To be straightforward, the Olympic Games are an international sports competition in which more than 13,000 athletes from over 200 countries compete in a variety of events. But when the history behind the Games, the entertainment witnessed by the spectators, and the dedication of the athletes are taken into consideration, the Games become more than just the greatest athletes competing on the world’s largest stage, they transform into a place for unity, sportsmanship, and extreme competition. For the two week course of the Olympics, everyone around the world has the same goal, each country sends their top athletes to the Games in hope that they are successful in bringing home the gold. The Olympic Games we know and love today are an adaptation
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After winning gold and silver in the 200-meter sprint, Tommie Smith and John Carlos stood on the podium, with medals dangling from their necks, shoes off, and gloved fists held high in the air. The two men made a powerful statement of support for black unity and photographs taken of that moment help us remember an influential point in history for black power. Political controversies often lose their spotlight when scandals involving cheating, drugs, and violence are brought to the public’s attention, and over the years scandals of these nature have been anything but scarce. Jim Thorpe is a classic example of accidental cheating. In 1912 Thorpe won gold in both the pentathlon and decathlon, he quickly became known as the world’s greatest athlete. He was the first Native American to win gold, but thanks to a strict amateur athlete only rule, his success was short-winded. It came to light that three years prior to Thorpe’s accomplishments in the Olympics, he played for money in minor league baseball. At the time, accepting any amount of endorsement money or getting played for any athletic event qualified one to be a professional athlete, and until the late 1900s, only amateur athletes were allowed to compete in the Olympics. Thorpe was stripped of his medals and his pride, it wasn’t until 30 years after his death that his medals were finally
After winning gold and silver in the 200-meter sprint, Tommie Smith and John Carlos stood on the podium, with medals dangling from their necks, shoes off, and gloved fists held high in the air. The two men made a powerful statement of support for black unity and photographs taken of that moment help us remember an influential point in history for black power. Political controversies often lose their spotlight when scandals involving cheating, drugs, and violence are brought to the public’s attention, and over the years scandals of these nature have been anything but scarce. Jim Thorpe is a classic example of accidental cheating. In 1912 Thorpe won gold in both the pentathlon and decathlon, he quickly became known as the world’s greatest athlete. He was the first Native American to win gold, but thanks to a strict amateur athlete only rule, his success was short-winded. It came to light that three years prior to Thorpe’s accomplishments in the Olympics, he played for money in minor league baseball. At the time, accepting any amount of endorsement money or getting played for any athletic event qualified one to be a professional athlete, and until the late 1900s, only amateur athletes were allowed to compete in the Olympics. Thorpe was stripped of his medals and his pride, it wasn’t until 30 years after his death that his medals were finally