Olympics

The first Olympics

The first Olympic Games were held in Olympia, a valley
near a city called Elis, in Greece in 776 BC. In these early
games the events were very traditional and included
running, javelin throwing, wrestling and boxing. The
games were held every four years and were for men
only. Women could not compete in them or even watch
them. The athletes didnt wear any clothes and there were
no medals or trophies for the winners. The prizes were
crowns made of olive leaves. The Games were part of a
religious festival and were held in honour of Zeus, king of
the gods. People from all over the Greek world came to
watch and take part.
The Olympic flame
The Olympic flame is an important symbol of the Games. A few months before the games start, the flame is carried from
Greece to the country holding the Olympics. Often it is carried by runners with torches. On the first day of the Olympic Games
the flame is used to light a much bigger fire usually at the centre of the Olympic stadium and it will burn for as long as the
games last.
The flag
The flag of the Olympic Games is white with five rings: blue, yellow, black, green and red. The rings represent the union of the
five continents: Africa, America, Asia, Oceania and Europe.
The modern Olympics
Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894. The IOC has since become the
governing body of the Olympics and the first modern event took place in Athens in 1896. The Games are still held every four
years and nowadays there are about 26 Olympic sports which are broken down into different events or disciplines. These
include badminton, baseball, basketball, gymnastics, boxing, judo, tennis, football and even beach volleyball. Today, billions of
people watch the Olympic Games around the world.

Londons Olympic story
Have the Olympic Games ever been held in your country? Have the Olympic Games ever been held in your city? Right now,
people who live in London are getting ready for the 2012 Olympics next year. London has already hosted the Olympics twice
before and this will make it the first city in history to have held three Olympic games.
The first London Olympics in 1908
These games were going to be held in Rome but, because of a
volcano, Rome wasnt ready. London agreed to stage the games and
the White City Olympic stadium was built in just 10 months.
What was new?
New at these Olympics were the opening ceremonies where athletes
paraded with their teams behind their flag. Only 22 countries took part
and the profits were just over 21,000!

The second London Olympics in 1948
Because of the Second World War, the 1944 Olympics were cancelled. Four years later the war was
over and London was able to hold the Games in 1948. Things were very different in London during
these Olympic Games and many years of war had left the UK poor and hungry. People called them the
Austerity Games. But there was still some great sport and some exciting events!
What was new?
59 countries took part, more than at any other Olympics before and the USA won the most medals with
84. For the first time, cameras filmed the Games and broadcast them on television so that people
could watch them in their own homes.
The third London Olympics in 2012
The Games next year are going to be bigger, better and more exciting than ever before. There
will be more than 10,000 athletes from 204 countries taking part!
Whats going to be new?
London wants to make sure that the benefits of the Olympics dont just last for a few weeks in
summer but go on much longer. The buildings have been made so that they can be used for
different things when the Games are over. Its been 68 years since the Olympics were held in
London, lets hope they come back sooner next time!



Paralympics

What are the Paralympics?
Just like the Olympics, the Paralympics is an international sports event but its only for athletes
who have some sort of physical disability. Although they have been called lots of different
names in the past, they are now called the Paralympics because they run parallel with the
Olympic Games.
Beginnings
The man who first thought of a competition for disabled people was a doctor in the UK called Ludwig Guttmann. He worked
with patients who had permanent back injuries and also used wheelchairs. Dr Guttmann realised that playing sport could help
people build strength in their bodies as well as giving them self-respect. So, in 1948 he organised the International Wheelchair
Games to take place at the same time as the Olympics that year.
The first real Paralympics
Twelve years later in Rome in 1960, 400 athletes from 23 different countries took part in various different events including
archery, snooker and basketball. All the sports people had to be wheelchair users. From then on, the Paralympics happened
ever four years.
More athletes
In 1976 the Paralympics took place in Canada. Now, amputees and visually impaired athletes could also take part in the
games alongside wheelchair users. The Games were getting much bigger and there were 32 nations represented by more
than fifteen hundred athletes. This was also the first year that the winter Paralympics began.
The modern Games
In 1992, the dates of the Paralympics were changed so they happened in the same years as the Summer and the Winter
Olympics. Now, they are one of the largest sporting events held in the world. Dr Guttmann died in 1980 but his belief that sport
could help people with disabilities lives on.
Sir Ludwig Guttmann
Who do you think came up with the idea for the Paralympics? Was it someone who loved playing
sport, or an athlete who was injured in some way? Maybe it was a coach with a disability. All these
answers are wrong. The man who organised the sporting events which eventually became the
Paralympic Games was a doctor; his name was Prof. Sir Ludwig Guttmann.
Early Life
Born in Germany in 1899, Ludwig was always interested in medicine. In his teens he worked as a
volunteer in a hospital for injured miners. One of his first patients was a man who had a spinal cord
injury. The doctors didnt have much time for him and the man soon died. Ludwig remembered him
for the rest of his life. He graduated from medical school and became a doctor when he was 25
years old.
Leaving Germany
Guttmann enjoyed a successful career for the next few years and became the director of the neurosurgical department of the
Breslau Jewish hospital. Because Guttmann and his family were Jews, life in Germany was becoming very difficult for them.
The Nazi party did not allow most hospitals to treat Jewish people or even work as doctors. As Guttmann was the director of
the hospital, he could help people. However, in 1938 he realised that life had become too dangerous and he decided to move
to the UK with his family.
A new approach
In the UK, Guttmann continued his research into the best way to treat people with spinal cord injuries. He wasnt only
interested in treating patients; he was also interested in how to rehabilitate them - to help them have a normal, useful life
again.
He presented his findings from his research to the Medical Council of England and in 1943 he became the director of Stoke
Mandeville Hospital. The Second World War was going on and there were a lot of soldiers injured in the fighting. Often they
had lost the use of their legs and they needed treatment and help. At that time people thought that if someone was disabled,
they couldnt really live a normal, useful life. One of the results was that disabled soldiers were often depressed and
angry. Guttmann used his new methods to treat these men. He looked after their injuries but he also tried to give them
emotional strength. He wanted to rehabilitate his patients.
The founding of the modern Paralympics
From his younger days, Guttmann knew that taking part in sport helps a persons body as well as their mind. He began to use
sport as a therapy to help his patients. He wanted to give them back their self-respect and dignity and he encouraged his
patients to take part in sports.
In 1948 the hospital held a sporting event called The International Wheelchair Games. By 1952 the event began to get bigger
with disabled athletes from other countries attending. By 1960 the games were called the International Stoke Mandeville
Games and they were held in Rome alongside the official Summer Olympics. The next two events, in 1964 in Tokyo and 1968
in Tel Aviv, Israel were even bigger. By this time there were 750 athletes from 29 different countries. Guttmann himself died in
1980, even before the games were called Paralympics, but there is no doubt that he is the founder and father of the
Paralympic Games.
Lasting legacy
In 2012, the Paralympics return to the UK and Stoke Mandeville Hospital will be used as a training centre. In recognition of
Guttmans life and work, there will also be a bronze statue of him standing outside the National Spinal Injuries Centre. Today,
it is normal for disabled people take part in sports but during Ludwig Guttmanns lifetime, disabled people didnt have the same
chances that they do now. Its thanks to his hard work that we are all able to enjoy The Paralympics.