Sports and Social Diversification

2nd LTTA, FIGHT AGAINST DISCRIMINATION AND RACISM, Pilsen, 25-29/09/207, GENIKO LYKEIO VAMOU

Ancient Greece

In ancient Greece and especially in Athens sports were considered to be a social and cultural activity which had an educational character, whereas in Sparta sports were used for military training.

Minoan Civilization (3000-1500 B.C)

The Minoans were engaged in boxing, wrestling, bullfighting and acrobatics. They attributed a religious character to their sport activities.

It seems that these were either part of the formal ritual process of young noblemen, or a kind of religious spectacle organized by the palace.

Homeric Era (8th B.C)

In the works of Homer (Iliad and Odyssey), sporting ability is the hero's means to show his virtue and gain social recognition. In other words the athlete’s spirit is equivalent to the hero’s spirit.

Sports in city-states (8-4 B.C.)

Various sports systems were developed in each city-state, which included gymnastic exercises that helped to achieve a harmonious balance of body and mind, but this was only aimed at emerging young members of noble families.

The Olympic Games

The emergence of city-states in the Greek world was accompanied by the spread of organized sporting activities. One of these activities were the Olympic Games.

The Olympiad was a religious celebration.

The participation of slaves and foreigners “barbarians" was strictly forbidden as well as the participation of women.

Roman Period

For the Romans sports were spectacles, performances (ludi).

Usually the athletes were slaves or gladiators. The Romans of the highest order were reluctant to present themselves publicly, which reveals a negative attitude towards sport.

1936 Berlin Olympics

The purpose of the Olympics in Berlin in 1936, according to the Nazis, was to prove the superiority of the Aryan Race. When the US athlete, Jace Owens, swept the gold medals, Hitler left the stadium early so that he wouldn’t have to congratulate him.

But even in his own country, nobody offered him the sponsorships he was entitled to after his four gold medals.

Paralympic Games

• On the day of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in 1948 in London, the Stoke Maneville Games in England began, where the first athletic event for wheelchair athletes was held.

Paralympic movement

In 1952, athletes with disabilities from the Netherlands participated in the Olympic Games and thus the international movement, now known as the Paralympic Movement, was born.

The first officially organized Olympic Games for disabled athletes took place in Rome in 1960, just after the Olympic Games.