What is olympics all about

Winning medals at the Olympic Games has always been considered the most prestigious mark of an athlete, and a source of glory for the athlete's country. This has led to the use of performance-enhancing drugs by athletes, intentionally or otherwise, despite the health risks to the athlete and IOC rules prohibiting the use of these substances.

The types of drugs banned include stimulants which can be found in common cold and cough medications; caffeine is also banned , narcotics, anabolic steroids, diuretics, certain hormones such as human growth hormone , and in some sports, beta blockers. The testing of athletes for drug use began for the Olympics in , at the Mexico City Games, but did not become widespread until the Games.

Over the years, as drugs such as human growth hormone have been developed, tests have been added for newer drugs. With such great rewards at stake, there are athletes and even national sports programs willing to use performance-enhancing drugs despite the risks to future health and the disgrace of getting caught.

The best-known example of drug use is the East German sports federation, which had a systematic program for giving its athletes steroids from to During that time East German women suddenly dominated events such as swimming, winning medals in 11 of 13 events both in and Other swimmers suspected that the East German women were using steroids, because the drugs affected their physical appearance, but the team was never caught.

After the reunification of Germany, the East German sports federation's records were opened and the program was exposed. In the former head of the federation and the doctor who developed and administered the drug plan were convicted of systematic and overall doping.

The former athletes maintain that they never knew they were taking steroids, claiming that they were told that the various medications were vitamins. As drug testing procedures have improved, more athletes have been caught.

In Seoul there was suspicion of widespread use of performance-enhancing drugs after Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson tested positive; he was stripped of his gold medal. In the mids, China's female swimmers and runners quickly rose to the top of elite competition, arousing suspicions of drug use; by the late s many were caught through more diligent drug testing.

The IOC publicly decries the use of performance-enhancing drugs. However, it is commonly believed that even with out-of-competition testing, the drugs and masking agents available to athletes is far ahead of the tests used to detect these substances. A study released in September that was financed by the U. Bibliography: Finding, John E. Create a List. List Name Save. Rename this List. Rename this list. List Name Delete from selected List.

Save to. Save to:. Save Create a List. Create a list. Save Back. The History of the Olympic Games. Grades 6—8 , 9— The Ancient Olympics The earliest reliable date that recorded history gives for the first Olympics is B. The Modern Olympics The revival of the Olympic Games in , unlike the original Games, has a clear, concise history. Politics and the Olympics The ideology of nationalism, which swept the world during the early 20th century, left its mark on the Olympics. Money and the Olympics The biggest influence on the modern Olympic Games is money.

Performance-Enhancing Drugs Winning medals at the Olympic Games has always been considered the most prestigious mark of an athlete, and a source of glory for the athlete's country. View not found. Download the PDF from here. Related Subjects. The ultimate goals are to cultivate human beings, through sport, and contribute to world peace.

Summer Games and Winter Games are held separately. In , the commemorative XXX Olympic Games were held in London, with athletes from countries and regions participating in 26 sports, with a total of separate events.

The history of the Olympics began some 2, years ago. C had become the most famous of all Greek sporting festivals. The ancient Olympics were held every four years between August 6 and September 19 during a religious festival honoring Zeus. The Games were named for their location at Olympia, a sacred site located near the western coast of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece.

Their influence was so great that ancient historians began to measure time by the four-year increments in between Olympic Games, which were known as Olympiads. The pentathlon consisting of five events: a foot race, a long jump, discus and javelin throws and a wrestling match was introduced in B.

In B. After the Roman Empire conquered Greece in the mid-2nd century B. In one notorious example from A. It would be another 1, years before the Games would rise again, largely thanks to the efforts of Baron Pierre de Coubertin of France.

Dedicated to the promotion of physical education, the young baron became inspired by the idea of creating a modern Olympic Games after visiting the ancient Olympic site. Two years later, he got the approval he needed to found the International Olympic Committee IOC , which would become the governing body of the modern Olympic Games.

The first modern Olympics were held in Athens, Greece, in In the opening ceremony, King Georgios I and a crowd of 60, spectators welcomed participants from 12 nations all male , who would compete in 43 events, including track and field, gymnastics, swimming, wrestling, cycling, tennis, weightlifting, shooting and fencing.

The official symbol of the modern Games is five interlocking colored rings, representing the continents of North and South America, Asia, Africa, Europe and Australia. The Olympic flag, featuring this symbol on a white background, flew for the first time at the Antwerp Games in Some 3, athletes with more than women among them from 44 nations competed that year, and for the first time the Games featured a closing ceremony.

The Winter Olympics debuted that year, including such events as figure skating, ice hockey, bobsledding and the biathlon.