Olympic Games

The Olympic Games first started at Olympia in Greece in 776 BC. At that time, the games held were organized into festivals. There was a peace agreement called the scared truce between the city-states of Elis and Pisa. The reasons for hosting the Olympic Games at that time fall into three obvious aspects —— the honour of competing, the opportunity for trade and also, for peace. The reason why cities bid to hold the Olympics now are more complicated than in ancient time. But the main reasons remain the same.

Cities may bid to host the Olympics to raise their International status by opening a door to the whole world, boost their economy, and enrich their culture and so on. All in all, cities want to promote the pace of their development by holding such a big event like the Olympics. Cities also have high expectations about the legacy benefits of the Games. Some of the main benefits will be identified later in this article. However, the benefits that are claimed in relation to hosting the Olympic Games are hard to measure.

Those main benefits will be evaluated by taking the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games for instance. The legacy benefits of the Olympic Games can be indentified through four aspects —— political, economical, environmental and as the Olympic Games is a big sporting event, the last one should be sport. Politics had no place in the ancient games. The event was made possible in part by a truce that allowed visitors and competitors to travel to Olympia safely. During the truce there was no war, no executions, and no military action.

However, although it is claimed that the modern Olympics have nothing to do with the political, many countries bid to host the Olympic Games for many political reasons under different circumstance. The best example to examine the relationship between sport and politics was the two German states during the cold war between 1945 and the early 1970s, in which period the two German states competed to host the Olympic Games in order to establish their own political authority. (Hughes, Owen, 2009).

The 1972 Munich (Germany) Games was no doubt a good stage to show the rebuild Germany after the war. The Olympic Games are somehow a stage to relief the political conflicts and help the host cities change their International image. In terms of economy, it is the most important area when talking about the benefits of the Olympic Games. Cities always have high expectations to develop their economy after hosting the Olympics. Although the 1980 Moscow Olympics left a great amount of debt to the host city, the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic recovered people’s confidence.

Matthewman (2009) indentified the legacy benefits of the Olympics’ economy benefits were included media exposure, employment and education training, infrastructure improving, increased trade, new investment and housing. However, the economic benefits of the Olympic Games are obviously much more than Matthewman described. There is a similar report printed by Price Waterhouse Coopers (2004) claimed that the long-term economy benefits would include: A. Improvement of city productivity (e. g. better transportation) B. Cultivate the city’s management ability to deal with International event. C.

Olympic-related trade. D. Media exposure. E. New investment and more job opportunities. F. Training project. G. Tourism industry Another benefit of the Olympics could be the improvement of city environment. After the International Olympic Committee (IOC) make the environment the third strand in 1994, cities have made their efforts to deliver cleaner and greener Games. The eco-friendly event made the sustainable development theory spread all over the world. The Olympic Games make a good contribution to arousing the awareness of protecting our environment which could be beneficial to the whole human society.

As the Olympic Games combined different sporting event, it is most closely related to sports in the host cities. Firstly, the sports infrastructure could be improved as cities want to hold the Olympics. This improvement can have a good impact on their athels’ training conditions, sports watching industries and provide their citizens of more sports sources. Secondly, a big sporting event can arouse people’s interest in sport. Additionally, it is good for promoting sport in the host cities as a guide to develop a health living style among its citizens.

This is good for citizens’ health and their quality of life. To evaluate these benefits, the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games can be a good example. According to Cashman (2002), the Olympic Games would help the host cities acquire high international reputation in terms of politics. As Australia has a history of its nation conflicts between local residents and emigrations, the 2000 Sydney Olympic did not be supported by their citizens. However, the Olympic organisers came up with many ideas especially by designed a long-distance torch relay program in order to unit the people.

This excellent torch relay project which included 11,000runners, successfully changed people’s attitude and built a conception that the 2000 Sydney Olympic is not just about Sydney, it is about Australia as a whole(Haynes, 2001). The economic benefits of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games are hardly measured because there are so many potential areas for long-term impact. However, a 2001 Price Waterhouse Coopers report showed that Sydney has benefited from the 2000 Olympic Games a large amount of profits, which included about $3 billion from new business, $7. billion was injected for infrastructure and promoting business of New South Wales, more than $6 billion from tourism and opening their door to attract International business projects. (Matthewman, 2009) In other words, the Sydney Games had not only gained more investments and improved the city’s infrastructure; it also developed the industry of tourism and gave the ability to manage large projects. The 2000 Sydney Olympic Games was the first time the idea of the “Green Games” was adopted.

Sydney had come up with five strategies before bidding to host the Olympic Games —— save energy, save water, reduce rubbish, prevent pollution and protect the natural environment (Cashman, 2002). As the benefits on environment are difficult to identify in a short period of time, it is not likely to attribute the environmental improvement to the “Green Olympic Game” only. However, the eco-friendly idea will surely make great contribute to the city’s environment. People’s awareness was established after the “Green Game”, and it was becoming more and more popular that individuals started to take environment their own responsibility.

Sport itself has obviously benefited from the Games. Firstly, the Olympic Games appeared to contribute to the sports infrastructure. Sydney had built the high-level sport facilities which combined technology and art to host the events. These sports infrastructures would improve the athletes’ training conditions and provide large sports events among counties as well. Secondly, the Sydney Olympic Games tend to arouse local people’s interest in participating sports activities. The Sweeney Sport Report 2000/2001 showed there was a significant increasing trend of sports on TV viewing.

According to Haynets’s (2001) report, it is claimed that this raised participation might also lead to some other benefits, such as heath and economic. However, it is hard to know whether the citizens’ interests can last for a long time. To conclude, cities bid to host the Olympic Games for their better developments. The Olympic Games have a great impact on many areas of the hosting cities, which obviously are not restricted to the four aspects above. The benefits of host cities can gain from the Games are quite different and difficult to measure.

The 2000 Sydney Olympic Games are a good example because it has won a high reputation for its successes. However, as there are always diverse proposals in different cities toward hosting the Olympics, it is important to have a detailed plan before both bidding and hosting the Games and reasonable expectations. Reference list Jill Hatnes(2001) ‘Social –economic impact of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games’. International Chair in Olympic, Centre d’Estudies Olympics (UAB). 2001 from http://olympicstudies. uab. es/pdf/od013_eng. pdf Price Waterhouse Coopers (2004) ‘The economic impact of the Olympic Games’.

European Economic Outlook, June, p. 18-19 Richard Cashman(2002) ‘Impact of the Games on Olympic host cities’. International Chair in Olympic, Centre d’Estudies Olympics (UAB). 2002 from http://olympicstudies. uab. es/lec/pdf/cashman. pdf Richard Matthewman(2009) ‘Economic impacts of Olympic Games’. July, 2009 from http://maasterpieces. com/Documents/Economic%20Impacts%20of%20Olympic%20Games. pdf R. Gerald Hughes, Rachel J. Owen (2009) ‘The Continuation of Politics by Other Means’: Britain, the Two Germanys and the Olympic Games, 1949–1972’. Contemporary European History, 18(4), pp. 443-474.

The year is 776BC, and in Athens the first Olympic Games are about to start, the festivities have begun with a feast and sacrifices for the gods.

The Olympic Spirit was a key part of their society. It was the one-time cultures from all of Greece could come together and celebrate, compete and enjoy.

In the past few weeks we have been discussing the pros and cons of different issues and today it’s the tur of Olympics.

Approximately 2000 years later, what has changed, not much? But this Olympic spirit is ingrained within the Games, the international community spirit along with the best athletes coming together and competing in one of the most prestigious sporting competition in the world. I’d like to give you three reasons to explain why and Why the games will benefit Britain

Firstly because of urban regeneration; this has been put at the heart of the London bid, and is a massive benefit to hosting the Olympic Games;

there is the opportunity to redevelop areas that are dilapidated and have physical disorders. Although many locations in and around London will be used for Olympic Games the core location for most of the events will be the 500-acre Olympic Park in the Lower Lea Valley in East London,

Which stretches over 5 boroughs: namely Tower Hamlets, Hackney, Camden, Greenwich and Stratford. 3 years ago Lower Lea Valley, was literally a dump site, with muggings at an all time high, knife crimes were going up and up. And you know why?

Because no one cared about the place, it was considered to be a dirty, dangerous and dilapidated. And know gentlemen, due to the Olympic Committee’s regeneration programme, the streets are clean, the alleys are well light

The most important venue of the 2012 has been described as an architect’s dream. Planned and already in building the 500 acre park promises an excellent site for sporting activities, with over 9 competition events, and is claimed to be the biggest sports site in Europe for nearly 150 years.

Outside of the new Olympic Park, which will principally host indoor sports and track and athletic events, all of England will join in as hosts. However it is not just London that is going to benefit. Throughout the countries there will be facilities available. Already the Olympic Committee, has set up brilliant badminton centers in Birmingham, superb swimming pools in Swansea and even mountain biking in Manchester!

However to gain the most from the Olympics we need to maximize the legacy effect. Currently the plan is to sell the Olympic stadium to West Ham Football Club, so that they can keep the sporting spirit alive. The legacy effect is in essence the only thing that will keep allow us to maintain the investment of hosting the Olympic Games.

Britain, has the highest number of sports fans in the world, we have a pride in our sport, when we hear our national anthem at any event our hearts swell with pride. Recently in the last Commonwealth Games over a thousand British supporters flew out to India to support Team GB.

We are proud to be British, Londoner, but the 2012 Olympics is not just about London. It’s about team GB, it’s about national pride, it’s about an amazing, historical event taking place on our doorstep, it’s about getting excited and involved, and it’s about making sure that we maximise the legacy and the investment.

As Lord Coe said “The Games will inspire the nation and give us the ability to showcase all that is great about Britain.”

AGRUMENTATIVE ESSAY Does holding the Olympic Games have benefits for the host country? In recent years, the Olympic Games have developed into one of the most significant mega-international sporting events (Roche,2000). More and more cities are bidding to host the Olympics and increasingly money are invested in Olympic bids, which is due to the reason that the government believe that they could get benefits from such an event. During the proceeding of the 2012 London Olympic Games, amount of people in the world have been brought into focus on Olympic Games.

It is such a big event, holding it successfully will improve one country’s reputation and get more attention around the world. Does holding the Olympic Games have benefits for the host country? It might be said that hosting Olympic Games has some financial risks because of its exceeding budgets. Countries invest huge number of money on sports facilities, which could result in the over-needed of infrastructure. However, there are many reasons why a country should organize Olympic Games.

The first reason why holding Olympic Games have benefits for the host country is that, from the economic point of view, increase the income of revenue. Because of the influx of people who come from all around the world, the needs of consumption will dramatically rise. As a result, it is contributed to the output of factory, which is benefit to the whole market. What’s more, Olympic Games attract numbers of merchants to the host country to look for the business opportunities. Their investment in the market will stimulate the growth of economic.

Rose and Spiegel (2009) suggests that the rate of trade is increased 30% for those host countries, which ‘realize an economic benefit in the form of greater openness. ’ Furthermore, during the proceeding of the Olympics, large numbers of foreigners will come to the hosts to visit. Bolton (2004) states that the percentage of tourists is increased to 150% in the 1992 Barcelona Games, with the Spanish government’s effort to stimulate the tourism. They are the potential consumer groups which could promote the local economy. This will stimulate some tourism-relative ndustries (hotels restaurants and shops) to develop. Although it is sometimes claimed that these numbers of tourists tend to be temporary, it must be acknowledged that the host country could become a popular tourist destination. In addition, employment is another great benefit to the host countries. Holding Olympics will create some full-time jobs because of the investment in infrastructure. For example, in Atlanta, the host city of the 1996 Olympic Games, the government invest about $2 billion to Olympic-related projects, which is leading to over 580 000 new jobs to this region between 1991 and 1997. Steven and Bevan, 1999) suggests that the Olympic Games were stimulating economic growth up to $5. 1 billion between 1991 and 1997. During the period of games, Barcelona, the host city of the 1992 Olympic Games, the general percentage of unemployment drop from 18. 4% to 9. 6% (Brunet, 1995). The second reason why holding the Olympics Games have benefits for the host country is that infrastructure such as transportation and sports facilities will get improved during the Games. To guarantee a successful Olympics, government should invest into infrastructure, such as improve the public’s transportation and sports facilities.

Firstly, the Olympics have promoted the urban development and have an impact on the landscape and urban environment. In Tokyo, the host city of 1964 Olympics games, a new road and highway network was constructed to meet the short-term demands of the Games and to accommodate the city’s continued population and traffic increase in the long-term. Chalkley and Essex (2010) points out a total of 22 main highways were designed for the Games, huge amount of money were spent on land acquisition, compensation and providing alternative sites for the activities displaced.

In addition, the development of infrastructure is not directly related to the leisure facilities, commercial and open spaces, it also involves improve the appearance of the host city. Secondly, the staging of Olympics often contains build the new sporting facilities or restructure the exiting ones. It is often claimed that those facilities have failed to produce a long-term benefits to the country; some of the sports venues often become unused after the Olympics is finished. However, this ignores the fact that the whole society will get beneficial from infrastructural investment and environmental improvement.

The London 2012 Olympic Games have made a dedicated plan for the usage of facilities before the facilities is built. For example, after the games, the Olympics Village will become a new community housing. The new shopping centre, which is separated from the Olympic Park, will become an employment centre of this area. Transportation will get improved through the construct of new stations, line extensions and additional trains and a largest urban park will build available for both local community and for elite athletes (Olympic Delivery Authority, 2007).

The final reason why holding the Olympics Games have benefits for the host country is that it will help to improve the host country‘s image. For the host country, it’s not just a competition about sports; it’s a chance to improve their international prominence and a sense of national pride. Firstly, it is contribute to transforming the image of the host city. In order to amplify the effect of Olympics Games, it is necessary to rely on the function of media. During the Games, the worldwide TV audience watched a cumulative 36. 1 billion hours of sport (IOC, 2001).

This is one of the most effective ways to improve a nation’s image and attract tourists. For example, in 1996, during the 17 days of the Centennial Olympic Games, it has been reported that 3. 5 billion people saw the city on worldwide television coverage in 214 countries and territories and about two million people visited Atlanta, as a result, the tourist industry of the region increased dramatically (Steven and Bevan, 1999). It seems clear that a successful mega-event can enhance cities’ reputations through the global media coverage.

Prior to the 1992 Olympics, Barcelona was only a large city in Spain, but it is now a famous destination which attracts numbers of tourists to visit. Furthermore, holding this mega-international sporting event could attract the public’s interest to take part in sporting activities, and also increase local pride and community spirit, which could make a significant contribution to the quality of life of both the individual and community. For example, there is a remarkable increase in Barcelona in the participation of sports activities in the years following the hosting of the Olympic Games.

There has been an increase of 46 000 new users in the city’s sports centres following the 1992 Games, with the percentage of women participating in sporting activities increasing from 35% in 1989 to 45% in 1995. Moreover, in 1994, more than 300 000 people took part in sporting events which involved the city’s inhabitants on the streets of Barcelona, such as athletic competitions, popular marathon, the bicycle festival and the roller-skating festival (Truno, 1995).

In conclusion, it is clear from the weight of evidence that holding Olympic Games have benefits in economic growth, infrastructure improvement and image promotion for the host country. However, there are still some aspects should get the government’s attention. For example, in order to handle with the financially risks such as the increasing rate of over-budget, the international Olympic Committee, together with local Olympic organisers should make the capital budget table precisely.

Moreover, the post-event facility usage should be considered before the infrastructure is built, which is avoid to become a burden to the long-term economy. Only in this way can the host country get maximise economics benefits. Bibliography: Bolton, L. (2004) Despite Lackluster Ticket Sales, Can Greece Be a Big Winner in This Year’s Olympics? [Online] Available at: http://knowledge. wharton. upenn. edu/article. cfm? articleid=1026 [Accessed 24/08/12]. Brunet, F. (1995) An economic analysis of the Barcelona ’92 Olympic Games: resources, financing and impact, in Moragas, D.

M. & Botella, M. (eds). The Keys of success: the social, sporting, economic and communications impact of Barcelona ‘92. Bellaterra: Servei de Pulbication de la Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona. Chalkley, B. & Essex, S (1999) Urban development through hosting international events: a history of the Olympic Games. Planning Perspectives 14(4), pp. 369-394. International Olympic Committee (2001) Sydney 2000 Olympic Games; Global Television Report. UK: Olympic Television Research Centre Sports Marketing Surveys Ltd

Roche, M. (2000) Mega-Events and Modernity: Olympics and Expos in the Growth of Global Culture. London: Routledge. The Olympic Delivery Authority (2007) Guide to the Olympic, Paralympic & Legacy transformation planning applications and Olympic village (Part) and legacy residential planning application. Guide to Planning Applications [Online] (February 2007). Available at: http://www. london2012. com/mm%5CDocument%5CPublications%5CPlanningApps%5C01%5C24%5C08%5C36%5Cguide-to-the-planning-applications. df [Accessed 26/08/12] Rose, K. & Spiegel, M. (2011) The Olympic Effect. The Economic Journal 121(3), pp. 652-677. Steven, T. & Bevan, T. (1999) Olympic legacy. Sport Management Magazine 19 (9), pp. 16–19. Truno, E. (1995) Barcelona: city of sport, in Moragas, D. M. & Botella, M. (eds). The Keys of success: the social, sporting, economic and communications impact of Barcelona ‘92. Bellaterra: Servei de Pulbication de la Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona.

Ciearra Black November 4 2010 I thought that the book Jim Thorpe, was a good book. I thought that it was good that the main character Jim Thorpe was in the Olympics because it kept him fit. It also was not good for the Olympics to take Jim’s trophies away because he did not deserve it. But I thought the end of the book was good because he became the best athlete in the world. It was good that Jim was in the Olympics because it kept him fit. He was an active man I tell you. He was an expert in all of these sports baseball, football, wrestling, field and track, boxing, golfing, swimming, and shooting.

He was always running and stayed in several different sports. Also Mr. Thrope was well at all sports he played in. The Olympics took away Jim’s trophies away because in the summer he playing baseball for fun and the coach told him they would give him fifteen dollars a week for playing and he thought well fifteen bucks can get me something to eat so he took the money and later on the Olympics took his trophies for the simple fact that Jim had violated the amateur code of the Olympics.

I didn’t like that they did that because that’s just bogus and they offered him the money so yeah he’s going to take it. Plus he needed the money to eat for the week and stuff so he deserved to have the money. I liked that he became the best athlete in the world, at the end of the book. He became the best athlete in the world because he was good in so many sports and won so many trophies. He was known worldwide.

He was known worldwide because he was a professional athlete and he was so well known that he played baseball, football, he swam, wrestling, golfed, boxing, and plenty more also. The book, Jim Thorpe, was very interesting I thought. It was interesting because he always did more than one sport and all the sports he did participate he was amazing in all of them. He was amazing at what he did. Everybody liked the way he played his sports.

Since time immemorial winning an Olympic medal was perceived as the pinnacle of the attainments of any athlete’s career. In our times it has become a commonplace for those winning to receive monetary rewards and life-long forms of compensation for their endeavors. However,these practices have been at the forefront of numerous debates as they are considered to be undermining the true Olympic spirit.

Many embrace the idea of financial incentives. One reason for this is the fact that Olympic athletes devote their lives to their sport in hopes of being the best in the world. No matter how talented or driven an athlete,however,they must train for many hours day to day to perfect their skills and be in a phenomenal physical shape,consequently they neglect other fundamental aspects of their ordinary lives.

Furthermore,those who aspire to acquire an Olympic medal have a multitude of running living and sport related expenses without having a steady income from their profession. What is more,some people share the notion that financial rewards significantly impact their motivation to reach the Olympic podium. On the other hand,there are those who oppose to such compensations. They claim that athletes should compete for pride and desire for glory and prestige a medal will bring to their nation.

Additionally since the elimination of amateurism in the Olympic Games,athletes are often funded to train through corporate sponsors and endorsement deals,hence,they receive considerable sums of money and in return the company receives publicity. It is often seen even whole teams competing while wearing a company’s logo in exchange for financial support,closely resembling and employer-employee relationship. Last but not least they point out some unfortunate events that most us have witnessed,the use of performance enhancing drugs.

Having seen many Olympic medalists being stripped of their medals after doping scandal outbreak they believe that monetary rewards undermine the nature of Olympic Games which ought to be governed by fair play,ethics and morality. By and large,it seems that people have a good reason to be dismissive of the notion of athletes receiving financial aid by their governments since it is obvious that it poses motive for malpractice for some. On a personal level I feel that we should enliven the original Olympic spirit and let the rewards be symbolic and not materialistic.

YEAR 10 PASS ASSIGNMENT How has technology impacted on the Olympic Games? Consider: 1. How has technology contributed to the performance levels at the Olympics (5 Marks) 2. The Impact of technology for participants, officials, coaches and spectators (5 Marks) 3. What are the major ethical implications of the use of technology at the Olympics? (5 Marks) 4. In your opinion how will future advancements in technology effect i) Future Olympics ii) Participant in sport How much has technology impacted the Olympics?

I’d say greatly due to the performance levels of the athletes, the opportunities for the participants, coaches, officials and spectators, the ethical implications and the ongoing breaking of records throughout history. Technology keeps improving and therefore improving the athletes as well so the question is, how far can they go? 1. In the Olympics, technology has contributed to the performance of athletes greatly due to new training techniques through technology and the advancements in technology like clothing, playing surfaces and equipment.

Technology has also allowed athletes to recover from injury faster through rehabilitation technology like fitness machines which isolate points of weakness inside the body and creates an exercise which strengthens the point of weakness and therefore helps the athlete lead to a full recovery and even perform better when they return to the sport. In swimming, Speedo, a swimwear company have developed a Fastskin3 Racing System which includes goggles, cap and a suit( shorts for men and full suit for women. This quipment has revolutionized the sport of swimming by offering swimmers a cohesive, hydrodynamic solution to cut through the water with maximum efficiency. “The Speedo FASTSKIN3 Racing System offers unrivalled benefits to swimmers, including a full body passive drag reduction of up to 16. 6%, an 11% improvement in the swimmer’s oxygen economy enabling them to swim stronger for longer, and a 5. 2% reduction in body active drag , to create the world’s fastest cap, goggle and suit ever. ” This is from the Speedo website explaining the technological advancements in the Speedo swimsuits over the years.

This combination of the cap, goggles and swimsuit is said to be world’s fastest. In long distance cycling, the athletes use the latest technological advanced bikes that have light weight frames, large, thin tires (to achieve more distance per pedal and give a smoother ride), comfortable saddles and handlebars, and several gears for going up and down hills. They also use heart rate monitors to track and measure where they should be in the race. In training, the athletes would measure when and where their heart rate should be in the race and then transfer this into the race.

Another technology used by long distance cyclists is a simple two way radio which communicates with fellow team mates and the drivers behind the cyclists telling them when a break is coming up or a turn is approaching. The athletes also have a suit, helmet and shoes to wear while riding. The suit, helps the athlete stay dry and cool as well as filtrate sweat off the body. The helmet provides an aerodynamic form reduces wind resistance and obviously provides protection for the head when falling. The shoes the athlete wears provides comfort and grip on the peddles for the long journey.

In Athletics, there are many sports which rely on the technology of the surface, the equipment the athletes use and the clothing they are wearing. In sprinting, the athlete needs light weight shoes like the Lunar Eclipse+2’s which proides maximum comfort and flexibility for the runner. The shoe also provides the added stability for the athlete without the additional weight to the shoe. The suits they wear also affect their performance because they keep the body cool and holds the muscles steady as they run so they don’t pull or send the muscle into spasm.

The surface also effects the performance of a sprinter because if the surface they are competing on is sand, then the athlete would not be able to perform at they’re best. But if they competed on a synthetic track ( which is used in London 2012), they would be able to perform to their absolute best. This can also be related to other sports like: any court related sports like tennis, athletic field events and cycling. 2. The Olympics are an event which technology is used by participants, officials, coaches and spectators.

Technology has made a massive impact on the Olympics now because spectators can now access results from their mobiles, athletes can look over their technique through watching a video of themselves slowed down to a speed of 1000 images per second, officials can tell whether an athlete won a race by 1 millisecond or 1. 1 milliseconds through technology and coaches can watch and measure their athletes performance. All these things came from and through technology. Spectators now have higher viewing opportunities and better understanding of the results through television.

The officials are able to explain the results through their digital timing technology and show how the athlete won or lost. Not only do spectators have the opportunity to understand the results they can view them anywhere they go through their mobile phones or laptops. They have the ability to whip out their phones and check results in the 100m final in the athletics and by going into special London 2012 apps on iPhones, iPads, Android phones and simply the London 2012 website.

The technology that spectators are available to now, is beyond imaginable and spectators don’t even have to be at their games to enjoy them, they can watch the games through their TV, mobile phones and laptops. Athletes and coaches now use video analysis to perfect the athletes techniques by going over the videos again and again until the athlete is perfect and ready for competing. The video can be broken down into images which show the different stages of movement. The athlete and coach can then see and tweak the performance and plan how they can resolve the issues in the performance.

Officials now have the opportunity to use technology like hawk- eye and goal-line referee to decide whether there should be a point given. The hawk-eye technology shows whether a ball in tennis is in or out and the goal-line referee is used in soccer decide whether there is a goal or not and to provide another point of view for the spectators. Digital timing is another form of technology which officials use in timed events like swimming and running events. They use cameras, lasers and pressure systems to determine the times for the athletes in the race.

There are pressure pads on the starting blocks in swimming and sprinting events so they can determine reaction times and therefore determining a false start. There are also pressure pads on the walls of the swimming pools so when the swimmers touch the pads, it records the amount of time it took the get there. Lasers are now used in running events to tell the officials when the runner crossed the line and determine who came first or second by 1 millisecond. All this technology in the London 2012 Olympic Games was provided by a company called OMEGA who specializes in this type of technology.

BMW have created a technology which tracks a device on the athlete which shows the movement of them. It is mostly used in long jumping because it shows the elevation and distance the athlete jumped as well as the speed they were travelling at. This sort of technology has evolved from film camera, to high speed digital video, to today’s 3D “machine vision” technology. 3. Technology in sport is aimed to :- achieve ultimate human performance – aid performance – facilitate faster times help athletes break records – faster recovery from injury -make performance more efficient These definitions are from Exploring PASS and they are absolutely right. This is what technology is supposed to do for sport but in some cases it doesn’t and causes negative effects on sport. These effects are increased injuries, possible loss of tradition in the sport and the exclusion of athletes due to loss of access of the technology. In the 1896 Athens Olympic Games, the marathon was run 60 minutes slower than the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

This shows the effects technology has had on the Olympics because as time has carried on technology has advanced and so have the athletes therefore beating records every year. Now, what would happen if the athlete who came first in the marathon in 1896 ran the marathon today with all the latest technology and the newest equipment? The Olympics is a massive multicultural event which has a lot of 3rd world countries which only compete in the sports that they have access to like athletics.

Some countries don’t have access to the expensive equipment and advanced training equipment which is necessary to keep up with the world. Higher Financed countries like USA are able to experiment with technology and find new ways to improve their athletes performance which is why they had developed a $5million pursuit bicycle to minimize air resistance and create a better time. Only athletes with the proper economic status would be able to gain access to this equipment. In Australia we have the AIS ( Australian Institute of Sport ) which is facility who develops athletes to their ultimate best.

Not only does this institute help athletes reach their best, they are one of the leading facilities in Sport Technology. The AIS keep moving forward in the ways of sport technology and our government provides greatly to help support their research. The Olympics is one of the most competitive sporting events in the world and some athletes think that they need to do whatever it takes to bring home a gold. This can result to drug use, mostly steroids. Steroids is a drug which enhances your performance and helps you gain an edge on the sport.

Even though this may sound good, there are disadvantages to this drug. There is aggressive behaviour, depression, sterility in males, masculinisation in women, heart disease and liver damage. Since their have been athletes to have done this, drug testing is a common element in the Olympics to ensure a sense of equality in the games. Technology can also be used to lessen the detection of drugs for which you might of used. Diuretics are used to reduce the presence of drugs in urine. Epitestosterone is biological form of testosterone and Plasma expanders are used to increase the fluid component of blood.

So technology in the Olympics can be used for good and bad reasons, it can be expensive and inaccessible to some countries which also creates inequality in the games but even though their might be inequality when training, technology in the games makes sure that every athlete is given a fair go by digital timing and drug testing on all athletes. 4. i) As technology is being improved everyday and every Olympics, new records are being made, I think that in future Olympics records will still be beaten but as the years go on the athletes won’t be able to go any further and so technology with have taken over the Olympics fully.

But I also think that athletes will see that there is a limit and stop before the sport they love loses its tradition and meaning. Since the athletes will only use technology if they need it to train, I think that the technology used in faster recoveries will never reach a limit and just keep advancing through the ages. For example, Athletes won’t have to worry about serious injury since they have a machine which can regenerate a muscle back to full health in a day or hours.

Technology will never have a limit so forming new training techniques and new equipment for the athletes to use will help the athletes stay inside of the ethical guidelines of the Olympics but the athletes will not have technology attached or inside of them to enhance their performance so it doesn’t destroy the sport. ii) Since technology is advancing and now that you have the opportunity to play tennis inside your own home using a Wii or Xbox Kinect and play other around the world means that soon everyone might want to do this and less people will want to participate in sport outside.

Technology will soon want to accompany all physical and mental types around the world so a new technology that might want to involve elderly people thinking they are playing sport through a headset might transfer itself to the teenage generation and then move to all the others and therefore taking away participation in sport. Not only will this cause possible health problems for people who use such technology, it can also lead to social isolation. Technology which is used for sport performance should make the participant go outside to perform rather than stay indoors, technology should promote the sport and not do the job for them.

Michael Phelps Michael Phelps is a through and through true Olympian. He has amazing capabilities and has proven it many times. I would definitely call him a great athlete. Michael Phelps stole the limelight through the best performances in Olympic history. In his early life Michael Phelps had already started his rise to the top. When Michael was born he had two sisters already in the sport of swimming which he entered very soon. “As a seven-year-old, he refused to put his face in the water. Not surprisingly, the first stroke he mastered would be the backstroke” (“JockBio” 1).

He started training in the North Baltimore Aquatic Club under training of Coach Bob Bowman. Under this direction he entered the U. S. National B team in 1999. In his division he broke a record in the 200 meter butterfly, what is said to be his best stroke. “At Olympic tryouts he place 2nd and became the youngest swimmer to compete in Olympic history in 68 years” (“JockBio” 1) He was just 15 and was already competing with grown men and sometimes beating them. Michael Phelps was slow on land but fast in water. Very fast indeed. He competed in many tournaments and won wherever he went. In the 2004 he entered the Athens summer Olympics.

He was trying for the illusive 7 gold medals in swimming, the record held by Mark Spitz but came up short with six gold and 2 bronze. Well he decided that wasn’t good enough so the next year he came back with a whopping 8 gold medals! “I think it’s probably one of the greatest things sport in general has ever seen,”(Crouse 1). “At Sunday’s start, the Person’s Republic of Michael would have ranked fourth in gold medals and been ahead of all but 14 countries in the medal count”(Crouse 1). Phelps dominated all the events he came swam in and brought home the greatest record known to swimming.

Famous is an understatement for what Phelps became through the course of his swimming career. In every swim he competed in, he broke world records and astounded the crowds, judges, and even his competitors. “I just feel very privileged that I got to watch Michael Phelps win eight gold medals. That’s been the highlight of my Olympics” (Crouse 1). He just keeps going and doing what he came out to do. He swam to win and he did in every race he entered. ““Michael is doing what he’s doing,” she said, “and it kind of makes the rest of us look like if we don’t win a gold medal … Hoff’s voice trailed off. ”(Crouse 2). Even the other athletes felt they came up short or didn’t match up to the amazing feat he pulled off. He is a Phenomenon and a public character that is now one of the most influential people in the world for doing your best. It is safe to say that Michael Phelps is the best swimmer in Olympic history. He has proven it and will remain that way until another rises to greatness. He has taken the eyes of the world off of the rest of the Olympics and placed them on himself through his complete physical dominance a prowess.