Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 4, 1992 TAG: 9202010213
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: NF-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ELIZABETH HOCK
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
LET THE GAMES BEGIN
SOMEWHERE, a young girl or boy is skating around an ice rink, over and over. The skater will circle that rink thousands of times, practicing relentlessly, repeating and fine-tuning his movements again and again, dedicating himself or herself to becoming the best in the world.Someday that child may grow up and earn what some consider the highest honor in sports: an Olympic gold medal.
On Saturday, the world's best amateur athletes will gather to spend 16 days playing games. It's the Olympics, and no other sports event attracts so much attention.
Millions of people will gather in Albertville, France, site of the 1992 Winter Games, to watch in person, and hundreds of millions more will watch on television.
Held every four years, the Olympic Games bring together athletes from throughout the world to compete against each other. There is much prestige and honor in being selected to represent your country in the Olympics.
Representatives of each nation are amateur athletes, not professionals who are paid. They are selected in competitions in their own countries.
Although athletes don't get paid for winning a medal, some can make a lot of money from endorsements, where they are paid to promote a particular product. Other athletes have used their Olympic success to get jobs as television commentators, for instance.
The Winter Games are held in the winter; the Summer Games in the summer. Both the Winter and Summer Games will be held this year, but after that, the Winter Olympics will be held again in 1994, and the Summer Games will be held two years after that. From then on, the Games will be held every four years.
In the Summer Olympics, athletes compete in sports such as track and field, swimming and gymnastics. This year, at least 65 countries are sending athletes to compete in the Winter Games, which include sports such as skating, skiing and bobsledding.
Albertville is a small town in the French Alps. This summer, the Games will be held in Barcelona, Spain. The host city is required to provide a place for the games to take place, as well as housing for the athletes.
The host city is selected by the International Olympic Committee. This group makes the rules, selects the judges and referees and decides where the Games will be held.
Representatives of cities throughout the world that want to host the Olympics make presentations to the committee, trying to persuade members to select their city. Much preparation and planning is needed, and the committee selects the host cities six years before the events.
In addition to close competition, colorful ceremonies and pageantry make the Olympics special. The opening ceremony is especially impressive. Imagine what a thrill it must be for the athletes when they march into the stadium with their country's flag, waving to the crowd and beginning the biggest competition of their lives.
The highlight of the opening ceremonies is the lighting of the Olympic flame. This marks the official opening of the Games. Runners in cross-country relays bring a lighted torch from Greece, home of the first Olympics. Runners represent Greece and each country that lies between Greece and the host nation.
Once the flame is lit, the Games begin. The flame will continue to burn until the Olympics end.
Some of the events you might see if you watch the Olympics on TV are the biathlon, a combination of cross-country skiing and shooting; bobsledding; figure skating, both individual and pairs; ice hockey; the luge, a form of tobogganing; and speed skating.
Among the most exciting competitions are the skiing events. They include alpine skiing, where skiers race downhill against the clock and each other; freestyle skiing, where athletes must maneuver their way over moguls or small snow bumps; and nordic skiing, which includes cross-country competition and ski-jumping.
Judging for the Olympics varies from sport to sport. In bobsledding and the luge, for example, each athlete or team makes a certain number of timed runs through the course. Their times are averaged and the teams or individuals with the fast times will win medals.
The top three finishers in each event receive medals. The third-place winner will receive a bronze medal; the second-place finisher, a silver; and the top winner, a gold medal. The medals are awarded in ceremonies right after the event ends. A band plays the gold-medal winner's national anthem as the other medalists stand on a platform in an moment filled with emotion.
The modern Games began in 1896. The first known Olympic contest took place in the stadium of Olympia in Greece in 776 B.C. The games ended in 394 A.D., and none was held for more than 1,500 years.
Although the Olympics are designed to promote a sense of goodwill and friendly competition, there have been problems.
Some people have used the games to further their own political views. In the 1972 Summer Games, Arab terrorists attacked the quarters of the Israeli team and several people were killed. The United States and several other nations did not participate in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow as a protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and 1980.
But most of the time the Olympics are conducted in an atmosphere of harmony and friendship.
So, grab a cup of hot chocolate and settle down in front of the TV to watch the world's best amateur athletes show their stuff. It's a winter spectacle you won't see again for a while.
- Some information for this story came from wire reports and The World Book\ Encyclopedia.