Why was the first modern Olympics held in 1896? The first modern Olympics were held
in Athens, Greece in 1896. Why is it held this year, there is a small episode.
In 1894, at an international sports conference held in Paris, France, Frenchman Pierre de Coubertin (known as the founder of the modern Olympics) made a proposal. He believed that the first Olympic Games should be held in 1900, the first year of the 20th century, in Paris, France, because the World Exposition will be held in Paris in this year, and the Olympic Games will be held at the same time as the exposition, and the atmosphere will be more solemn and warm. But the Greek sports delegation, led by Demetrius Vikelas (later elected as the first president of the International Olympic Committee), strongly wanted the first Games to be held in Greece. Taking into account that Greece is the birthplace of the Olympic Games, it is more meaningful for the first Olympic Games to be held in Greece, and the delegates finally decided that the first modern Olympic Games will be held in Greece. However, in order to satisfy Coubertin’s wishes, it was decided to advance the time by 4 years, that is, in 1896, so that the second Olympic Games could be held in Paris in 1900. In this way, it can be said that everyone is happy.
Holding swimming competitions in the sea
The first Olympic Games held in 1896 did not have swimming pools for competitions. How to conduct swimming competitions? Organisers of the Olympics took the runners to Zia Bay, near Pileus, where the swimming competition took place in the sea.
At that time, it was the beginning of April, and the temperature of the sea water was very low, which made many players who trained in the heated swimming pool could not bear it, especially the American players, who fled back to the shore screaming: “I’m so cold!”
”The swimming pool ”’s swim lanes are also distinctive: rows of pumpkins float on the water as lane markers. The method of the competition is that the players are first carried off the coast by the small steamer, and the starter estimates that the distance is almost the same, and then sends the order to let the players swim back to the shore.
There were many runners who abstained in this swimming competition. For example, 29 people signed up for the 500-meter race, but only 3 people participated; 9 people should participate in the 1200-meter race.
”Marathon” Olympic Games
The 2nd Olympic Games held in Paris, France in 1900, because it was co-organized with the World Exposition held in Paris in the same year, and it was mainly expositions, the Games were held for a long time. From the opening on May 20 to the closing on October 28, it lasted for more than 5 months, which can be called the “Marathon Olympic Games”. This Olympics is not only a long schedule, but also the venue facilities are not satisfactory, and some players even know that they are participating in the Olympics only after the game is over.
However, the 2nd Olympic Games is not the longest. The longest in the history of the modern Olympic Games was the 4th Olympic Games held in London, England in 1908, which lasted for more than 6 months from April 27 to October 31. Later, the International Olympic Committee stipulated that the duration of the Summer Olympics should not exceed 16 days and the Winter Olympics should be limited to 12 days.
Dramatic Marathon
The dramatic results of the dramatic marathon at the 2nd Olympic Games in Paris in 1900. Because the marathon runs through many streets and alleys in Paris, and the roads are twisty and complicated, 12 of the 19 runners who participated in the marathon dropped out of the race due to getting lost and overtired. The French players are competing in front of their own homes, and they know the streets and alleys of Paris like the back of their hands. Naturally, they are familiar with the road, and naturally won the championship and runner-up in this competition. Sweden’s 19-year-old Fast, who was expected to win the championship, ran for a few more minutes because a confused policeman pointed the wrong way, and finally finished third. It is said that the policeman was so embarrassed that he finally shot himself in guilt.
Opportunity to win the gold medal
In the 3rd Olympic marathon held in St. Louis, USA in 1904, there was a scandal of opportunistically winning the gold medal.
During the game, American Lauren was very disciplined at first, but soon fell behind and was never seen again in the team. It turned out that Lauren jumped into a car driven by a friend halfway, and even ran in the car instead. At 9.6 kilometers from the finish line, he got off the car and ran again. Because of his opportunism, he naturally ran into the field first, and when he reached the finish line, he was still full of energy, his face did not change, and he did not look tired. When the audience saw this, they couldn’t help shouting enthusiastically. Lauren, like a triumphant hero, received the gold medal awarded to him without shame.
However, the fake is fake after all, and the scam was soon exposed. For the sake of serious competition rules and pure Olympic spirit, the conference canceled Lauren’s championship title and qualification for the competition. At the same time, it also made the US team leave a page of scandal-making history in the history of the Olympic Games. In the 11th Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936, the men’s pole vault competition lasted from the afternoon to 9 o’clock in the evening, and finally the American player Meadows won the championship with a score of 4.35 meters
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The remaining Japanese players Nishida Shuhei, Oe Jixiong and American player Sefton have the same results. According to the rules, they must rematch to determine the ranking. As a result, the results of the two Japanese players were the same again, and Sefton lost. In order to decide who is the second or third place, Shuhei Nishida and Jixiong Oe should have to compete again, but because it was almost late at night, the competition had to end. Shuhei Nishida, who successfully jumped 4.25 meters for the first time, won the silver medal, Jixiong Oe Bronze medal.
After the Olympic Games, Nishida Shuhei and Oe Jixiong also cut their medals in half and welded them into silver and bronze medals. The friendship between the two Japanese athletes has always been a story in the international sports arena. Of course, the silver and bronze medals are also the only special medals in the history of the Olympic Games.
One ticket for a gold
medal How is this going? It turned out that he could not find the team leader and coach. It is no wonder that the 19-year-old black player Duma had a mediocre performance in the US trials before the Olympics. The coach did not take him seriously at all, so there was a ridiculous thing that Duma could not find an organization. Duma wanted to enter the stadium, but no matter what he said, the guard didn’t believe that he was an athlete. Helpless, he had to spend money to buy a ticket to be able to enter. As soon as he entered the stadium, the high jump competition began. Duma had no time to prepare for the activities, so he went into the competition. Perhaps because of anger, Duma won the championship with a score of 2.12 meters and broke the world record. A ticket is exchanged for a gold medal, which is a legend in the sports world.
Olympic Gold Medal Help
At the 17th Olympic Games in Rome in 1960, Bekira, the guardian of the Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I, participated in the marathon with bare feet and broke the Olympic record with a time of 2:15:16.2 and won the gold medal , has established a miracle for Ethiopia and become a national hero. Later, Beckyra participated in a coup against the emperor. After the failed coup d’état, Emperor Selassie I decided to spare Becky the death penalty for the sake of winning the Olympic championship. In this way, an Olympic gold medal saved Becky’s life. At the 20th Olympic Games in Munich in 1972, Uganda’s Aki Bua won the gold medal in the 400-meter hurdles and broke the world record in this event
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Later, when there was a coup in Uganda, Aki Bua accidentally lost the gold medal in a panic, and he was heartbroken. Later, Aki Buah advertised for the German company Puma Sporting Goods, which used the Olympic star to make a lot of money. In order to reward this Olympic hero from Africa, Puma specially made him a medal identical to the Olympic gold medal and gave him as an encouragement and compensation for him.
A lighter lit the Olympic flame
During the 21st Olympic Games in Montreal in 1976, an event that had never happened before in the history of the Olympic Games occurred. Five days before the closing, a rare heavy rain fell in Montreal. Although it only lasted for more than 20 minutes, it extinguished the torch on the torch platform. According to the rules of the International Olympic Committee, the extinguishing of the torch means the end of the Olympic Games, so this is no trivial matter. Fortunately, the stadium was rested that day, and there were only a few staff members on the empty field. Seeing that the torch was doused by the heavy rain, the venue supervisor Bee Boucher rushed to the torch platform, took out a lighter from his pocket, and lit the torch again.
When the officials of the organizing committee knew about this, they were deeply shocked. After discussion, it was announced that the torch lit with a lighter was invalid, and then the safety light in the center of the venue was used to fetch the fire, and the torch was lit again. Bucher, who lit the flame with a lighter, was finally found to be ignorant and exempted from accountability.
twin sisters
In the women’s 4 × 400-meter preliminaries of the 23rd Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1984, Puerto Rico’s Maitlin was injured in the long jump and could not participate in the preliminaries. In order to solve the urgent need, it was proposed that her twin sister Margaret, who happened to be watching the game, would play in her place. The sisters looked so alike, Margaret really ran the second, and Puerto Rico won the final. Afterwards, when the coach knew the truth, he immediately decided to withdraw his team from the final, and the coach himself also applied for punishment.