Ch. 14 The Olympic Games

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Ch. 14 The Olympic Games

• By Darlene Kluka in Women in Sport
• Notes by N. Bailey

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The Olympic Movement Toward Global Understanding

• And Acceptance
• Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded modern Olympics
  in 1894 in Paris
• No women
• To encourage better understanding among nations
  through sport, art, education, culture
• The ancient Greek ideals harmonious excellence
  physical, moral, cultural, artistic

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Overview of the Chapter

• Topics Covered
• History of participation
• Performance enhancement drugs
• Governance
• Global understanding and acceptance

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Early Summer Games 1900-1928

• IOC controlled the program in 1896
• Program for white male amateurs
• Members represented the IOC
• Apolitical all men
• Melpomene, One who also ran in the 1896 games 4
  hours, 30 minutes

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Organizing Committees

• Ran the events established rules
• IOC no longer controlled events
• Next four organizing committees permitted women
  to participate 1900 golf, tennis 1904 archery
  1908 added skating, tennis, archery
  demonstrations in aquatics gymnastics

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After Stockholm in 1912

• IOC took over control of events
• Dropped womens sports that werent universally
  popular
• In Europe women were refused membership in the
  Sports Federations
• Womens sports clubs organized in France
• Track field.

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1920 games

• IOC refusal to permit women in all venues
• Women organized their own track and field Olympic
  Games in 1922
• 65 women from 5 countries in 11 events
• 20,000 spectators
• 18 world records
• READ p. 259, Alice Milliat founder FSFI

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IOC Outraged!

• How dare those women do that
• In order to control somewhat, IOC directs
  International Amateur Athletic Federation to
  govern international competition for women
• IOC waffled on women participating
• By 1924 industrialized countries had track and
  field for women. Women controlled

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Physicians Worried

• High level training bad for women ruin health
  masculinizes women leads to sterility
• Competition detracted from femininity
• Spectators might have questionable motives
• Women might be viewed as sex objects

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International Sport Federations

• Supported womens participation in sport
• 1924 Paris Womens fencing, tennis, swimming
• The press muscle molls, muscle-bound, manly
  dames re fencing tennis
• graceful, feminine, feathered re swimmeres

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Summer Games (1928 48)

• 1928 first official track field for women in
  Amsterdam
• 100 meters, 800 meters, high jump, discus, 4 x
  100 meter relay
• Ill fated 800 meters 6 of 9 women collapsed
  three carried off
• 40 years for 800 meters to be reinstated
• Never mind that Finnish man collapsed

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1932 LA Games

• Notable women 4 new world records
• Attendance 60,000 1.25 million overall
• Radio and press coverage best ever
• Babe Didrickson three other women set records

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1936 Berlin Games

• Germany had withdrawn from the League of Nations
• Used Olympics to show case white male supremacy
• Jews were barred from German team

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Summer Games (1948 present)

• Post war games held in London
• First woman to win a gold won 4 gold medals
• Was a mother of two children

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1952 Helsinki

• Avery Brundage tried to make Olympics apolitical
• Cold war Communist Bloc countries saw advantage
  to support women for winning medals
• Supremacy through victory in sport grew
• Newspaper counted the medals Soviets winning
  made big news

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1956 Melbourne

• Womens swimming sold out before the games began
• READ Wilma Rudolph, p. 263

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1960 Rome

• Rivalries between women surfaced
• 800 meters returned
• Soviet woman won 204.5

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1964 Tokyo

• Women became newsworthy for the first time
• Dawn Fraser, Australian, a controversial woman
• The symbol for women in the games talent
  mischief!

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1968 Mexico City

• Political turmoil
• Prior to opening ceremonies protesters killed in
  the streets
• Protesting poor country spending a fortune on the
  games
• American male track athletes protested
  differential treatment of African Americans in
  the U.S. as well as in Africa

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Women Made News

• In 1968 Woman Mexican hurdler carried the Olympic
  torch into the stadium.
• A first!
• Woman Czech gymnast hid in the mountains
  preparing for the games feared reprisal for
  political act of protest. Won 4 gold medals
  (signed manifesto against Russian aggression on
  Czechs)

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1972 Germany

• Germans tried for the biggest, most expensive,
  most exciting
• What they got tragedy
• Games remembered for 8 Arab terrorists killing 2
  Israel team members took 9 hostages 5
  terrorists, hostages 1 police officer were
  killed

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1976 Montreal

• Africa boycotted
• East German women did great

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1980 Moscow

• Soviets had invaded Afghanistan prior to the
  games only 81 countries attended
• Boycotting U.S., Canada, West Germany, Japan,
  Kenya, Norway, Israel, Turkey
• Political climate woven into the Olympic fabric

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1984-1988-1992 LA, Seoul, Barcelona

• More nations competing, so more women
• Joan Benoit official marathon 22452
• Jackie Joyner competed
• Zola Budd Mary Decker controversy
• Cheryl Miller, Mary Lou Retton, Valarie
  Brisco-Hooks Evelyn Ashford
• READ p.266 1st Islamic Games woman

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1996 Atlanta

• 35 countries had no women (Islamic countries)
• Germans asked IOC to ban those countries that
  discriminated against women
• gender apartheid after South Africas racial
  apartheid
• South Africa had been barred

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2000 Salt Lake

• Goal equal participation between men and women.
• We will see

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Performance Enhancing Substances

• Faster, higher, stronger Olympic creed
• Men in the 3rd century used herbs
• 1960 Danish cyclist died of drug
• 1963 IOC Medical Commission established
  listed prohibited drugs
• 1966 Gender verification
• 1968 First drug testing 2000 reversed sex test
  policy

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East German Officials Sued

• Trial continues into 2001
• Between 1974 1989 German sport officials
  administered a state sponsored doping program on
  the women
• Sentence potentially 10 years

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Governance

• 1997- 1995 Women executive directors of
  organizing committees comprised 8.5 - 15.8
• Women Presidents 3.6 to 7.9
• Presently 14 of 113 IOC members are women
• IOC adopted goals in 1996 equality in 2001

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IOC Sponsored Womens Conference

• World Conference on Women and Sport in 1996
• March 2000 in Paris
• That is progress!
• READ p. 274

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Olympic Solidarity Programs

• Technical assistance and training grants
• Some women were included
• Rumor Muslim countries applied for and received
  for training women didnt spend it for that
• One world trophy 5 continental trophies for
  contributions to womens participation in sport

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Global Understanding Acceptance

• Vast differences of the place of women in various
  societies around the world
• Systematic hared and devaluing of women and a
  patriarchal system well entrenched in many
  countries

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What Will It Tae To Get There?

• The next generation of athletes and
  administrators
• Know our history
• Create a fair environment

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Thats All Folks

• The End.