Title: Ancient vs' Modern Olympics
1Ancient vs. Modern Olympics
2Modern Olympics
The Modern Olympic flag of five linked rings,
each with a primary color used in the flags of
the nations competing in the games, was
introduced in 1908.
Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals are awarded to
winners of each event.
The idea of the Olympic torch or Olympic Flame
was first inaugurated in the 1928 Olympic Games
in Amsterdam. There was no torch relay in the
ancient Olympic Games.
The selection of a city to host each Olympics,
winter or summer, is made by the International
Olympic Committee (IOC).
3Gymnastics (Xinhua)
- Shawn Johnson on the beam
- Johnson, 16-year-old gymnast, did not miss her
last chance of Olympic gold. She scored 16.225
after a flawless routine.
4Gymnastics (Photo
credit Xinhua)
- Shawn Johnson (C), Nastia Liukin (L), and Cheng
Fei - Medal Ceremony afteer balancebeam trials.
5Swimming
Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times
- Michael Phelps dives into the water to begin the
men's 4 x 200-meter freestyle relay for the U.S.,
which won the event and gave Phelps his fifth
gold medal of the Beijing Games.
6Swimming (Photo
credit Al Bello/Getty Images)
- American Michael Phelps achieved what many
thought impossible on the ninth and final day of
Swimming on Sunday at the National Aquatics
Center landing his eighth gold medal in the Men's
4 x 100m Medley Relay. - (L-R)Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hansen, Michael
Phelps and Jason Lezak
7Womens Water Polo Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles
Times
8Soccer
Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times
- Benny Feilhaber, center, and Brian McBride of the
U.S. battle for the ball with Nigeria's Chibuzor
Okonkwo during asoccer match.
9Diving Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles
Times
- Kai Qin, foreground, and Feng Wang hold their
form as they dive during the Men's 3 meter
Synchronized Springboard final at Beijing's
National Aquatic Center
10Basketball MN Chan / Getty
Images
- Chris Paul, 6-0, GuardThe runner-up in the NBA
MVP race, the New Orleans Hornet floor leader is
a do-everything guard who averaged 24.1 points
and 11.3 assists last season
11Fencing Wally Skalij / Los
Angeles Times
- Mariel Zagunis, left, gets her foot stepped on by
fellow American Sada Jacobson but manages to get
a point in the women's individual sabre
competition. Zagunis won the gold medal and
Jacobson the silver Saturday.
12Volley Ball Wally Skalij / Los
Angeles Times
- Todd Rogers, left, and Phil Dalhausser collide
while returning a serve against Switzerland
13Badminton Robert Gauthier / Los
Angeles Times
- Satoko Suetsuna of Japan lines up a shot in a
badminton match against China. Suetsuna and
Miyuki Maeda won the match, defeating the
defending Olympic doubles champions, Wei Yang and
Jiewen Zhang.
14Weightlifting
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
- Weightlifter Alexandra Escobar of Ecuador falls
while attempting a lift in the finals of the
women's 58kg group. Escobar finished fifth in the
finals.
15Wrestling (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
- Eusebiu Iancu Diaconu of Romania, in blue, flips
China's Jiang Sheng during a match in the 60kg
men's Greco-Roman wrestling competition
16Baseball Kathy Willens / Associated
Press
- U.S. catcher Lou Marson prepares to tag out
Taiwan's Chen Chin-Feng at home plate after a
strong throw from right fielder Nate Schierholtz
to end the sixht inning Tuesday.
17Table Tennis (Ping Pong) Scott
Strazzante / Chicago Tribune
- USA's Chen Wang, top, returns a serve by
Netherland's Li Jiao. Wang wins this game
18Track and Field (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles
Times)
- Kerron Clement of the U.S. easily wins the men's
44-meter hurdles in Round 1 at the 2008 Beijing
Olympics.
19Kayaking ( Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
- Slovakia kayaker Elena Kaliska speeds down
Beijing's slalom course on her way to an Olympic
20Ancient Olympics
- The ancient Olympic Games was a part of a major
religious festival honoring Zeus, the chief Greek
god, was the biggest event in their world. - Women were not allowed to compete
- A winner received a crown made from olive leaves,
and was entitled to have a statue of himself set
up at Olympia.
Olympia home to all the Ancient Olympics.
Prizes awarded were wreaths of olives.
21Boxing
- Ancient boxing had fewer rules than the modern
sport. Boxers fought without rounds until one man
was knocked out, or admitted he had been beaten.
Unlike the modern sport, there was no rule
against hitting an opponent when he was down. - Photograph by Maria Daniels, courtesy of the
University Museums, University of Mississippi
22Chariot race
- There were both 2-horse chariot and 4-horse
chariot races, with separate races for chariots
drawn by foals. Another race was between carts
drawn by a team of 2 mules. The course was 12
laps around the stadium track (9 miles). - Photograph by Maria Daniels, courtesy of the
Tampa Museum of Art
23Pankration
- This event was a grueling combination of boxing
and wrestling. Punches were allowed, although the
fighters did not wrap their hands with the boxing
himantes. Rules outlawed only biting and gouging
an opponent's eyes, nose, or mouth with
fingernails. Attacks such as kicking an opponent
in the belly, which are against the rules in
modern sports, were perfectly legal. - Photograph by Maria Daniels, courtesy of the
Toledo Museum of Art
24Pentathlon
- This was a 5-event combination of discus,
javelin, jumping, running and wrestling.
Javelin
Discus
Jump
The javelin was a man-high length of wood, with
either a sharpened end or an attached metal
point. It had a thong for a hurler's fingers
attached to its center of gravity, which
increased the precision and distance of a
javelin's flight.
Athletes used lead or stone jump weights
(halteres) shaped like telephone receivers to
increase the length of their jump. The halteres
were held in front of the athlete during his
ascent, and forcibly thrust behind his back and
dropped during his descent to help propel his
body further.
The ancient Greeks considered the rhythm and
precision of an athlete throwing the discus as
important as his strength. The discus was made
of stone, iron, bronze, or lead, and was shaped
like a flying saucer. Sizes varied, since the
boys' division was not expected to throw the same
weight as the mens'.
25Wrestling
- Part of the Pentathlon. Trainer watching
wrestlers Photograph by Maria Daniels, courtesy
of The University of Pennsylvania Museum of
Archaeology and Anthropology
26Running
- There were 4 types of races at Olympia. The
stadion was the oldest event of the Games.
Runners sprinted for 1 stade (192 m.), or the
length of the stadium. The other races were a
2-stade race (384 m.), and a long-distance run
which ranged from 7 to 24 stades (1,344 m. to
4,608 m.). - And if these races weren't enough, the Greeks had
one particularly grueling event which we lack.
There was also a 2 to 4-stade (384 m. to 768 m.)
race by athletes in armor. This race was
especially useful in building the speed and
stamina that Greek men needed during their
military service. If we remember that the
standard hoplite armor (helmet, shield, and
greaves)weighed about 50-60 lbs, it is easy to
imagine what such an event must have been like.
27Websites
- http//www.perseus.tufts.edu/Olympics/
- http//www.museum.upenn.edu/new/olympics/olympicor
igins.shtml - http//www.olympic.org/uk/games/index_uk.asp