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Winter Olympics Overview

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The Olympics is commonly referred to as the “Olympic Games” or “The Games”, and is an international, multi-sport competition. The Olympics are held during the summer and winter, every four years, or Olympiad. Since 1992, the Summer and Winter Olympics are only two years apart. The Olympics began in 776 BC in Olympia, Greece, and was celebrated until 393 AD. 1896 marked the return of the Olympics, because of an initiative from French nobleman Pierre Fredy, Baron de Coubertin. This started the modern Olympics era. Since the first modern Olympics in 1896, athletes from around the world participate. The upcoming 2014 Winter Olympics will have 302 events in 28 sports.

After beginning success in 1896, the Olympics struggled. Olympic Games in Paris (1900) and St. Louis (1904) were overshadowed by the World’s Fair in both cities. The 1906 Olympics boasted more diverse participant fields, because in 1904, 80% of participants were American. The 1906 Olympics also marked the beginning of the rise in popularity and size of the Olympics.

At the first Olympics in 1896, there were 241 participants from 14 nations. Those numbers grew to 11,100 participants from 202 countries at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. The number of competitors at the Winter Olympics is much smaller compared to the Summer Olympics. The 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy featured 2633 participants from 80 countries in 84 events. The Olympics are one of the largest media events. In the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, there were over 16,000 broadcasters and journalists, and 3.8 billion viewers watched the Olympics on television.

The growth of the Olympics is a problem; the large number of athletes, media, and spectators make it difficult and expensive for host cities to organize the Olympics. 203 countries currently compete in the Olympics; ten more than the number of countries recognized in the United Nations, 193. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) allows nations to compete who do not meet the strict requirements of political sovereignty. Puerto Rico, Bermuda, and Hong Kong compete as separate nations, even though they are legally apart of another country.

The Olympics used many symbols to represent the Games. The best known Olympic symbols are the Olympic Rings. Five intertwined rings represent the Unity of Five Continents (the Americas are considered one continent). The Olympic Rings appear in five colors-white (field), red, blue, green, yellow, and black. Each nation has at least one of these colors in their national flag. The Olympic Flag was adopted in 1914 and the first historic Olympic Games it was flown in were Antwerp, 1920. The Olympic Flag is raised at each celebration. The official Olympics motto is: “Citius, Altius, Fortius”, a Latin phrase meaning “Swifter, Higher, Stronger”. Another Olympics symbol is the Olympic Flame. The Olympic Flame is lit in Olympia, Greece and brought to the host city by runners carrying the torch in relay. This tradition started in 1928 at the Summer Olympics, and the Olympic Flame relay began in 1936. The Olympic Flame is very important in the opening ceremony. French and English are the two official languages of the Olympics.

The opening ceremonies of the Olympics are an exiting and important time during the Games. The Olympics opening ceremony starts with the raising of the host country’s flag and their national anthem, the parade of nations (where most participating athletes march into the stadium, country by country). Top athletes from each country carry the flag of his/her nation, leading their country. After all nations enter, the president of the host country Olympics Organizing Committee makes a speech and the IOC president introduces the host country’s head of state. The head of state opens the Olympics by saying “I declare the open of the games of….celebrating the…Olympiad of the modern era/Olympic Winter/Summer Games….” The Olympic Flag is carried horizontally (since the 1960 Summer Olympics) into the stadium and risen as the Olympic Anthem is played. Flag bearers of all countries circle a rostrum (where one athlete and one judge say an Olympic Oath, declaring they will compete and judge according to the rules). Finally, the Olympic Torch is carried into the stadium and passed from athlete to athlete until it reaches the last carrier of the torch, a well-known athlete of the host country, who lights the fire in the stadiums cauldron. The Olympics’ opening ceremonies are outdoors, in the main athletic stadium.

The closing ceremony in the Olympics takes place after all the events are finished. Olympic Flag bearers from each participating nation enter the stadium single file, but athletes march behind them in any order. Three national flags are raised on flagpoles one at a time as their respective national anthems are played. Greece’s national flag is on the right hand pole (the original Olympic host country), the flag of the current host country is on the middle pole, and the flag of the next Summer/Winter Olympics host country is on the left hand pole. In the “Antwerp Ceremony”, the mayor of the city that organized the games transfers a special Olympic flag to the president of IOC who passes it to the mayor of the next city to host Olympic Games. The receiving mayor waves the flag eight times. The president of the host country’s Olympic Organizing Committee makes a speech, followed by the IOC president, who makes a speech as well. The IOC president closes by saying “I declare the Games of the Olympiad/Olympic Winter/Summer Games closed and in accordance with tradition, I call upon the youth of the world to assemble four years from now in….to celebrate the games of the…Olympiad/Olympic Winter/Summer Games”.

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