K E E P T A L K I N G V I A R O M A 6 0 3 3 1 0 0 U D I N E 0 4 3 2 5 0 1 2 5 2 THE DEFINITE ARTICLE I S S U E 3 7 S U M M E R 2 0 1 2 S P E C I A L P O I N T S O F I N T E R E S T : Kip Talking Two Olympic Quizzes! Sport Is An Art by Maurizio Costantini The Prize Article London 2012 Facts And many more interesting articles from you I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E : Sport Is An Art 1 Kip Talking 1 The Ancient 2 Olympics Not the Triumph 2 I love football, and that s because you can see 11 players organized together in order to create a show for people who consider football as a kind of art like sculpture, painting, dance, theatre and cinema. The Olympic games are the highest point of all this! They should be a show involving every country in the whole world, but for fans that are interested in sport with a passion for an idol, for a colour, for a country, the Olympics are a sort of global competition in order to establish which are the values in the world of every single country. Yes, because the results are the mirror of the country. The more you are able to organize your team from childhood at school, the better performances you will reach. Where a country is not well organized the victory depends on just a single sportsperson. So the more victories are gained by the Italian team, the more honours and world respect we will get! What is even more amazing to me is that the result of 4 years of preparation and training depends on just one day! Good luck Italy! but the Struggle A Promise for London 2012 All Spectacle and No Athletics Politics and Intrigue A Good Example? Are the Games Profitable? The Olympics and their Simple The Olympic Spirit 3 3 4 5 5 6 6 Jesse Owens 7 Olympic Symbols 8 Kip Talking I remember my parents taking me to see Tokyo Olympiad, a wonderful documentary film about the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, the first to be televised internationally. It was a magical experience for an 8-year-old, with extraordinary images of heroic achievements and such pretty theme music. I was convinced that Great Britain had done brilliantly but today the medals table shows that we won 4, against the USA s 36 and Italy s 10! I had a brief athletics career as a member of South London Harriers and captain of the school athletics team but I was always much better at watching than doing! But I have another claim to fame: in the late 60s and 70s there was a great Kenyan middle/long-distance runner The Italian team at the Opening Ceremony in Beijing 2008 with the same nickname. KIP Keino was the first black African to make a real impact on world athletics and started a long line of African successes in Olympic competitions. But the similarity ends at the name dark skin, speed, elegance, all things which I don t possess. Even his name meant born near the granary which was a bit different from my origins!
P A G E 2 The Ancient Olympics The first Olympic games consisted of only one event a running race. London 2012 Fact: 205 nations are expected to take part in 300 events at the Olympic Games in 2012. 147 nations will take part in the Paralympic Games. The Olympic Games is a series of sports events which takes place every four years in different nations of the world. They are a symbol of peace and brotherhood, represented by the Olympic Flag: five interlinked rings of different colours, to represent the unity of the five continents: blue for Oceania, black for Africa, red for America, yellow for Asia and green for Europe. These colours were chosen because every nation had at least one of them in its national flag but I won t talk about the modern Olympic games but about their history. The Olympic games were born in the Olympia Valley in Greece and the first event recorded was in 776 B. C. (the year in which the Greek calendar started). It was a religious celebration, because the Olympic games were celebrated in honour of Zeus. All free men speaking the Greek language, coming from all the cities of Greece and its colonies could participate. Slaves and women could not participate, and neither could women be spectators, maybe because men competed completely naked. The Olympic Games were appreciated because they unified the population. If there were wars, truces were signed to allow athletes to participate. Like today, there were opening, closing and prize-giving ceremonies. Initially, there was only one race (the stadion) then, other games were introduced: another race (twice the distance of the stadion), wrestling, jumping, javelin throwing, and so on. The winners became legendary - they received a crown made of olive branches, they were supported by their city for all their lives and they were immortalized in poems and statues. The situation changed when the Romans invaded Greece and gained power and influence, and when Christianity became the official religion. In 393 P.C., Emperor Theodosius I banned the Olympic Games as they were considered a pagan practice. After 15 centuries, in 1896, thanks to Pierre de Coubertin, the Olympic Games returned with other rules, for example athletes from all around the world can participate (and since 1900 women too), the event takes place in different countries of the world not only in Greece but we can talk about this next time. Mara Blasutto Not the Triumph but the Struggle Pierre de Coubertin, the father of the modern Olympic games, was inspired by archaeological explorations of ancient Greece. He believed in the importance of physical education and saw the advantages of restoring the Olympic Games as an international event promoting world peace. I think that his famous quote: The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well. is one of the most important lessons, and not only for sport. In my opinion, keeping this quote in mind is good exercise for a positively competitive approach to any field, such as sport, school, work, research, innovation and so on. by Fabrizio Redavid T H E D E F I N I T E A R T I C L E
I S S U E 3 7 P A G E 3 A Promise To Watch London 2012 I m ashamed to admit that I don t know anything about the Olympics. I have never taken an interest in watching the games on TV or reading about them in the newspapers. Neither have I ever wanted to organize a long journey to be present live at the Olympic games. There are the winter Olympics too but I don t know when or where they are taking place next time. Maybe because I m not a sportswoman! I played volleyball when I was a child and now I usually go walking in my free time. Frankly speaking I don t know exactly which sports are played during the Olympics. When I think about the Olympics I imagine only the athletic events. The London 2012 logo Is it right that a lot of money is spent on this event because the athletes dedicate many years of their lives and they always make big sacrifices? In this way they have the right reward some days of glory! The attention of the mass media to the Olympics is limited to a specific period unfortunately. Football is the only sport which is promoted on TV, radio, the internet and in newspapers all year round. I promise you that I ll follow the London 2012 Olympics in order to avoid making such a fool of myself again. by Laura Buttolo London 2012 Fact: This is the third time that London has hosted the Olympic Games. The previous two were in 1908 and 1948. All Spectacle and No Athletics I m no fan of sport and I especially dislike looking at other people doing sport. I find it boring. I hate it when business revolves around sport, so the Olympic Games are not the right entertainment for me. The competition begins several years before the great event, when a country has to be chosen to host the games. Then the country has to be prepared for receiving thousands of visitors, by enlarging the streets, building new railways, speeding up the subways, clearing the city of litter, assigning hidden areas to hide the poverty. After spending years beautifying the country, the opening day of the Olympic Games must be a memorable event with music, dances, lights, pyrotechnics and spectacular choreography. Up to this point, nothing to do with sport happens. The better the box, the worse the content, in my opinion. The Olympic Committee thinks more about the spectacle than the athletic performances. For example, the Italian champion Federica Pellegrini may not be the flag bearer for Italy in the opening ceremony because she can't remain standing for 8 hours the day before her race. Massimo Matassoni A highlight from the opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics in 2008 PRIZE ARTICLE!
P A G E 4 Politics and Intrigue An Olympic History by Flavio Lorenzon Jesse Owens accepting one of his four gold medals at the Completely opposing reasons were behind the case of the black power salute at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. Tommie Smith won the 200m race and his teammate John Carlos finished in third position. When the two Afro- American athletes went to the podium they made the so called raised-fist gesture. They received their medals shoeless and wearing black socks. They At the 1936 Olympics in Berlin the Afro-American athlete Jessie Owens achieved international fame by winning four gold medals over a period of just seven days. It was alleged that Hitler snubbed Owens award ceremonies because of the colour of his skin. Whatever the truth, Germany s open discrimination against Jews both raised one fist with a blackgloved hand, the traditional black power salute, in order to protest against racial discrimination and to claim more human rights for black people. and other Non- Aryans was already public knowledge before the beginning of those Olympics, which were widely used by the Nazi government for propaganda purposes. Tommie Smith and John Carlos raise the black power salute at the 1968 Olympics. Needless to say, the modern Olympic Games have nothing in common with the true spirit of sport at the time of ancient Greece. Nowadays, only winning matters and whoever finishes behind the winner is soon forgotten. Another difference is the impact that political issues frequently have on the modern Olympics. In fact, during the ancient games in Olympia the Greek cities suspended their war, whereas in contrast, it was the Olympics that were suspended during the two World Wars. In addition, the modern Olympic Games have often been exploited to advance political ends through acts of terrorism, protest and boycott. Of course, this also reflects the fact that nowadays this sporting event captures worldwide media attention. I want here to mention just some of the most famous political cases that have happened during the socalled modern Olympics. Black September terrorists marr events at the 1972 Olympics. However, the most tragic event remains the Munich massacre, which took place during the 1972 Olympics in Germany. Members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage by a Palestinian group called Black September. In return for releasing their hostages, the terrorists demanded the release of several Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. Eventually, West German soldiers carried out a failed rescue attempt, during which the kidnappers killed eleven Israeli athletes and coaches T H E D E F I N I T E A R T I C L E and one German police officer. Five members of Black September were killed and the three surviving terrorists were captured. More recently there have been important boycotts that undermined the participation in two consecutive Olympic Games. In 1979 Soviet troops invaded and occupied Afghanistan, an occupation which lasted a decade. In reaction against the invasion, the President of the U.S.A., Jimmy Carter, decided to boycott the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. Many countries joined the U.S.A., including Japan, West Germany, China, Argentina and Canada. The United Kingdom, France and Australia supported the boycott but allowed their athletes to participate if they wished. Those Olympics were severely affected by the lack of prestigious athletes, and in response to the boycott, fourteen Eastern Bloc countries, including the Soviet Union, Cuba and East Germany, boycotted the following 1984 Olympic Games that took place in Los Angeles. Curiously, the ambiguity of politics is such that Afghanistan has been occupied since 2002 by foreign troops, but no one is going to boycott London 2012.
ISSUE 37 P AGE 5 A Good Example? I think sport in general should promote a healthy and moral lifestyle for children. I usually go running near a football field and I hear too much swearing and blasphemy, so I think that the Olympics Games could be the right way to give some great examples, but it doesn t often happen. Instead of this, the Olympic Games are marred by doping and economic interests. There s also a great exception, however, represented by Pistorius, who fights against his handicap. Other sports could be included in the Olympics, like dancing. For example, ballroom dancing and Latin American dancing are beautiful and very difficult to perform. You have to improve your moves and get the right rhythm, and the music is good. You have to smile and get on very well with your partner. Although I m not that crazy about Olympic sports, when I start to watch some competitions, I enjoy it and I hope that Olympic athletes do their very best. Fabio Plazzotta Oscar Pistorius competing in the Golden Gala in Rome Quiz 1 Summer Olympic Mascots - but which games and what year? Answers on the back page. Are the Olympics Profitable? Are the Olympic Games profitable? This is an important question. The Olympics are a wonderful show, but they are often very expensive for the country where the games are organized. The cost of the Olympics is high, but the economic impact of these sporting events rarely pans out in reality. I have read an amusing quote from the sports economist Victor Matheson who said: I liken these events to a wedding if you are the father of the bride you are not making any money, but that doesn t mean you shouldn t have the celebration. Alessandra Deusciti The economic impact of these sporting events rarely pans out in reality
P A G E 6 The Summer and Winter Olympics and their Simple Rules In summer the queen of sports is athletics, where the athletes compete with their muscles and without any other equipment. The Olympic games, which are in summer or in winter, have only a few rules to respect and they are: honesty, sportsmanship and friendship. Honesty is based on fighting doping and inappropriate use of performance-enhancing drugs. Sportsmanship; in every competition the human body is transformed, because the athletes have to do many hours of training and push their body to the limits. They are like strong iron machines. Unfortunately there is only one winner in each discipline and sportsmanship involves accepting that you came second, third, fourth, and so on, and not arguing about losing the match or game. The most fantastic aspect of the Olympics, which happen every four years in the summer and winter, is the spirit of friendship. Between the competitions, friendships are established between athletes of different countries, whose states are not always at peace but sometimes at war for many reasons. The difference between the Olympics games in summer and in winter is very easy. In summer the queen of sports is athletics, where the athletes compete with their muscles and without any other equipment in disciplines such as windsurfing, fencing, cycling, shooting, and so on. In winter the real stars are the snow and ice and the athletes have to use different equipment to take part their competitions. Sometimes the equipment is more important than the performance of the athletes, for example the top champion could have bad equipment, for example skis with their blades ruined, and the athlete could have an awful result. Finally, I repeat that the Olympic games should be based on the three principles of honesty, sportsmanship and friendship, because the athletes could participate at most for only two or three editions due to the simple matter of age and a decline in their performance. Only in a few cases are there wonder athletes that have participated in more than four competitions, such as Iosefa Idem in kayaking, Valentina Vezzali in fencing, and Alessandra Sensini in surfing. In the end I wish everyone much enjoyment in watching the games, and hope their idols do well! Walter Temporini A perfect confusion of colours the official poster for the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm The Olympic Spirit When I was a child I watched the Olympics Games with my father on the sofa. He played a game with me to memorise the national flags. Blue, red, white or black, red, yellow or red with a white cross I thought it was impossible. There were many sequences of colors. Now I know many flags, but when I m thinking about the Olympics Games I see only a perfect confusion of colors. For me, this is the Olympic Spirit. Men, nations, religions, cultures are a perfect confusion of colors. Roberto Scapinello T H E D E F I N I T E A R T I C L E
I S S U E 3 7 P A G E 7 Inside Story Headline Jesse Owens and Luz Long share a joke at the 1936 Olympic Games On the terraces of the Olympiastadion grandstand, the man with the moustache, dressed in a soldier s uniform, is convinced that the athletes of his country, the host country, Germany, belonging to the Aryan race, will excel in all competitions of the Olympic Games. On the racetrack, a young African American J.C. Owens, known as Jesse, runs as he has learned, training himself in the sport he chose because he could practise it without any expensive equipment. Athletics. Owens races and wins. By the end of the Games his medals number four, and all of them are made of the most precious metal. Four gold medals in the 100 meters, the 200 meters, the long jump and the 4 x 100m relay. During the Games he broke many world and Olympic records and defeated the German Luz Long in a very close long jump final. Those two athletes became great friends. His record of four gold medals in one Olympics in athletics was equalled only in 1984 in Los Angeles, by his fellow countryman Carl Lewis, who won four golds in the same competitions. In the memory of many people and certainly in mine, the black man is still running. For the man with the moustache, however, time soon ran out. Owens went on to win many races, Hitler s vision of a superior race was thankfully never realized. Sandro Scaini London 2012 Fact: The great majority of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be held in the Old Park in Stratford, East London, but some events will also be held in other venues across London and the UK (England, Scotland and Wales). Quiz 2 London 2012 Olympic Pictograms A pictogram is basically a pictorial representation of a concept. They were first used to represent sports at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Because it s a visual language, it s recognizable by anyone, whatever their native tongue. But do you know the English names for the sports represented here? The answers are given in the box. Answers: Diving, Swimming, Synchronised Swimming, Water Polo, Gymnastics - Artistic Gymnastics - Rhythmic, Trampoline, Handball, Archery, Sprint, Badminton, Basketball, Hockey, Wrestling, Rowing, Tennis, Boxing, Canoe - Slalom, Canoe, Cycling BMX, Triathlon, Beach Volleyball, Volleyball, Sailing, Cycling Mountain Bike, Cycling - Road, Cycling Track, Equestrian - Dressage, Shooting, Table Tennis, Judo, Weightlifting, Equestrian Cross Country, Equestrian Show Jumping, Fencing, Football, Taekwondo, Modern Pentathlon.
Olympic Symbols by Cristiana Ballico Speaking about the Olympic Games, we have to remember different symbols, all of them inspired by De Coubertin s ideas and principles. Maybe the flag is the most famous: Baron de Coubertin designed it in 1913; it has five but very well-known, is the famous quote by De Coubertin: " The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well. The Olympic flame has a tradition which began during the ancient Olympic Games, The last runner is often kept secret up to the last moment. He (or she) is usually a famous sportsman from the country hosting the Games. He uses the Olympic torch to light a fire in a large brazier, which burns throughout the games. The flame is extinguished during the closing ceremony. There was no torch relay in the ancient Olympics: the first took place at the 1936 games in Berlin, Germany. A new Olympic torch is designed for each of the games. interlocking rings (blue, yellow, black, green, and red) on a white background. The rings represent the five continents - Africa, America, Asia, Australia and Europe. The interlocking of the rings represents the universality of the Olympic spirit. The five different colors were present in the flags of all the nations of the world at the moment they were selected. The combination of the colors therefore symbolizes all the countries in the games. The official Olympic motto is "Citius, Altius, Fortius", a Latin expression that means "faster, taller, stronger." Another motto, not official over 2700 years ago in Greece. A flame was lit for each Olympics, every four years, and it burned throughout the games, symbolizing the death and rebirth of Greek heroes. For each Olympics, a new flame is lit in the ancient Greek Olympic stadium, using a parabolic mirror to focus the rays of the sun. The flame is taken to the country where the games will be held (usually by plane) and it is then carried around by members of the public (called tedofori ) running, walking, on horseback, or using other means. Olympic Medals: at the Ancient Olympics, a wreath of olive branches was placed on the winner's head. At the modern Olympics, the winner receives a gold (first place), silver (second) or bronze (third) medal. Different medals are designed for each new Olympics. Certificates called victory diplomas are also given to many top winners in each sport. Mascot Quiz Answers: 1. Daschund dog Waldi, Munich 1972; 2. Beaver Amik, Montreal 1976; 3. Bear cub Misha, Moscow 1980; 4. Bald eagle Sam, Los Angeles 1984; 5. Tiger Hodori, Seoul 1988; 6. Sheepdog Cobi, Barcelona 1992; 7. Izzy, Atlanta 1996; 8. Olly the Kookaburra, Syd the platypus and Millie the echidna, Sydney 2000; 9. Children Athena and Phevos, Athens 2004, 10. the Friendlies, Beijing 2008.