one of the best answers to his goal. Similarly, in document 6, the Soviet Union’s Olympic organizing Committee also want to take part with “peace, democracy, and social progress.” This shows how more and more countries, even those with bad ties with others,

Bringing politics into the Olympics may cause the rivalries and tensions to increase instead of peacefully deescalating. There had been previous political interference in the Olympics, the games of 1916 and the subsequent two, but all three were results from the

Starting with Document 3, we are shown how the Nazi’s took the Olympic Games during the period of World War 2. Document 3 shows that the Nazi’s interpreted the Olympic games as a competition showing what countries have the most power in the world. Since during World War 2, The Nazi’s were trying to spread their ideas and beliefs to the world and they thought a good way to do this was the Olympic Games since their interpretation of the Olympic Games was a way to show a country's supremacy. In the end, The Nazi’s were provoked to cheat as they were caught practicing a course before the course was to be presented. In the end, the world was shown what would happen when national conflicts are brought into the Olympic games.

There are multiple elements that shaped the modern Olympic movement from 1892 to 2002. The concept of the modern Olympic movement was to create a global brotherhood using a common interest of all the country’s to bring them together. There were three main factors that shaped the modern Olympic movement, women’s suffrage, economy, and intercountry politics. Feminism helped to shape the Olympic movement because feminism brought women into the Olympic movement because they wanted to prove they could do anything. Nationalism helped to shape the Olympic movement because it brought back rivalries between country’s that were once at war, and the feelings of those country’s due to the outcome of the wars they were in. economics helped shape the Olympic

Protesting is one of the most elevated forms of patriotism and for some time, athletes have been using their fame to protest and promote a political agenda. This is mostly due to the high population that follows them and listens to athletes. In the opinion article,”Athlete as Agent of Change”, written by Lonnie Bunch and David Skorton, it describes how athletes are basically representatives and the voice of the people. It is because of their fame and accomplishments that people look up to them for inspiration. It is because of this that athletes should use their fame to promote a political agenda.

The 1968 Summer Olympics, which took place in Mexico City, were not just about sports. It was also a stage where important political messages were sent out. My essay will look into what was happening at that time, the controversies surrounding the games, some key moments, and what impact they left behind, along with the iconic moment when Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists in a Black Power salute. In the late 1960s, the world was going through big changes, socially and politically. In the United States, the Civil Rights Movement was fighting against racial segregation and discrimination.

The LA Olympic was different from Moscow Olympic, which only revealed their strong political messages through music; LA Olympic opening ceremony revealed not only through music but also performance and performers. Through the Opening ceremony, they “asserted the superiority of the Western, Capitalist, Free American way over the oppressive Eastern, Communist, Totalitarian Soviet way" (Tomlinson 585). The LA Olympic aimed to show that the United State of America is the land of freedom and opportunities without any discrimination of classes, races, ages, and physical conditions. The torch relay, for example, which is one of the important scenes in the Opening Ceremony, usually carried by representative figures of the host country. However, in

“The Olympic Contradiction” in a passage by David Brooks about when people are stuck between two contradictions they should face both of them headon. Brooks uses the Olympics as a metaphor to make know the idea that competitive virtues can often coexist with cooperative values. In the passage Brooks uses the Olympics to effectively develops the idea that embracing contradiction should be considered positive rather than negative.

Before the 1968 Olympics, the world was in chaos. Countries had internal and external problems that were carried on to the Olympic stage. Issues like the Cold War, South Africa apartheid, and the Civil Rights movement took part in forming the games and taking the stage. However, the host of the Olympics, Mexico, was in for a rude awakening. First, they had to prove to the world that they were capable of hosting the games. Second, they had to handle the worlds issues and their own too. Mexico’s problems consisted of the effect of high altitude on athlete’s performance and student protests. These concerns are all discussed in Kevin Witherspoon’s book, Before the Eyes of the World: Mexico and the 1968 Olympic Games. Witherspoon argues how global and internal disputes were able to impact Mexico in how they handled the most watched event.

As a sporting mega-event, the Olympic Games have numerous social impacts on the people, not only on those from the host country, but on individuals all over the globe.

Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympics, believed that the Olympics were the true free trade of the future (Doc 1).” In 1892, at a time when Europe was showing rising political tensions, he may have thought this would be a good idea to help calm these tensions (Doc 1). Countries chosen to host the event benefit from the exposure. Japan, for example, greatly appreciated their being chosen for the Olympics. They felt it helped them recover after their defeat in the World War. This sense of appreciation for being chosen shows that the Olympic intentions were definitely good willed and did not just expose nations political tensions (Doc 5).

As we mourned the recent loss of Muhammad Ali, boxing champion of the world to many, continued the ancient Greece's tradition of carrying the torch to light the cauldron during the 1996 Summer Olympics games in Atlanta, GA. The torch remains lit until the conclusion of competition today as it did in ancient

The executive director of the International Olympic Committee, (IOC, the committee that votes on and awards who receives the honor of hosting the Games, among other duties related to the games) said some people wanted to “close the door” on China because of their human rights abuses, but he hoped that by awarding China the honor of hosting the games, “openness, progress and, development in many areas will improve the situation (Longman,

First of all, the first modern Olympics were held in Athens, Greece, in 1896. The man responsible for its rebirth was a Frenchman named Baron Pierre de Coubertin. Today, the Olympic Games are the world's largest pageant of athletic skill and competitive spirit.