Исследовательская работа "Olympic Games"

МУНИЦИПАЛЬНОЕ БЮДЖЕТНОЕ ОБЩЕОБРАЗОВАТЕЛЬНОЕ УЧРЕЖДЕНИЕ «ГИМНАЗИЯ№3 г. ГОРНО-АЛТАЙСКА»

OLYMPIC GAMES

Выполнил: ученик 10 класса

Афанасьев Даниил

Научный руководитель:

Учитель английского языка

Молодых С.Б.

Горно-Алтайск, 2013

CONTENT

INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………..3

CHAPTER I.  THE HISTORY OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES……………….5

1.1. Ancient times…………………………………………………………………..5

1.2. Revival…………………………………………………………………………5

CHAPTER II. THE 22nd WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES…………………….7

2.1. Sochi winter Olympics 2014 ………………………………………………….7

2.2. Financing………………………………………………………………………7

2.3. Venues…………………………………………………………………………7

2.4. Tentative post-Olympic usage…………………………………………………9

2.5. Stamps and coins………………………………………………………………9

2.6. Power infrastructure…………………………………………………………...9

CHAPTER III. COMPARISON BETWEEN THE MODERN AND THE ANCIENT OLYMPIC GAMES………………………………………………..11

CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………..12

LITERATURE…………………………………………………………………..13

APPENDIXES…………………………………………………………………...14

INTRODUCTION

People all over the world are fond of sports and games. Sport makes people healthy, keeps them fit, more organized and better disciplined. It unites people of different classes and nationalities.

One of the greatest professional international sport events in the world is the Olympic Games, in which thousands of athletes compete in different types of sports. In modern times the Olympic movement has become an enormous and expensive organization, as well professional and competitive. Athletes train for years to take part in the Olympics and some countries spend much more than others on equipment and facilities.

The Olympic idea means friendship, fraternity and cooperation among the people of the world. All wars were stopped by special heralds who rode in all directions of Greece. The Olympic Movement proves that real peace can be achieved through sport.

The ancient Olympics were rather different from the modern Games.It was the complex of rituals and the sports event, directed on religious and cultural association of Hellas. But despite that the Olympic Movement suffered a number of changes an active way of life in our country and worldwide is rather actual. This year Russia holdsOlympic Games, we would like to study more deeply the history of the Olympic Games from antique times to the present day. It also explicates the actuality of the chosen subject.

The main purpose of our work is to study the information about the Olympic Games from Ancient times to the Present day. 

Tasks:

1. to study the information about the history of the Olympic Games during ancient times

2. to investigate the time of Olympic revival

3. to study  the information about the 22nd Olympic Games

4. to compare modern and ancient Olympic games

3. to sum up given information

Methods:

1. a search and close study of books and websites

2. investigation

3. systematization

4. comparative analysis

CHAPTER I.  THE HISTORY OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES

1.1. Ancient times

The Olympic Games are an international sports festival that began in ancient Greece. The original Greek games took place every fourth year for several hundred years, until they were brought to an end in the early Christian era.

The Olympic Games were renewed in 1896, and since then they have been staged every fourth year, except during World War the first and World War the second. Perhaps the main difference between the ancient and modern Olympics is that for the ancient Greeks the Games were a way of saluting their gods, when the modern Games are a manner of saluting the athletic talents of people of all nations. The original Olympics included competitions in music, oratory, and theatre performances as well. The modern Games haven't got them, but they represent a lot more sports than before. For two weeks and a half any international conflicts must be stopped and replaced with friendly competitions. This is the noble idea on which the modern Olympic movement is based.

The earliest record of the Olympic Games goes back to 776 BC, but historians think that the Games began well before then. The ancient Games were held in honor of Zeus, the most important god for ancient Greeks. According to the earliest records, only one athletic event was held in the ancient Olympics – a footrace of about 183 meters, or the length of the stadium. A cook, Coroibus of Elis was the first recorded winner. Only men were allowed to compete or watch the games. When the Powerful, warlike Spartans began to compete, they changed the programme of the Games. The 18th Olympics already included wrestling and pentathlon and later Games – chariot races and other sports. The winners of the Games were highly praised and honoured for their results. In 394 AD the Games were officially ended by the Roman emperor Theodosius, who felt that they had pagan meaning [1].

1.2. Revival

Pierre de Coubertin, a young French nobleman, had an idea to bring the Olympic Games back to life. With the help of the people who supported him he managed to organize the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. Baron de Coubertin had planned to hold the Olympic Games in France, but the representatives from the nine countries that supported his idea decided that Greece was the right place to host the first Olympic Games. The nine countries were Belgium, England, France, Greece, Italy, Russia, Spain, Sweden, and the USA. They agreed that every four years the Olympics would move to other great cities of the world.

The Athens Games in 1896 were a success. Athletes from thirteen countries competed in nine sports.

Beginning in 1926 Winter Olympics were included. They were held in the same year as the Summer Games, but starting in 1994, the Winter Games are held two years after the summer Games. The Olympics are governed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), situated in Lausanne, Switzerland [1].

CHAPTER II. THE 22nd WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES

2.1. Sochi winter Olympics 2014

The 2014 Olympic Winter Games were not the first time that the Russian Federation hosts the Winter Games; the Soviet Union hosted the 1980 Summer Games in Moscow. The host city Sochi has a population of 400,000 people and is situated in Krasnodar, which is the third largest region in Russia.

The Games were organized in two clusters: a coastal cluster for ice events in Sochi, and a mountain cluster located in the Krasnaya Polyana Mountains. This made it one of the most compact Games ever, with around 30 minutes travel time from the coastal to mountain cluster [3].

2.2. Financing

As of October 2013, the estimated combined cost of the 2014 Winter Olympics had topped US$51 billion. This amount includes the 214 billion rubles (US$ 6.5 billion) cost for Olympic games themselves and cost of Sochi infrastructural projects (roads, railroads, power plants). This total, if borne out, would be over four times the initial budget of $12 billion (compared to the $8 billion spent for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver), and would make the Sochi games the most expensive Olympics in history, exceeding the estimated $44 billion cost of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, which hosted 3 times as many events.

Financing from non-budget sources (including private investor funds) is distributed as follows:

Tourist infrastructure: $2.6 billion

Olympic venues: $500 million

Transport infrastructure: $270 million

Power supply infrastructure: $100 million [3]

2.3. Venues

With an average February temperature of 8.3 °C (42.8 °F) and a humid subtropical climate, Sochi is the warmest city to host a Winter Olympic Games. Sochi 2014 is the 12th straight Olympics to outlaw smoking; all Sochi venues, Olympic Park bars and restaurants and public areas are smoke-free during the Games [7]. It is also the first time that an Olympic Park has been built for hosting a winter games.

Sochi Olympic Park (Coastal Cluster)Appendix 1.

The Sochi Olympic Park was built by the Black Sea coast in the Imeretin Valley, about 4 km (2.5 miles) from Russia's border with Georgia. The venues are clustered around a central water basin on which the Medals Plaza is built, allowing all indoor venues to be within walking distance. It also features "The Waters of the Olympic Park" (designed by California-based company WET), a choreographed fountain which served as the backdrop in the medals awards and the opening and closing ceremonies of the event. The new venues include:

Fisht Olympic Stadium – ceremonies (opening/closing) 40,000 spectators

Bolshoy Ice Dome – ice hockey (final), 12,000 spectators

Shayba Arena – ice hockey, 7,000 spectators

Adler Arena Skating Center – speed skating, 8,000 spectators

Iceberg Skating Palace – figure skating, short track speed skating, 12,000 spectators

Ice Cube Curling Center – curling, 3,000 spectators

Main Olympic village

International broadcasting centre and main press room

Krasnaya Polyana (Mountain Cluster)Appendix 2.

Former chairlift Alpica Service. Dismantled in 2012

Main article: Krasnaya Polyana, Sochi, Krasnodar Krai

Laura Biathlon & Ski Complex – Biathlon, Cross-country skiing

Rosa Khutor Extreme Park – Freestyle skiing and Snowboarding

Rosa Khutor Alpine Resort – Alpine skiing

Sliding Center Sanki – Bobsleigh, Luge and Skeleton

RusSki Gorki Jumping Center – Ski jumping and Nordic combined (both ski jumping and cross-country skiing on a 2 km route around the arena)

Roza Khutor plateau Olympic Village [7].

2.4. Tentative post-Olympic usage

After the Olympics, a Formula One street circuit is planned for the site. The deal to hold the Russian Grand Prix was signed on 14 October 2010, and runs from 2014 to 2020[5]. The first race will take place 7 months after the Closing Ceremony of the Games. The IOC was given the power to delay the race until 2015 if preparations for the race interfered with the Winter Olympicsbut the Games started without interruption[4].

2.5. Stamps and coins

In commemoration of the Games, Russian Post released a series of postage stamps depicting athletes, venues, and the mascots of the Games. The Bank of Russia also issued special coins and 100-ruble notes for the Games [6]Appendix 3

2.6. Power infrastructure

A five-year strategy for increasing the power supply of the Sochi region was presented by Russian energy experts during a seminar on 29 May 2009, held by the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee, and attended by International Olympic Committee (IOC) experts and officials from the Russian Ministry of Regional Development, the Russian Ministry of Energy, the State Corporation Olimpstroy and the Krasnodar Krai administration

According to the strategy, the capacity of the regional energy network would increase by two and a half times by 2014, guaranteeing a stable power supply during and after the Games.

The power demand of Sochi in the end of May 2009 was 424 MW. The power demand of the Olympic infrastructure is expected to be about 340 MW[2].

CHAPTER III. COMPARISON BETWEEN THE MODERN AND THE ANCIENT OLYMPIC GAMES.

In the third chapter of our work we’ve summarized some facts and compare the Modern and the Ancient Olympic Games. According to the following table we can see the main similarities and differences in the history of the Olympic Games.

Similarities	Differences
We still have discus, javelin, wrestling.	There were no world records in the Ancient Games
There are many of the same events like races	They used to sprint but it wasn't a 100 meters.
They were also held every four years	There were no water sports
The winner gets an award that was not money	There were no winter sports
	There were no women allowed to compete, and only young, unmarried women were allowed to watch. Married women that were even inside Olympia were thrown off cliffs.
	The Ancient Games were a religious festival, so oxen were sacrificed and eaten.
	There was no Olympic Torch Relay.

CONCLUSION

Having analyzed all facts we came to the conclusion thatnowadays the Olympic Games are one of the most important sports events in the world while the Olympic movement has become an enormous and expensive organization.Passing on to present days we should note that even though the modern Olympic Games embrace the whole world, but the connection with Greece is still very strong. A lighted torch is brought all the way from Greece, carried by a relay of runners, in order to light the Olympic Flame which bums all through the Games. Despite the fact that countries and their representatives compete, the Olympics have always been the symbol of peace and unity.

LITERATURE

1.Афанасьева О.В. Михеева И.В. Английский язык: Учеб. Для VI кл. шк. С углубл. изуч. Яз., лицеев, гимназий, колледжей. – 2-е изд. – М.: Просвещение, 1999. – 351 с

2.News Games 2014 Will Double Sochi Power Supply РБК Новосибирск Экономика http://www.sochi2014.com/en/news-games-2014-will-double-sochi-power-supply

3.Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias  http://en.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enwiki/447659Olympic.org

4.Official website of the Olympic Movement      http://www.olympic.org/sochi-2014-winter-olympics

5.Sochi to host Russian GP from 2014-2020      http://uk.reuters.com/article/2010/10/14/uk-motor-racing-russia-idUKTRE69D1X020101014  

6.The Wall Street Journal, Feb 7, 2014 2014 Winter Olympics The Sochi Stamp: A Sought-After Olympic Souvenir          http://blogs.wsj.com/dailyfix/2014/02/07/the-sochi-stamp-a-sought-after-olympic-souvenir

7.2014 Sochi Winter Olympics http://www.sochi2014.com/en

Appendix 1

Appendix 2

Appendix 3