Unfortunately, modern Olympics are remembered not only for sporting achievements but also for various scandals involving doping, biased judging, and terrorism. Over 110 years, much happened for the first time.
French aristocrat Baron Pierre de Coubertin made considerable efforts to revive the Olympic Games, and on April 6, 1896, the Olympics returned to ancient Athens. It involved 311 athletes from 13 countries. On the opening day, the name of the first Olympic champion became known - James Connolly. This 27-year-old student from Harvard won the triple jump, became silver medalist in the high jump, and bronze in the long jump. The celebrated Olympian, later awarded an honorary doctorate from Harvard, became a journalist and writer.
The greatest interest at the Athenian Games was aroused by the marathon race, which seemed to throw a bridge of time 42 km 195 m long from ancient Athens to modern times. In this 'Spartan' sport, postal worker Spyridon Louis won, becoming a national hero of Greece. Interestingly, among the numerous prizes, he received 10 centners of chocolate, 10 cows, and 30 sheep, as well as the lifelong right to free services of a tailor and a barber.
From the first Olympics, the tradition was established of raising national flags to the national anthem in honor of the winner, and all winners were awarded on the last day of the competition. According to ancient tradition, the champion's head was crowned with a laurel wreath, and he was presented with an olive branch cut in the 'sacred grove of Olympia', a medal, and a diploma.
Even in Ancient Greece, the Olympic Games were not free from commerce. Olympia was the largest public-religious center, and valuable gifts were brought to its numerous temples both by participants of religious ceremonies and athletes asking the gods for help. Ancient Olympic festivities were accompanied by feasts and fairs. Many merchants came to the Games, sharing their profits with the priests - their main masters. Even then, Olympic participants could not be called amateurs. They seriously prepared for the competitions, and upon victory received large prizes, not only monetary.
The first modern Olympics in 1896 also could not do without sponsors. Money came not only from Greek residents but also from London, Marseille, Constantinople, and other cities where wealthy Greek communities existed. With funds from Greek businessman George Averoff of Alexandria, the ancient Olympic stadium was restored. One of the sponsors of this Olympics was the company "Kodak" - it has existed under this name since 1888.
The Second Olympics took place in Paris in 1900, and for the first time women participated, who were allowed to 'show themselves' in tennis and golf competitions. The first female Olympic champion was tennis player Sheila Cooper from the shores of foggy Albion.
Gradually, the number of sports represented at the Olympic Games expanded, and at the IV Olympics in London in 1908, a winter sport was included in the program for the first time - figure skating, in which a representative of Russia, Nikolai Panin-Kolomenkin, successfully performed, winning the first gold medal in the Olympic history of his country. It was during the London Olympics that a Pennsylvania bishop, during a sermon in St. Paul's Cathedral on July 19, 1908, spoke the famous words: 'The most important thing in the Olympics is not winning but taking part.'
The number of athletes wishing to participate in the Games was so great that that year organizers had to resort to qualifying competitions for the first time in the history of the Olympics. Sports federations of many countries around the world realized the global nature of the competition and the prestige that a country receives in the event of a successful performance at the Games. At these same Games, the tradition of a parade of participating teams under their national flags originated for the first time. It can be said that, starting from 1908, the Olympic Games became exactly what is understood as the Olympic Games at the present time.
In 1912, at the Olympics in Stockholm, the first major scandal occurred, and the first victim was athlete Jim Thorpe from the USA. He was stripped of his gold medals in the pentathlon and decathlon for having once played in a semi-professional baseball team. By origin, Thorpe was an American Indian, and it is believed that racial prejudice clearly played a role here.
At the VII Olympics in Antwerp in 1920, for the first time in the history of the Games, the Olympic flag was raised, and competition participants took the Olympic oath. Interestingly, hockey appeared for the first time at this summer Olympics. At the same Olympics, which was held two years after the end of World War I, politics was mixed into sport. By a special decision of the IOC, Germany and its allies in the war were suspended from participation in the Games, and Soviet Russia was also not invited. Incidentally, there was so much advertising in Antwerp in 1920 that there was almost no room left for the Olympic Games themselves.
At the IX Olympics in Amsterdam in 1928, for the first time, doves were released at the opening ceremony as a symbol of peace, and for the first time women participated in gymnastics (team all-around) and athletics, where world records were set in all five events of the program.
The X Olympiad, held in Los Angeles in 1932, went down in history as the Olympiad of records. 41 Olympic and 18 world records were set. The performance of Japanese swimmers, who won five of the six events on the program, was a sensation. A very interesting event took place at the American Olympiad. The fact is that during the first modern Olympic Games there were no stopwatches or photo finishes, and, for example, in 1900 at the Games in Paris, the record of the American Francis Jarvis's victory in the 100 meters was recorded as follows: the champion beat Walter Tewksbury by a foot, who, in turn, left the Australian Stan Rowley a few inches behind. The situation did not change until 1932, when a stopwatch was used for the first time at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, and camera footage of the finish of runners Eddie Tolan and Ralph Metcalfe proved decisive in determining the winner. It was Tolan. And also, at the same Olympiad, an Olympic Village was built for the participants for the first time.
During the XI Olympiad in Berlin in 1936, for the first time, a torch lit by the sun's rays in Greek Olympia was delivered by relay to the Olympic Stadium. For nearly 70 years, the solemn torch relay ceremony followed by the lighting of the Olympic flame has remained the central promotional event on the eve of the Olympics and at the same time serves as a living chronometer of the time remaining until the start of the Games. Although sports officials try not to recall the dark history of this tradition. The fact is that the author of the idea of the pre-Olympic relay in 1936 was Carl Diem, one of the prominent sports figures of the Third Reich. It is unlikely that one should remember this, but the 1936 Olympic Games were opened by Adolf Hitler.
On June 19, 1952, in Helsinki, at the Games of the XV Olympiad, the debut of Soviet athletes on the Olympic arena took place, and discus thrower Nina Romashkova became the first Soviet Olympic champion.
In 1956, at the XVI Olympic Games in Melbourne, for the first time in the history of the Olympics, one of the competition events was held not only in a different country, but also on a different continent. Due to quarantine rules established on the Green Continent, equestrian competitions were moved to Stockholm and took place six months before the Olympics themselves. Another significant event occurred during this Olympiad - the USSR national team won the Olympic football tournament.
In 1960, during the Olympics in Rome, an athlete died at the Games for the first time due to doping. It turned out to be a cyclist from Denmark.
Starting with the XVIII Olympiad, held in Tokyo in 1964, the Olympic Games began to be televised to other continents, and that year over 1 billion people were able to follow the progress of the competitions.
The Twentieth Olympiad in Munich in 1972 was marred by a terrorist attack. The Palestinian terrorist group "Black September" took athletes and coaches of the Israeli team hostage. Their release ended in casualties.
The Moscow Olympics of 1980 once again became mixed with politics. On the eve of the opening of the XXII Games, in connection with the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan, a group of states, on the initiative of the United States, declared a boycott of the Games and did not send their teams. This Olympiad was remembered by Muscovites for the half-empty city and full shelves of grocery stores, the Olympic bear mascot, and the stunning opening and closing ceremonies, not to mention the sporting competitions themselves. For the first time in the history of the Olympics, six large sports centers were built specifically for the Games, as well as a comfortable residential area in the southwest of the city - the Olympic Village.
At the XXIII Olympiad in Los Angeles in 1984, the Soviet government responded to America and refused to participate in the Games.
Starting with the XXIV Olympiad in 1988, regular doping scandals have shaken the Games. In Seoul, this was related to the performance of Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson, who convincingly won the 100-meter final but was subsequently disqualified.
At the XXV Olympiad in Barcelona in 1992, baseball was included in the Games program for the first time. Also for the first time, in Barcelona the team of American basketball professionals, the Dream Team (Team of Dreams), performed, confidently winning Olympic gold.
At the XXVI Olympiad in Atlanta in 1996, beach volleyball competitions were included in the program for the first time. For the first time, due to the collapse of the USSR, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and other former Soviet republics competed as independent teams at these Games.
In 2000, at the XXVII Olympiad in Sydney, a distinctive pre-Olympic record was set. For three minutes, renowned Australian biologist Wendy Craig Duncan carried the Olympic torch along the seabed in the area of the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia. To achieve this, a team of chemists and pyroengineering specialists worked for many months. It was necessary for the flame not only to burn underwater, but also to give enough light, and the scientists developed a special spark-producing composition that is not afraid of water.
In 2004, the Olympic Games returned to their roots - to Athens. For the first time in the history of the Olympic movement, the Olympic flame relay passed through 33 cities on five continents in 35 days. For the first time in the history of the Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee insured itself against the possible cancellation of the competitions. IOC President Jacques Rogge stated that an insurance policy worth $170 million would provide full or partial compensation for the cost of organizing the Games in the event of their cancellation due to the threat of terrorism or natural disasters. As is known, the Games took place and even in an expanded form - in Athens, for the first time in the history of the Olympic movement, women's freestyle wrestling competitions were included.
As for the doping scandals that have become almost traditional, 26 positive doping tests were recorded in Athens, and several winners were stripped of their gold almost immediately after their triumph. It is worth noting that in Salt Lake City in 2002 there were seven such cases, and in 1992 at the Winter Games in Albertville absolutely all doping samples gave negative results.
The 2008 Summer Olympic Games will be held in Beijing, and it is very much hoped that they will be remembered for new records and a beautiful fight for prize places.