How Have the Olympics Changed ?

Now, to finally answer the question this whole project is based on. HOW HAVE THE OLYMPICS CHANGED ?

The Olympics Have changed in so many ways that I cannot mention them all, But I will try my best to.

Well, for a start in the early stages of the Olympic Games there weren't many women competing. In the first three Olympics the average number of women competing was around 22. And the average number of men competing was 1197,which is quite a big difference. In the Beijing Olympics almost 5000 of the participants out of about 10, 500 were women. So that is one big change.

There have also been changes to the events and participants.
There have been many events added to the Olympics since the first Olympic Games in Athens. In Athens there were only 43 events in 9 sports. In the Beijing Olympics there were 328 events in 29 sports, which is a huge difference.

The Olympic Rules have also changed.
The Olympic Games used to only welcome amateur athletes to compete. So when Jim Thorpe a young American athlete won his gold medals for the pentathlon and decathlon, but when they found out he got payed for playing 2 Seasons of minor league baseball, he was stripped of his Gold Medals for violating amateur state rules, because being payed for playing sport was counted as playing professionally, which you weren't allowed to do if you wanted to compete in the Olympics. Now in 2008 professionals make up the majority of the participants in the Olympic Games.

One of the biggest changes in the Olympic Games is the problem that occurs each Olympic Year. This problem changes through the Olympic years. It could be drug use in one year, and attempted boycotts in the other. But each Olympic year there is always a problem. There is rarely a Olympic Year without any controversy. This year it was more to do with the Environment. This change is one of the biggest and is the aspect of the Olympic Games that will be probably recorded in history. Like in the Athens Olympic Games it was so unorganized when a Yachting event was supposed to be held, no-one thought to show up with a boat, so it was cancelled.

Which brings up my last change that I will be listing, and it is the change in the events organisation. The events organisation is how well the event is organised. These days everything is organised much before the games and is to a higher quality than the others. For example in the 1896 Athens Olympic Games the swimmers had to swim in the open sea against the currents as well. In these days there are high tech swimming pools, that are built especially for the Olympic Swimmers, there are also suits to improve there swimming. But I guess it is because of the resources that we have today that we are able to do this. And because of the developing world there will always be changes to the Olympic Games. For the Good and the Bad.

Discus

Discus, the event of throwing a metal disc as far as you can. An event which both women and men compete in. One of the many events which contains a New Zealand Athlete. Beatrice Faumuina is a New Zealand Athlete, unfortunately she did not get to the Women's final.

RECORDS
The men's discus world record was set by Jurgen Schult a German athlete in Neubrandenburg, on June 6, 1986, with a throw of 74.08m. The men's Olympic record was set by Virgilijus Alekna of Lithuania on August 23, 2004 at Athens, with a throw of 69.89m.

The women's discus world record was set by Gabriele Reinsch of Germany in Neubrandenburg, on June 9, 1988, with a throw of 76.80m. The women's discus Olympic record was set by Martina Hellmann of Germany, with a throw of 72.30, set on September 29, 1988, at the Seoul Olympic Games.

MEDAL WINNERS
The men's Discus gold medal was given to Gerd Kanter, a 29 year old from Estonia, for an impressive throw of 68.82m.
The men's silver medal was given to Piotr Malachowski, a 25 year old from Poland, for a throw of 67.82m.
The men's Bronze medal was given to Virgilijus Alekna, a 36 year old from Lithuania, for a throw of 67.79m, by the way he is the reigning men's discus Olympic record holder.

The women's Discus gold medal was given to Stephanie Brown Trafton, a 29 year old from America, for a fantastic throw of 64.74m.
The silver medal was given to Yarelys Barrios, a 24 year old from Cuba, for a throw of 63.64m.
The Bronze medal was given to Olena Antonova, a 36 year old from Ukraine, for a throw of 62.59m, her season best.

One of the interesting things about discus throw, is that the man who won the Olympic gold medal for discus throw in 1896 Athens, had never seen a discus in his entire life before he got to Greece. And Yet he won the Olympic Gold Medal.


So does this show that any-one could do anything if they put there mind to it?

Long Jump

Long Jump is one of the most amazing track and field events in my opinion. It is unbelievable how far they can jump, it is the closest to flying as man will ever get.

THE RECORDS
The athlete who is right now, as close to flying as anyone will ever be is Mike Powell of America, with a world record jump of 8.95m, set in Tokyo Japan in the 1991 World Championships. He battled it out with Carl Lewis all day long, but in the end he came out on top. However, the Olympic World Record 8.90m, belongs to Bob Beamon a fellow American in 1968 in Mexico City. This Olympic record has yet to be beaten.The women's Olympic record was set by Jackie Joyner-Kersee of America, with a Jump of 7.40m. This record was set on September 29, 1988 in the Seoul Olympics. The women's world record was set by Galina Chistyakova from Slovakia, with a jump of 7.52m. This record was set in Liningrad (URS).

But Bob Beamon only claimed the gold medal once in the Olympics. There is an athlete who claimed the long jump gold medal in four consecutive Olympic Games. This athlete is the one and only.....

ONE OF THE GREATS
Carl Lewis. Carl Lewis remained unbeaten in long jump for 10 years and 65 meetings. He was truly a great of long jump. He competed in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, the 1988 Seoul Olympic, the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Carl lewis born on July 1, 1961 in Birmingham Alabama, won his first Olympic Long Jump Gold Medal at the age of 23 and continued winning gold medals until he was 34.

MEDAL WINNERS
Now, back to 2008. Irving Saladino a 25 year old from Panama won the men's long jump gold medal with a jump of 8.34m. The silver medal went to a 23 year old South African, with a jump of 8.24m. The Bronze medal went to a 28 year old, froma cuba with a jump of 8.20m. Higa Maggi from Brazil is the Olympic women's long jump gold medalist. She is 32 years of age and won the gold medal with a jump of 7.04m. Tatyana a 32 year old from Russia, won the silver medal with a jump of 7.03m. Blessing Okagbare, a 20 year old from Nigeria won the Bronze medal with a jump of 6.91m.

Beijing 2008 Olympic Games

INFORMATION
The Beijing Olympics has been one of the greatest Olympic Games in history, with a total of approximately 10,500 athletes from 204 different nations. It has also been one of the greatest Olympic Games for New Zealand. There was a total of 28 summer sports and 302events. The athletes who competed in these events and placed 1st, 2ND and 3rd were awarded with a Gold, Silver or Bronze medals. Beijing had 958 of these medals to offer to the best of the athletes, 11 of those athletes were Kiwis. The Beijing Olympics were to become one of the most well-known Olympics in History, but not just for the good but also the bad.

SIGNIFICANT FACTORS
There were many significant factors to which this Olympic Games would be known for, but here are some of the major ones.

The Environment in Beijing was one of the worst aspects of the Olympics. They said that the air was so polluted, when you breathed it in, it was like inhaling 70 cigarettes. So once they knew it wasn't far from the Olympic Games, they started an instant clean up of Beijing. They even got so serious, that they brought in the army to clear the water of pollution. Also the temperature in Beijing was very hot and humid, so the athletes had to stay cool.

Another factor in Beijing was its image. Beijing was so conscious of their image that they made many changes to the city. They even built a 3 meter high brick wall around a poor block, so that the public couldn't see what was behind. There was an interview with an old man, who said that his neighbours houses were torn down just so that Beijing could have more green grass. Most or all of the people who got there houses torn down lived in the slums(very very poor neighbourhoods).

Waldi, a long haired dachshund (dog), was the first mascot to appear in a Olympic Summer Games in the 1972 Olympics. His vertical stripes can have any 3 of the 5 Olympic Colours. The Beijing Mascots are named: Beibei the fish,Jingjing the panda,Huanhuan the torch, Yingying the Tibetan antelope, and Nini the bird. Their colours are the colours of the Olympic Rings. If you say the first syllable of each name it says Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni means Welcome to Beijing.

Now one of the saddest factors of the Beijing Olympics. I am sure many of us watched the Olympic opening ceremony. If you did you would remember the little girl singing in the beginning. Well, behind that little girl was the sad truth. The truth was that she was lip-syncing over another little girl voice. Yang Peiyi was the little girl who was actually singing. The reason she was not seen was that Beijing thought she was not pretty enough. The little girl who was lip-syncing is Lin Miaoke, Beijing obviously thought she was the face of Beijing. So they made Yang Peiyi sing and all Lin Miaoke had to do was lip-sync and look pretty.

But here was also the one factor that was very important and that was the feel good facto. The feel good factor, was the factor that made every-one in China fell good about their country. They felt good because of all the medals they won in the Olympics. And this is what I think one of the most important factors.

100m Dash

This is just a funny video of Usains Bolt race. There were no real race videos because they were blocked. Anyway Enjoy the Video.

RECORDS
The 100m Dash is one of the most well-known and enjoyed Olympic Events in history. When I think of the 100m Dash, the first words that come to mind are USAIN BOLT. Usain Bolt a Jamaican born sprinter is currently the fastest man in the world.

He broke the 100m dash-world record,(set by Osafa Powell, another Jamaican in September last year) at the Reebok Grand Prix in New York for the first time. Then in the final of the 100m dash in Beijing, Usain (Thunderbolt) Bolt broke the world record again to make his winning time an amazing 9.68 seconds.
Although Usain Bolt broke the world record twice for the men's 100m dash, he was not the only star of the 100m Dash.

THE MEDAL WINNIERS
Shelly-Anne Fraser was the women's gold medalist, clocking her own personal best in 10.78 seconds, and was yet another Jamaican. The athletes who placed 2ND and 3rd were also Jamaicans.

The previous Olympic (Athens) gold medalist (although he did not set a new record) for men's 100m dash was Justin Gatlin from U.S.A.

The one before him in Sydney was Maurice Greene (USA).

The previous Olympic (Athens) gold medalist for women's 100m sprint was Yuliya Nesterenko a 25 year old (at the time) from Belarus.

The gold medalist before that in Sydney, was Marion Jones a 25 year old (at the time) from America, completely wasting everyone else, unfortunately she was tested positive for steroid use, and was then stripped of her gold medal.
The silver medalist was Ekaterini Thanou From Greece.

These are just some of the previous Olympic Gold Medalists.

Usain Bolt the 2008 Gold Medalist was Jamaican and at 22 years of age (born on the 21st of August).

Shelly-Anne Fraser the 2008 women's gold medalist was 21 years of age (December 27, 1986) and was from Jamaica.

Richard Thompson the men's silver medalist was born in Trinidad and Tobago and is 23 years of age (June 07, 1985).

Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart, both Jamaicans, won the silver medals in Beijing for the women's 100m sprints, they both clocked in at exactly the same time. Sherone Simpson is 24 years of age and Kerron Stewart is also 24 years of age, but Kerron stewart is slightly older with her birthdate being on April 16, 1984 and Sherone Simpson's birthdate is on August 12, 1984.

Walter Dix of U.S.A was placed third in the 100m sprint final and recieved a bronze medal. He is 22 years of age and was born om January 31, 1986.

These are the profiles of the 100m medalist in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Berlin 1936 Olympics (Nazis olympics)

THE INFORMATION
In 1936 the XI Olympiad was held in Berlin, Germany. This was one of the most controversial Olympics in history.

This Olympic games hosted 3963 athletes (3632 men, 331 women) from 49 different nations. Already you can see that the majority in athletes are men. These athletes were challenged with 129 events and 19 sports. If you placed first, second or third, you were awarded with a gold, silver or bronze medal. Berlin had 388 of these medals given away 130 gold, 128 silver and 130 bronze.

THE SIGNIFICANT FACTORS
Now to the controversial history of this Olympics. The 11Th Olympiad was held in the time of Adolf Hitlers leadership of the Germans. Adolf Hitler thought that the Summer Olympics was the perfect time to show the Nazi German superiority over every other nation in the world and especially to promote Aryans ( Non Jewish, Caucasian, especially of Nordic stock: Blond hair, Blue eyes and an elongated head). But his attempt to use the games to prove Aryan superiority failed miserably, when a young African American Athlete - Jesse Owens won four gold medals for the United States of America. Adolf Hitler personally congratulated the first few gold medalist in Track and Field Events ( 2 Germans and a Finn), but when it came to the high jump, and every German athlete was eliminated, he got up and left the stadium. The winner was another African-American: Cornelius Johnson. That evening the president of IOC told him if he did'nt congratulate all the winners he can't congratulate anyone, so Adolf Hitler chose not to congratulate anyone because he did not want to congratulate anyone of a different race. So when Jesse Owens won his first gold medal, the next day, he did not congratulate him. Jesse Owens proved Adolf Hitler's theory very wrong. Even though all this happened Jesse Owen's German rival Luz Long befriended him in front of the Nazis.

On the positive side the 1936 Olympics was the first one to be shown on television so there for it was broadcasted on 25 huge screens in Berlin, so that the public could watch the Olympics for free. The 1936 Olympics was also the Olympics which Marjorie Gestring competed in. The reason I have mentioned Marjorie Gestring (of the United States) is because she was the youngest ever female gold medalist Olympian in history, and still is, she was at the age of 13 when this happened and she also won a gold medal in springboard diving. One of the most amazing feats was the Hungarian waterpolo player, Oliver Halassy who won his third medal even though his leg had been amputated under the knee after a car accident. These amazing feats and more have contributed to this Olympics very much.

THE 2000 SYDNEY OLYMPIC GAMES

THE INFORMATION
In 2000, the Olympic games were held in Sydney, Australia.

A whopping 10,651(4,069 female, 6,582 male) athletes from 199 countries came together to compete at this Olympic games.These athletes were provided with 165 events for men, 135 events for women and 12 mixed events, which brings us to a total of 311 events in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

For everyone of these athletes who came 1ST,2ND or 3RD in one of these events were rewarded with a gold for first, silver for second and Bronze for third. Australia had 928 medals to offer these athletes. 301 Gold, 299 silver and 328 bronze medals.

THE SIGNIFICANT FACTORS
The Triathalon made its olympic debut in Sydney. Although it is a shame many of the athletes were suspected of using body boosters such as erythropoietin or EPO. EPO was a (as the say) an undetectable drug which is a proven performance booster, but this drug had another special quality, it could kill you . They say that when you are on EPO, you could go to sleep one night and never wake up. Even though this drug was said to be "undetectable" a team of Australian scientists believe the could catch many of the previous cheats with a test they had developed and taken to Sydney. So hopefully for the years to come there will not be any drugusers in th Olympics.