It is a Sports festival. In ancient Greece it was a Panhellenic festival held every fourth year and made up of contests of sports, music, and literature. Since 1896 the name has been used for a modified revival of the ancient Games, consisting of international athletic contests held at four-year intervals. ... After the subjugation of Greece by Rome, the Games declined; they were finally abolished about 400. They were revived in the late 19th century through efforts led in part by Pierre, baron de Coubertin. The first modern Games were held in Athens. The first Winter Games were held in 1924. The direction of the modern Olympic movement and the regulation of the Games are vested in the International Olympic Committee, headquartered at Lausanne, Switzerland.

Outside Interference

           The Olympics are supposed to be nonpolitical but have been marked (and marred) by politics. Although officially only individuals win Olympic medals, nations routinely assign political significance to the feats of their citizens and teams. Between 1952 and 1988 rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union, rooted in mutual political antagonism, resulted in each boycotting games hosted by the other (Moscow, 1980; Los Angeles, 1984). Athletes from more than 50 countries didn't participate.

           In 1936, Adolf Hitler, who called blacks an inferior race, opened the Olympics in Berlin, Germany, as a propaganda show. It was thus a great triumph for humanity when Jesse Owens, a black man from Ohio State University, won four gold (first place) medals. Hitler ducked out of the stadium so he wouldn't have to congratulate Owens.

           In 1972, the Games in Munich, Germany, were struck with horror when 11 Israeli athletes were kidnapped and murdered by Palestinian terrorists.

           The International Olympic Committee (IOC), which sets and enforces Olympic policy, has struggled with the licensing and commercialization of the games, the need to schedule events to accommodate American television networks (whose broadcasting fees help underwrite the games), and the monitoring of athletes who seek illegal competitive advantages, often through the use of performance-enhancing drugs. The IOC itself has also been the subject of controversy.

Olympic Games and Terrorism

           At least five European countries' Olympic committees received letters in Russian making a "terrorist threat" before the Olympic Games (7-23 February 2014, Sochi, Russia), but Olympic chiefs said they posed no danger. Despite the assurances, the letters to committees in Italy, Hungary, Germany, Slovenia and Slovakia briefly caused alarm and underlined nervousness over security at the event.

           Amid heightened concern about the possibility of terrorists targeting the Sochi Winter Olympics, the city was protected by an unprecedented "ring of steel" by Russian police, the army and security forces. In an interview with foreign TV networks before the Olympics, President Vladimir Putin said the security would be extensive but low visible: "Security is to be ensured by some 40,000 law enforcement and special services officers … We will protect our air and sea space, as well as the mountain cluster. I hope things will be organised in such a way that they don't catch the eye and, as I have already said, will not, so to say, depress the participants in the Olympic Games."

Sources: Columbia Encyclopedia, Concise Britannia Encyclopedia, Guardian

 ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:

· What has terrorism to do with the Olympic Games?

· What kind of games are considered to be Olympic?

· What country is the original home of the Olympic Games?

· When did politicizing of the Olympic Games begin?

· What was peculiar about the Olympic Games in Germany in 1936?

· What facts of terrorism during the Olympic Games do you know?

· What kind of danger did the the Sochi Winter Olympics, 2014, face?

· What made a number of participant countries worry before the Sochi Winter Olympics, 2014?

· What steps are terrorists taking to intimidate the sportsmen and the public?

· What was Russia's response to the international concern?

· What kind of security to protect the sportsmen and the audience was provided by the host country in 2014?

Unit 3

HUMAN RIGHTS