Mrs.

Brutus

THE OLYMPICS
The Origins Of Olympics
Ezekiel Mcdonald

Candidate Name: Ezekiel Mcdonald

Candidate Number:

Name of School: Linden Foundation

Secondary School (LFSS)

School Code:

Territory: Guyana

Centre Number:090030
 Content Page
 INTRODUCTION 2
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 3
 TOPIC 4
 PLAN OF INVESTIGATION 5
 DATA #1 6-8
 DATA#2 9
 DATA #3 10-12
 REFLIATION 1 13
 REFLIATION 2 14
 REFLICATION 3 15
 Plan of Oral Presentation 16
 ORAL PRESENTATION 17
 WRITTEN REPORT 18
 REFERENCES 19

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 INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this S.B.A is to enlighten the public on the origins of Olympics. The Olympic

Games, which originated in ancient Greece as many as 3,000 years ago, were revived in

the late 19th century and have become the world's preeminent sporting competition. ... The

first modern Olympics took place in 1896 in Athens, and featured 280 participants from 12

nations, competing in 43 events. In the opening ceremony, King Georgios I and a crowd of

60,000 spectators welcomed 280 participants from 12 nations (all male), who would compete

in 43 events, including track and field, gymnastics, swimming, wrestling, cycling, tennis,

weightlifting, shooting and fencing. The official symbol of the modern Games is five

interlocking colored rings, representing the continents of North and South America, Asia,

Africa, Europe and Australia. The Olympic flag, featuring this symbol on a white

background, flew for the first time at the Antwerp Games in 1920.

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 ACKOWLEGEMENT
The researcher would like to thank miss Brutus, sister Donner Frazer, . And everyone else that assisted
in the completion of this SBA.

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OLYMPICS

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 Plan of Investigation

The researcher has chosen the topic Olympics, and subtopic “The Origin of Olympics.

The researcher chose the Olympics after viewing an Olympics series, and was curious as to how

it all started. For the purpose of this research the researcher will be examining the origin of

Olympics. In order to complete my investigation, the researcher plan to listen to, read and watch

articles relating to my subtopic online in textbooks and magazines.

The information collected will be used in writing reflections and group report. As a student of

English, the researcher intends to acquire and improve researching, analyzing and persuasive

skills. This will help in preparations for oral presentation.

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 Artifact 1 “The Olympic Game”
The Olympic Games, which originated in ancient Greece as many as 3,000
years ago, were revived in the late 19th century and have become the world’s
preeminent sporting competition. From the 8th century B.C. to the 4th
century A.D., the Games were held every four years in Olympia, located in
the western Peloponnese peninsula, in honor of the god Zeus. The first
modern Olympics took place in 1896 in Athens, and featured 280 participants
from 12 nations, competing in 43 events. Since 1994, the Summer and Winter
Olympic Games have been held separately and have alternated every two
years. The 2020 Summer Olympics, delayed one year because of the COVID-
19 pandemic, will be held from July 23 to August 8, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan.

The Olympics Begin in Ancient Greece

The first written records of the ancient Olympic Games date to 776 B.C.,
when a cook named Coroebus won the only event—a 192-meter footrace
called the stade (the origin of the modern “stadium”)—to become the first
Olympic champion. However, it is generally believed that the Games had
been going on for many years by that time. Legend has it that Heracles (the
Roman Hercules ), son of Zeus and the mortal woman Alcmene, founded the
Games, which by the end of the 6th century B.C had become the most famous
of all Greek sporting festivals. 

The ancient Olympics were held every four years between August 6 and
September 19 during a religious festival honoring Zeus. The Games were
named for their location at Olympia, a sacred site located near the western
coast of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece. Their influence was
so great that ancient historians began to measure time by the four-year
increments in between Olympic Games, which were known as Olympiads.

Did you know? The 1896 Games featured the first Olympic marathon, which followed the 25-
mile route run by the Greek soldier who brought news of a victory over the Persians from
Marathon to Athens in 490 B.C. Fittingly, Greece's Spyridon Louis won the first gold medal in
the event. In 1924, the distance would be standardized to 26 miles and 385 yards.

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After 13 Olympiads, two more races joined the stade as Olympic events: the
diaulos (roughly equal to today’s 400-meter race), and the dolichos (a longer-
distance race, possibly comparable to the 1,500-meter or 5,000-meter event).
The pentathlon (consisting of five events: a foot race, a long jump, discus and
javelin throws and a wrestling match) was introduced in 708 B.C., boxing in
688 B.C. and chariot racing in 680 B.C. In 648 B.C., pankration, a
combination of boxing and wrestling with virtually no rules, debuted as an
Olympic event. Participation in the ancient Olympic Games was initially
limited to freeborn male citizens of Greece; there were no women’s events,
and married women were prohibited from attending the competition.

Decline and Revival of the Olympic Tradition

After the Roman Empire conquered Greece in the mid-2nd century B.C., the
Games continued, but their standards and quality declined. In one notorious
example from A.D. 67, the decadent Emperor Nero  entered an Olympic
chariot race, only to disgrace himself by declaring himself the winner even
after he fell off his chariot during the event. In A.D. 393, Emperor
Theodosius I, a Christian, called for a ban on all “pagan” festivals, ending the
ancient Olympic tradition after nearly 12 centuries.

It would be another 1,500 years before the Games would rise again, largely
thanks to the efforts of Baron Pierre de Coubertin (1863-1937) of France.
Dedicated to the promotion of physical education, the young baron became
inspired by the idea of creating a modern Olympic Games after visiting the
ancient Olympic site. In November 1892, at a meeting of the Union des
Sports Athlétiques in Paris, Coubertin proposed the idea of reviving the
Olympics as an international athletic competition held every four years. Two
years later, he got the approval he needed to found the International Olympic
Committee (IOC), which would become the governing body of the modern
Olympic Games.

The Olympics through the Years

The first modern Olympics   were held in Athens, Greece, in 1896. In the
opening ceremony, King Georgios I and a crowd of 60,000 spectators
welcomed 280 participants from 12 nations (all male), who would compete in
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43 events, including track and field, gymnastics, swimming, wrestling,
cycling, tennis, weightlifting, shooting and fencing. All subsequent
Olympiads have been numbered even when no Games take place (as in 1916,
during World War I , and in 1940 and 1944, during World War II ). The
official symbol of the modern Games is five interlocking colored rings,
representing the continents of North and South America, Asia, Africa, Europe
and Australia. The Olympic flag, featuring this symbol on a white
background, flew for the first time at the Antwerp Games in 1920.

The Olympics truly took off as an international sporting event after 1924,
when the VIII Games were held in Paris. Some 3,000 athletes (with more than
100 women among them) from 44 nations competed that year, and for the first
time the Games featured a closing ceremony. The Winter Olympics debuted
that year, including such events as figure skating, ice hockey, bobsledding
and the biathlon. Eighty years later, when the 2004 Summer Olympics
returned to Athens for the first time in more than a century, nearly 11,000
athletes from a record 201 countries competed. In a gesture that joined both
ancient and modern Olympic traditions, the shotput competition that year was
held at the site of the classical Games in Olympia.

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Artifact 2 Song,“I Believe”

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 Artifact 3 Poem
The London Olympics 2012
Began in style thanks to Danny boy
The opening ceremony showed what makes Britain Great
As our athletes were led by Chris Hoy

We saw Beckham arrive by motor boat

An acting debut from the Queen
The flame was lit by the next generation
The piano was played by Bean

The first few days went without a gold

As Team GB began to worry
But then just like london buses
The medals came by in a flurry

Wiggins practically knighted himself

Winning gold after the Tour De France
Pendleton performed and Kenny conquered
As all our cyclists took their chance

Sir Hoy became our best ever olympian

As he collected gold number six
But China's reputation suffered
When their badminton players behaved like dicks

Our gymnasts did well against the odds

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 Which was one of the biggest shocks
More predictably we dominated the Rowing
Even without a cox

Phillips Idowu was late to the party

And he crashed to earth with a bump
But Greg Rutherford made up for it
When he proved white men can jump

Britain's golden girl didn't disappoint

Jessica made our confidence grow
She beat her rivals comfortably
And left a nation with Ennis elbow

Princess Zara became Olympic Royalty

Winning silver and out doing her mother
Alistair Brownlee won gold in the triathlon
And bronze went to his brother

Andy Murrary shocked the world

When he beat Federer, and took gold
He got a silver in the doubles too
With Laura Robson, the 18 year old

Ben Ainslie sailed his way to glory

With gold in his 5th olympic meet
Our boxers fought hard for their medals

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 They just wouldn't accept defeat

Michael Phelps smashed the record books

And proved once and for all, he's a fish
Tom Daley made his father proud
Winning bronze and getting his wish

When it came to the sprints, there was only one winner

Usain's pace was frightening
Spectators couldn't believe their eyes
They'd witnessed a human bolt of lightning

Farah became the king of the track

His double gold earned him the crown
You'll always remember where you were
When Stratford became Mo-Town

The London olympics were a huge success

And the closing ceremony's end was fitting
Team GB proved there's nothing they can't win
That is, as long as they're sitting

.
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 Reflection 1

Artifact 1 is an article entitled “The Olympic Games” published by A&E Television Networks

.The article explains that Olympics derived from the Greeks, where ancient Olympics

were held every four years between August 6 and September 19 during a religious

festival honoring Zeus.

Artifact 2 is a song that is entitled “I believe”, it was written by Ervin Drake; 30 th

January, 1953. The song speaks about the determination of the athletes to complete

their parts and to do the best they can so they can to win the games.

Artifact 3 is a poem that is entitled “London 2012 Olympics”, it was written by Alfred

Lord Tennyson. This poem speaks about a man who attended the 2012 Olympics

games.

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 Reflection 2

The language of the article appears to be formal. The tone of the article was subtle. The

researcher hopes that everyone reading this article would learn when it started, who started it,

why was it started, and the origins of Olympics.

The language of the song was formal. The tone of the song was soft. The researcher hopes that

every athlete completing in the Olympics competition would work together in an effort to do

whatever it takes within the rules of the game to win their specified matches to bring their

countries out successful.

The language of the poem was informal. The tone of the poem was interesting and good. The

way that the poem was written was simple so that in just a couple of words the reader would

have the knowledge of exactly what happened at the Olympics match that year and so that

readers could understand it no matter what age.

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 Reflection 3

Artifact one (1) has opened the researchers mind about “The Origins of Olympics” in ways such

as. After examining artifact one (1) the researcher has learned, when was the first Olympic

match, the matches are held a period of four (4) years apart & why was it started. The researcher

has now gained knowledge that now helps the researcher to educate others on Olympics and to

better understand the event.

After examining artifact two (2) the researcher has been enlighten in three (3) ways. The first is

that the athletes are given a sense of hope to compete and win their various matches, and allows

the athletes to believe that through hard work and determination they can do anything.

After examining artifact three (3) the researcher has learned that during Olympics even the queen

takes time off from her busy schedule and that the athlete when compete not only do it for

themselves but for their family and country. This helps the researcher to be more considerate and

less selfish and self-righteous to always put the feelings of others in front of your own.

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 PLAN OF ORAL PRESENTATION
State your topic: Olympics

Aim: To Identify the Origins of Olympics

Audience: Grade 11 tvet

Mode: Poem

Duration: 3- 5 minutes

Visual aids/equipment: None

Structure & oral plan

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ORAL PRESENTATION
The Ancient Games

You've heard of the Olympic Games

I'm sure you've seen them on TV,
But did you know they first began
In 776 BC?

'Twas Hercules the son of zues

who founded them
So he could celebrate
His most recent heroic act
'Twas something really great.
He'd cleaned a filthy stable that
Was full of horse manure.
...Well, that's the legend anyway
Nobody knows for sure.

There were lots of sports and games

Running, throwing, jumping,
And something called "pankration":
Wrestling, with thumping.

Back then all athletes competed

Completely in the nude.
If somebody did that today
We'd think it very rude.

One day a Christian Emperor

Named Theodosius
Stopped the games forever,
Because they honored Zeus.

But hundreds of years later, at

The end of Queen Vic's reign
Somebody had the bright idea
To bring them back again.
Ezekiel Mcdonald

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 GROUP REPORT
Due to discussions with our teacher we were able to choose the topic “Olympics” and the

different subtopics such as, “The Origins of Olympics” by Ezekiel Mcdonald, “Consequences of

Cheating in the Olympics” by Winston Bennett, “Olympic World Record” by Taffenie Austin,

“How the Pandemic Affected 2021 Olympics” Frantel Jackson and “Accidents In Olympics” by

Hector Culpepper. Finding the artifacts for “The Origins of Olympics” was not hard because

they were a lot of songs, poems and articles on the subtopic, finding the articles for

“Consequences of Cheating in the Olympics”, finding the artifact for consequences for cheating

in the Olympics’’ was hard because there were not so many artifacts based on this sub topic.

Finding the artifact for Olympic world record was hard because they were not many artifacts for

my subtopic. My artifact that is based on how the pandemic affect Olympic wasn’t hard it was

easy. Most of the information gathered from the internet, and there were so many points that

made me understand what to do. Also I give the thanks to my teacher Miss Brutus for motivating

me to do my research. . The major problem in Ezekiel Mcdonald artifact (1) was trying to

summarize it, because of how long the article was. The major problem in Taffenie Austin

Artifact (1) was finding it, she spent 3 hours trying to find it. The major problem in Winston

Bennett Artifact (2) was finding a short story. The major problem in Frantel Jackson Artifact (2)

was explaining it due to the fact that it was hard to comprehend. The group members learned

how, when, why and where the Olympics began and what it represents to the romans and there

gods. The only problem while completing this SBA was finding the right time to do it due to

other SBA’s and school work. All members of the group were cooperative.

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 Reference
The Olympics Games: https://www.history.com/topics/sports/olympic-games

I Believe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AS8M7dpvYjk

London 2012 Olympic Poem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6HakJre3SQ&t=38s

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