Australian Olympic History

The Olympic games originated in Athens in 776 B.C. The more popular modern day Olympic games began nearly 2300 years later in 1896. The games no longer represented a religious festival, but a sports competition instead. The games can be studied via multiple aspects such as political, social, and economic, but this paper will concentrate on the economic aspect of the games and more specifically, the macroeconomic impacts the games possess.

Australia’s sporting identity was built upon the back of colonial differentiation, sensationalist media coverage and some early Olympic success at a time when sport at the global level was still the domain of the rich and idle. The prevailing cultural identity suggests Australia still perceives itself as a ‘sports mad’ society, however, a deeper look at the statistics surrounding Australian sport would suggest this identity is not reality and that cultural identity is now drawn from a much broader field including multiculturalism, politics, academic, scientific and artistic endeavour.

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

Some factors that shaped the modern Olympic movement from 1892 to 2002 were the increased participation of women in the games due to women’s suffrage, the rising nationalism and superiority over competitors that took place, and the increase in trade and funding.

Ever since its inception in 1896, the Modern Olympics has hosted an invisible sport: politics. The Olympics calls for “a halt to all conflicts … [and to] strive towards a more peaceful world,” but politics soon spoiled its biennial message. “As the Olympics continue to dissolve into … a political competition … they no longer … justify the time and trouble,” Dave Anderson, Pulitzer Prize winner for his sports column, wrote in the New York Times in 1984. The Olympic spirit has routinely been used as an outlet for political agendas. With political and Olympic ambitions intersected, the great international sports festivity negatively affects all nations involved.

The Ancient Olympic Games took place during a time of prosperity for the nation of Greece. In fact, they contributed to the success of the Greek Empire. The Olympic Games reinforced the power of ancient rulers, brought peace with the surrounding nations, and created a reliable way to track time. These ancient games have had such an influence, that they are still continued in our modern society.

The Olympics are held every four years and are used as a global stage for many thousands of sportsmen and women who come from many different countries around the world to demonstrate their abilities ranging from running to rowing. In theory, the Olympic Games are supposed to be free from any politics and be purely about the athlete’s competition and celebrations. It is supposed to be non-gender, non-religion and non-race biased to show the accomplishment of the athletes that compete. Sporting officials are also supposed to be un-biased offering equal opportunities to all athletes.

The Summer Olympic Games in 2000 was held in Sydney. It was an opportunity for Australia to prove to the world they were able to host a major international competition which left a positive impression of Australia. The Impact on Australia was beneficial to the country in a cultural, social, architectural and tourism perspective. From these games there were many unforgettable Australian sporting achievements. This presentation will give an account of the way the 2000 Olympics influenced the Australian way of life.

In a nutshell, the Olympics have been massively affected over the time span from 1892 to 2002. Factors that enabled this metamorphosis to take place include: political tensions between countries, economic opportunities that arose, and the social impact through the endorsement of Women’s

Throughout this journey, many factors had an impact on the Olympics. Some of the factors that changed the modern day Olympics are women competitors, women’s suffrage, nationalism, wars, and economic conditions. An increase of women's rights was given, pride for the nations was shown, wars still occurred, and economies have flourished. The longer the Olympic Games have aged, the closer the world’s state is to Pierre’s

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.

The Olympic Games are recognized globally by billions of people. This event is the biggest sporting event not only because it comes once every four years, but also because the world’s best athletes come together to compete for world fame and glory. Hosting the games seems like an honor for most people, however there is numerous risks involved

At first thought, it may be difficult to understand any possible connection between sports and politics. The New International Webster's Dictionary of the English Language defines politics as 'the science of government', and sports as 'a particular game or physical activity pursued for diversion'. On the surface the two concepts have very little in common, yet their connection can be traced to antiquity and the first organized sporting events. The first Olympic games took place in Greece in the ninth century, b.c.e. to worship the gods, win personal glory, and, most importantly, unite the Greek city-states. At that time, Greece was made up of many small, isolated communities which, as they flourished, sought to dominate the others.

Despite determining to achieve the “joy of effort” among the athletes, as well as the people who are interested in and watch the Games, the IOC constantly reminds the public of the significance and the power of winning the Games and receiving the medals. As found in many official Olympics websites from the Sochi Olympics 2014, London Olympics 2012, dated back to Beijing Olympics 2008, and also more, the ranking of the medals for each country could easily be located, while the Olympic Charter (2015) itself states that “the IOC and the OCOG [the Organising Committees for the Olympic Games] shall not draw up any global ranking per country” (as cited in Davis, 2014). Even though the instinct to win might already be innate or pre-constructed in humans, clearly, the act of the IOC in illustrating the medal rank of each country can influence the degree of awareness in the concept of winning and losing, as well as the physical and emotional aspects of an intense competition resulted from nationalism. Therefore, regardless of the goal of the IOC to uphold the ideals of the Olympics, the standards cannot be completely achieved because the IOC also violate the value of “joy of effort”

The Olympic Games are a set of friendly competitions that bring countries from all around the world together, but many social, political, and economic problems in the past and present including racial and sexual discrimination and apartheid have prevented the Olympic Games from fulfilling their promise to bring countries together.