1. The birth of the modern Olympics
2. The Olympic Games 2012
3. What can we learn from INSEP
I would like you to read and make notes on all three articles and comment on the following areas;
What are the similarities and/or differences between London 2012 and the first modern games in 1896?
What is London hoping to achieve as its 'legacy'?
How does the English Institute of Sport compare to INSEP - the French Institute of Sport?
Will this have an impact on our medal count in 2012?
Please complete by Thursday 29th November 2007
Leave me a message if you need help.
6 comments:
What are the similarities and/or differences between London 2012 and the first modern games in 1896?
The similarities between the first modern games and today’s Olympics continue to widen. Nevertheless, original ideals of de Corbetin’s Olympic Movement are still evident in the present day ethos, “To contribute to building a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport practised without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.” However you can still say this is out of touch with modern day standing as athletes use drugs to gain unfair advantages, as well as Olympics being used as a stage to present political issues.
Since the inaugural modern games, the Olympics have grown into a truly spectacular event. This is incorporated by the facts that only 245 athletes (all men) competed in 43 while in present day games attract 10 000 athletes (of both sexes) competed in over 300 events. However, the idea of hosting the Olympics is not to “contribute to a better world”; it is rather to make profit as well as increase world status of the host country. As the Olympics have grown, so has media attention and commercial interest. While, both have positives towards the games, their interest and influence continues to move the games away from their original ideals and into money orientated event.
What is London hoping to achieve as its 'legacy'?
There are many legacies that London will hope to achieve during these Olympics. Mainly, looking on previous games, there will be significant sporting, social and economic legacies. Sydney 2000 is a perfect economic model for what London wants to achieve. It made a huge profit while creating thousands of jobs. A new suburb was created and billions were spent on building facilities and infrastructure. Barcelona 1992 shows the social legacy London will want to achieve. Hosting the games forced Spanish authorities to; revamp the decaying infrastructure in the city and introduce an athlete support programme where athletes could devote themselves to training. This resulted in Barcelona rising from the 16th most popular tourist destination (in Europe), to the 3rd.
London will attempt to recreate these situations. The main area of focus will operate around the main Olympic park. It is based in a deprived area in the east end which will lead to the rejuvenation of the area. It will leave 9000 new homes, community facilities, retail space and offices.
However, the underlying legacy that London hopes to achieve will be the confirmation of world status. As the games bring huge amounts of media attention, London will aim to be the ideal city. This will increase world image of the city that will lead to new business being attracted to the city and the increase of tourism that other cities have enjoyed after successful games.
1/ simliarities and differences.
In the 1896 olympics there were 245athletes competing in a variation of 43 events, all these athletes were male. however in london 2012 olympics it has been estimated that around 10,000 athletes will be competing, both men and women in around 300 events. these figures show how the olympics has majorly changed and increased in size since 1896. Also in the 1896 olympics de Coubetins ideals on the olympic movement were:'to confribute to building a peaceful and better worl by education youth through sport practised without discrimination of any kind and in the olympic spirit, which requires mutural understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.' some of these aspects are still very important in todays olympics, there is no discrimination and it is education youth through sport, however not all these ideals are the same today. As drug abuse has given some athletes unfair advantages over over athletes.
Also a big factor of the 2012 olympics is to make a profit and increase worl status, somthing that wasn't so strong in 1896.
2/London 'legacy.'
when the chairman for the Organising Committee for the Olympic Games, Sebastian Coe, spoke about plans for 2012 he said that legacy is 'absolutely epicentral'. he then went on to say that 'Legacy is probably nine-tenths of what this process is about, not just 16 days of olympic sport.' the legacy that is appearing for the 2012 olympics is '2012 - more than just medals' and Sebastian Coe is saying tht the games must leave 'a sustainable and significant sporting, social and economic legacy'
3/INSEP and EIS.
INSEP is not only national institution for sport but also an educational center. Facilities in INSEP mean that all athletes under 18 are educated based on the regular french education system, they will be taking the same exams and follow the same syllabuses. They are also able to study sports journalism and teaching in addition to coaching awards and the national coach examination. this is very different to how the EIS is run, EIS looks more on the development of an individual and their ability towards a sports, it is understood there that education does not need to be done in a traditional enviroment or manner, and athletes their can compete at their highest level without abandoning their education.
4/medal count.
Personally i think INSEP is a better training place and appears more eduacational for athletes then the EIS, however the EIS has a strong ethos and this could increase our medal count in 2012.
1)There are many similarities and differences between London 2012 and the first modern games that took part in Athens in 1896. Firstly, the original ideas of Baron de Coubertin have a major presence in every Olympic Games. Another similarity is the rules that were decided so that the ‘Spirit of Olympism’ would be the main emphasis of the Games. These included preliminary heats for each participating country so that ‘only the true champions took part in the Games’, and that each participating country had to establish a national Olympic committee.
In Athens 1896, there were about 250 athletes from 14 nations (all of which were men and the majority Greek ) in 43 sporting events such as track and field events, fencing, weightlifting, rifle and pistol shooting, tennis, cycling, swimming, gymnastics, and wrestling. The Games reached their high point on Day 11 with the first modern-day marathon. The idea to hold an event to commemorate the Ancient Olympic Games was suggested by a friend of de Coubertin and was met with great anticipation. The race was run from Marathon to Athens (estimated at 22–26 miles), watched by more than 100,000 people and won by a Greek runner, Spiridon Louis.
In London in 2012 it is estimated that over 10,000 athletes and officials will attend the Games which will include female athletes, and 500,000 spectators will attend Olympic events each day. It also includes 35 competitive arenas, 39 training sites and training and warm-up venues. With the busiest day being day 7, when it is estimated that 800,000(8 times as many as the high point of 1896) fans will watch the track & field, the cycling which starts at the Olympic Park, and the first football game is taking place at Wembley Stadium. The cost of the main Olympic stadium will be more than 496 million pounds, which would be a unthinkable sum of money in 1896 to make a main stadiums. In the modern era of Sporting Events – the Olympics is up there with the greatest competitions of all time.
2)The legacy that London is hoping to achieve in the 2012 Olympics is that of the Seoul Olympics in 1988 where they made a profit of $288 million. They had also increased their medal totals from 19 in Los Angeles, to 33 in Seoul. The games also increased the trade and tourism than before. In Barcelona in 1992 they had succeeded at every level, Spain had secured 22 medals, more than they had ever achieved in all the previous Olympics put together. The city was also transformed; there was a huge boom in trade and tourism. In 2000 the Sydney games are thought to be the most successful of the modern era. Their already huge medal total increased pushing them above Germany and Japan – up to forth in total medals achieved in Olympic history. The Country was massively enhanced by the Sydney Games with $2.3 billion being made by tourism and generating $1.2 billion in new business benefits including new sorts infrastructures. Australia now is a major competitor in every sporting event. London will hope to achieve the advantages of Seoul, Barcelona and Sydney. They can make new jobs, make a huge profit for its economy, increase its medal total to try and over-take South Korea, Italy and France, and get up to seventh place in medal totals. In addition, they will give used equipment to schools and sporting centre’s for use, they will make arenas into nursery’s, schools, after school clubhouses, and estimated 120,000 new houses at affordable prices. London will want its Olympics Games to be the most spectacular Olympics in History and this will make it a contender from all future Olympic draws.
What are the similarities and differences between London 2012 and the first modern games in 1896?
Since the beginning the Olympic games have been held every 4 years, this wasn’t changed and hasn’t been changed and will probably continue to work like that. All Olympic games have been held in major cities because in the first modern Olympic games it was felt that it was necessary for the games to be held in a non-remote area. Back in 1894 the members of the IOC introduced rules that had to be obeyed. Each participating country should hold their own preliminary rounds, which is something that is still done; this was to make sure that only true champions went to the Olympic games. Each country would have to start up their own Olympic committee and finally member of the IOC would be global representatives and not of their own country. One of the differences between the first modern Olympic games and the ones in 2012 is that in 1896 women were not allowed to take part.
What is London hoping to achieve as its “legacy”?
To begin with thanks to the London 2012 the city is being improved in general such as the tube extension in the East End, and also the placing of the Olympic in Stratford which is a slightly deprived area will open up many opportunities for the people such as jobs and after the games many of the buildings will be transformed into everyday places for the community to use as normal facilities. For example the Polyclinic will be transformed into a lifelong learning centre with a nursery primary and secondary school. The Village will be converted into 3600 apartments the media and press centre will be turned into creative industrial centre. Equipment used in the games will be giving to charities free of charge! The games will not only effect London but also the whole of the UK once the games are over the four arenas will be relocated to other areas of the UK. Other Cities will also involved in the Olympics for example the football venues will be at Newcastle, Manchester, Cardiff, Birmingham and Glasgow. I think with the help of the attention of the Olympic games the Olympic committee is trying to improve London but at the same time improve sporting facilities and help at the same time.
How does the English Institute of Sport compare to INSEP- The French Institute of sport?
INSEP as well as highly concentrating on the athletes training, they have a very strong focus on the athlete’s education, especially for those who are under the age of 18. The Athletes will have a normal education and take the normal exams that any other student would take. Also if an Athlete is having trouble attending classes because of training the Athlete will be offered tutoring. The problem with EIS is that there is some flexibility to the system but Athletes also need to be made to see that education does not need to be taught traditionally. Another important difference is that INSEP also offers coaching courses, meaning that once the Athletes have achieved their potential they can find a job and INSEP will have experienced Athletes teaching, and training their new Athletes, which is perfect because the best way to produce champions is to have champions teach them because they know how its done. However they also have older and more experienced Athletes work with the younger and less experienced which helps them to improve and develop, also they older Athletes are paid for their time. Over all INSEP have also thought about the future, not only of their athletes but also their future and how they are going to improve. While on the other hand the EIS are having trouble to mix training and education and therefore give the athletes a better future.
Will this have an impact on our medal count in 2012?
In the last Olympic in Athens 22 of the 33 medals were won by INSEP Athletes, this means that INSEP is producing real champions and unless the EIS begin to do as well as INSEP and other institutes of sports running better than the EIS it is more likely for their Athletes to be winning instead of the English ones.
1) Similarities and Differences between London 2012 and Athens 1896:
In the first Olympic games held in 1896 there was a strong emphasis on de Corbertin’s motto which stated that, ‘the important thing at the Olympic games is not to win but to take part; for the essential thing in life is not to conquer but to struggle well’. This was highly respected by the participants that took part in these games, who took part in good ‘spirit of friendship solidarity and fair play’. However although these ideals are still important in the Olympics today it is not always the case that they have been followed respectively as some athletes choose to take drugs in order to enhance performance simply because they are more driven to win then to just take part. Another aspect of the games that remains to be similar from the 1896 games to the 2012 games is that over the years the hosting countries have always taken great pride in the reconstruction of stadiums as well as improving the landscape of the city in which the games are to be held in. An example being the reconstruction of the Panathenean stadium in Athens, 1896 and the Olympic Park in London that is to be built before the 2012 games. One final difference is the anticipation of the modern games from its birth where there were only 245 athletes all of which were men competing in 43 events in comparison to the 2004 Olympics which featured more than 10,000 athletes competing in 300 events.
2) What does London hope to achieve as its legacy?
With the Olympic games being held in London in 2012 there are many opportunities that the country wish to exploit in the best way possible. By hosting the Olympics London can look forward to sponsors and advertisers promoting businesses within the country as well as attracting a large group of tourists from across the globe which will overall result in a huge income coming into the country for many years after the games take place. Legacy is a major part of London hosting the games, “2012- more than just medals” (Lord Coe) suggests that by hosting the games the country will experience many long term benefits. For example the 1992 games in Barcelona led the city to become the third most popular tourist destination in Europe by 1999.
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