It is known that the Olympics are one of the most prestigious international events. the moderns Olympic Games were the product of an initiative of the French aristocrat Baron de Coubertin, taken at the end of the 19th century. The objective was to recover the sportsmanship of those games when they were practiced in ancient Greece. Below, we list six important facts that make up the history of these games.
1) Phidipides and the origin of the marathon
In Ancient Greece, sport was closely linked to military activity. The athletic modalities that we see in modern games today, for the most part, derive from military activities. Well then, one of the best known Olympic sports is the marathon, long-distance running. The marathon has been part of the modern Olympic Games since the first edition, held in the city of Athens, in 1896. The explanation for the existence of this sport goes back to the famous marathon battle, one of the many caught between greeks and persians at First Greco-Persian War, in 490 BC Ç.
says the greek historian Herodotus that a greek warrior called fidipides he would have run a distance of about 200 km, in two days, from Athens to Sparta. The objective was to ask the latter for help to face the Persians, who landed in Marathon – a city close to Athens – where the battle took place. THE marathon test pays tribute to that fact.
2) The determination of Gabriela Andersen-Schiess
When it comes to marathon, one of the most striking images in the entire history of the Olympics is that of the Swiss marathon runner Gabriela Andersen-Schiess completing the test in Los Angeles Olympic Games, in 1984. The test took place on August 5 of that year. The first place was the American Joan Benoit Samuelson, which made a time of 2h24 min. Six athletes withdrew. Gabriela Andersen-Schiess was the most exhausted. Out of breath and cramping, the Swiss athlete persisted, slowly reeling, to the finishing point. Her image of determination circulated the world and is still a symbol of the Olympic spirit today.
3) Jesse Owens, Nazism and Racism
One of the most interesting stories of the Olympics is that of JesseOwens (1913-1980), a black American sprinter from the state of Alabama, who lived his athletic age at a time when racial segregation prevailed in the countries of the US South. Owens participated in the Berlin Olympics, in 1936, at the time Nazi germany, and got four gold medals in the following categories: 100m dash, 200m dash, 4x100m and long jump.
Owens' performance greatly impressed athletes and fans from other countries, including Germany. There was a rumor that adolf hitler he would have been infuriated by the fact that a black man had beaten the Aryans and, therefore, would not even have greeted the athlete. However, Owens, in his biography, says he waved to the Nazi leader and got the wave back.
The point is that racism was not something restricted to Nazism at that time. If Arianism did not look favorably on a black person performing excellently in the Olympic Games, Owens' own country did not give him recognition at the time – then President F. D. Roosevelt didn't even send him a telegram—and that was what hurt him most.
4) John Carlos and Tommie Smith in Mexico City
Other black American sprinters also made history in the 1960s. John Carlos and Tommie Smith participated in the 1968 Olympics, at Mexico City, and got the gold (Smith) and bronze (Carlos) medals in the same modality: 200 meters dash. Second place went to the Australian PeterNorman.
Smith and Carlos, as they climbed onto the podium to receive their medals, did so without their sneakers and raised their arm with a black-gloved fist, as members of the Black Power Movement, In the USA. Both wanted to send a message to the world about the need to fight for the civil rights of black Americans and both were punished by the Olympic Committee. The Australian was also, as he supported the gesture of his colleagues wearing an Olympic Project for Human Rights badge.
5) Tragedy in Munich
The Olympics were also marked by a tragic situation. In 1972, we Munich Olympic Games, members of the Palestinian terrorist group SeptemberBlack entered the city's Olympic Complex andkidnapped nine membersof the Israeli delegation. The group's objective was to exchange the hostages for more than 200 political prisoners linked to international terrorism. Negotiations with German authorities took the worst possible turn. At Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base, the terrorists detonated the helicopter where the Israeli athletes were with grenades, killing them all instantly.
6) The first Brazilian Olympic athlete to win gold
An important fact that few people know is that the first Brazilian Olympic athlete to win a gold medal was WilliamParaense, in the proof of rapid pistol shooting. The fact occurred in the Antwerp Olympics (Belgium) in 1920. Paraense, as the name indicates, was from Belém do Pará and a member of the Brazilian army.
* Image credits: catwalker and Shutterstock
By Me. Cláudio Fernandes
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/curiosidades/seis-fatos-importantes-historia-das-olimpiadas.htm
