Olympic Controversies Research Paper
Use the following to BEGIN an examination of Olympic Controversies. Consider the following questions as you develop your own presentation: Is there a common root for all Olympic Controversies? Are some or were some controversies media driven? Do the Olympics and the media thrive off of controversy? Do the controversies affect the actual games? What is at the heart of the Olympics, the spirit of competition or something else?
Going for Gold
A History of Olympic Controversies
From the beginning, controversy has followed the Olympic Games. Indeed, at times it seems as if the Olympic movement would fall apart under its own weight, with several commentators even suggesting that the world would be a better place without the Games. Since …show more content…
67. Not only did Nero bribe Olympic officials to postpone the Games by two years, he bribed his way to several Olympic laurels. Most notably, Nero competed in the chariot races with a 10-horse team, only to be thrown from his chariot. While he did not finish the race, he was still proclaimed the winner on the grounds that he would have won had he been able to complete the race. After his death the next year, his name was expunged from the victor list (Swaddling 1999).
The Olympic Games declined until A.D. 393 when Christian Roman emperor Theodosius I banned the Games entirely as being pagan after a total of 291 Olympiads had been held for 1,170 years (Toohey 2007).
1904 St. Louis Summer Olympics: False Finish and Strychnine
When the Olympic Games resumed in 1896 under the guidance of Pierre de Coubertin (1863-1937), controversy remained the bedfellow of the Games despite de Coubertin’s noble intentions. The men’s marathon during the rather unorganized 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, Missouri, remains one of the most memorable and bizarre Olympic controversies (Currie 1999). Marathon runners not only had to contend with persistent dust clouds created from newly invented automobiles but also from sweltering 90-degree …show more content…
The Olympic Games are, in fact, an exciting spectacle where idealism clashes with practical manifestations of politics, nationalism, and economics.
-- Posted November 11, 2009
References
Anderson, Dave. 2000. The Story of the Olympics. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.
Curie, Stephen. 1999. The Olympic Games. San Diego, CA: Lucent Books, Inc.
Guttman, Allen. 2002. The Olympics: A History of the Olympic Games. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.
The Olympic Games: Athens 1896-2000. 2000. New York, NY: Dorling Kindersley Publishing, Inc.
“Senior U.S. Olympic Committee Member Resigns over Salt Lake Scandal.” CNN.com. January 15, 1999. Accessed: September 21, 2009.
Swaddling, Judith. 1999. The Ancient Olympic Games. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
Szymanski, Stefan. 2009. Playbooks and Checkbooks: An Introduction to the Economics of Modern Sports. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
“Tonya and Jeff’s Wedding Night.” IMDB.com. Accessed: September
Going for Gold
A History of Olympic Controversies
From the beginning, controversy has followed the Olympic Games. Indeed, at times it seems as if the Olympic movement would fall apart under its own weight, with several commentators even suggesting that the world would be a better place without the Games. Since …show more content…
67. Not only did Nero bribe Olympic officials to postpone the Games by two years, he bribed his way to several Olympic laurels. Most notably, Nero competed in the chariot races with a 10-horse team, only to be thrown from his chariot. While he did not finish the race, he was still proclaimed the winner on the grounds that he would have won had he been able to complete the race. After his death the next year, his name was expunged from the victor list (Swaddling 1999).
The Olympic Games declined until A.D. 393 when Christian Roman emperor Theodosius I banned the Games entirely as being pagan after a total of 291 Olympiads had been held for 1,170 years (Toohey 2007).
1904 St. Louis Summer Olympics: False Finish and Strychnine
When the Olympic Games resumed in 1896 under the guidance of Pierre de Coubertin (1863-1937), controversy remained the bedfellow of the Games despite de Coubertin’s noble intentions. The men’s marathon during the rather unorganized 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, Missouri, remains one of the most memorable and bizarre Olympic controversies (Currie 1999). Marathon runners not only had to contend with persistent dust clouds created from newly invented automobiles but also from sweltering 90-degree …show more content…
The Olympic Games are, in fact, an exciting spectacle where idealism clashes with practical manifestations of politics, nationalism, and economics.
-- Posted November 11, 2009
References
Anderson, Dave. 2000. The Story of the Olympics. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.
Curie, Stephen. 1999. The Olympic Games. San Diego, CA: Lucent Books, Inc.
Guttman, Allen. 2002. The Olympics: A History of the Olympic Games. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.
The Olympic Games: Athens 1896-2000. 2000. New York, NY: Dorling Kindersley Publishing, Inc.
“Senior U.S. Olympic Committee Member Resigns over Salt Lake Scandal.” CNN.com. January 15, 1999. Accessed: September 21, 2009.
Swaddling, Judith. 1999. The Ancient Olympic Games. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
Szymanski, Stefan. 2009. Playbooks and Checkbooks: An Introduction to the Economics of Modern Sports. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
“Tonya and Jeff’s Wedding Night.” IMDB.com. Accessed: September