Ex.1. Read and translate the text

The Olympic Games

The Olympic Games are an international sorts festival that began in ancient Greece. The original Greek games were staged every fourth year for several hundreds years, until they were abolished in the early Christian era. The revival of the Olympic games took place in 1896, and since then they have been staged every fourth year, except during World War I and World War II (1916,1940,1944).

Perhaps the basic difference between the ancient and modern Olympics is that the former was the ancient Greek's way of saluting their gods, whereas the modem Games are a manner of saluting the athletic talents of citizens of all nations.

The earliest reliable date that recorded history gives for the first Olympics is 776 ВС, although virtually all historians presume that the Games began well before then.

It is certain that during the midsummer of 776 ВС a festival was held at Olympia on the highly civilized eastern coast of the Peloponnesian peninsula. As a testimony to the religious nature of the Games (which were held in honor of Zeus, the most important god in the ancient Greek pantheon), all wars would cease during the contests. According to the earliest records, only one athletic event was held in the ancient Olympics - a footrace of about 183 m (200 yd), or the length of the stadium. Olympics had only local appeal and were limited to one race on one day; only men were allowed to compete or attend. A second race - twice the length of the stadium - was added in the 14^th Olympics, and a still longer race was added to the next competition, 4 years later.

When the powerful, warlike Spartans began to compete, they influenced the agenda. The 18^th Olympics included wrestling and a pentathlon of running, jumping, spear throwing (the javelin), discus throwing, and wrestling. Boxing was added at the 23d Olympiad, and the games continued to expand, with the addition of chariot racing and other sports. In the 37^th Olympiad (632 ВС), the format was extended to 5 days of competition.

In AD 394 the Games were officially ended by the Roman emperor Theodosius, who felt that they had pagan connotations. The revival of the Olympic Games in 1896, unlike the original Games, has a clear, concise history. Pierre de Coubertine (1863-1937), a young French nobleman, felt that he could institute an educational program in France that approximated the ancient Greek notion of a balanced development of mind and body.

Thirteen countries competed at the Athens Games in 1896. Nine sports were on the agenda: cycling, fencing, gymnastics, lawn tennis, shooting, swimming, track and field, weight lifting, and wrestling. The Games were a success, and a second Olympiad, to be held in France, was scheduled.

Beginning in 1924 a winter Olympics was included - to be held at a separate cold-weather sports site in the same year as the Summer Games - the first held at Chamonix, France. In 1980 about 1,600 athletes from 38 nations competed at Lake Placid, NY, in a program that included Alpine and Nordic skiing, biathlon, ice hockey, figure skating, speed skating, bobsledding, and luge. But the Summer Games are still the focal point of the modern Olympics. Among the standard events are basketball, boxing, canoeing and kayaking, cycling, equestrian arts, fencing, field hockey, gymnastics, modern pentathlon, rowing, shooting, soccer, swimming and diving, track and field, volleyball, water polo, weight lifting, wrestling (freestyle and Greco-Roman), and yachting.

Symbols of Olympic Games

Symbolism in the Olympic Games represents in a more understandable way the ideas of the Olympism: peace, fraternity, noble contest.

Colored rings

According to Baron Pierre de Coubertin every one of the five rings symbolized one of the five continents. The conjunction of the five rings symbolized the conjunction of the continents during the athletic events and represents the idea of peace and brotherhood of the whole planet.

The top three circles, from left to right, are blue, black, and red. The bottom two circles, from left to right are yellow and green.

The five rings and their colors represent the five continents of the world: Blue represents Europe, Black represents Africa, Red represents America, and Green represents Oceania. Another reason de Coubertin chose these colors was that every country in the world uses at least one of those colors on their official flag.

The Olympic Flag, measures 2. 06m by 60cm, is completely white with the five circles in the center. In 1920, the rings became the official Olympic symbol.

The Modern Olympic Anthem was presented for the first time in the Athens 1896 Games. It was written by the Greek poet Costis Palamas and composed by the Greek composer Spyridon Samaras.

The Olympic oath on behalf of all participants is recited by an athlete of the host nation. The Athlete’s oath is as follows: “In the name of all competitors I promise that we will take part in these Olympic Games, respecting and abiding by the rules which govern them, in the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of the sport and the honor of our teams.”

The best known motto of the International Olympic Committee is “Citus, Altius, Fortius” (Swifter, Higher, Stronger). It was pronounced for the first time on the 7^th of March 1891 from the Dominican Father Henry Dinon during the delivery of a prize in the Albert College where he was a priest.