A wax model of Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt at Heathrow Airport. The statue cost £15,000, but the model showing the athlete in his famous pose points in the wrong direction. The wax figure is expected to remain at Heathrow Airport for the next two weeks for the Olympics. (AFP)

Antiquity

The Olympic Games are rooted in Greek mythology. The Games began almost 2,700 years ago at Olympia in southwest Greece as part of a religious festival. It was held to honour Zeus, the Greek king of the gods. Legend has it that even animals would be sacrificed in the middle of the event. However, the first written account of the Games dates back to 776BC. The events were held after every four years (Olympiad is a period of four years).

Running, boxing, wrestling, long jump, chariot racing, discus and javelin throwing were part of the sporting spectacle. The winners used to be crowned with olive wreaths.

The Olympic Games of the ancient world were abruptly ended by Roman emperor Theodosius I in AD 393.

Modernity

The campaign for the Modern Olympic Games started in 1852 after German archaeologist Ernst Curtius proposed to start the event, while excavating sites in Olympia. However, it was Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin, a French educationist, who waged a lonely campaign to start the Olympic Games. His vision led to the resurrection of the ancient games. In 1894, Coubertin brought representatives of many countries together in Paris and the Olympic Movement was born.

He created the first International Olympic Committee with the creed “The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.”

The committee decided to stage the first modern Olympics at Athens on April 5, 1896.

MORE THAN THE GAMES

The Olympics has often been a lot more than an athletic extravaganza. It has served as a stage for international politics as well, at times with calamitous results.

The darkest hour in the history of the modern Olympics was perhaps the “Munich Massacre”, when members of Palestinian terror outfit Black September kidnapped and killed 11 Israeli athletes and coaches from the Olympic village in Munich, Germany, during the 1972 Games.

The hostage crisis began on September 5, 1972 — well into the second week of the Games. The terrorists demanded the immediate release of 234 Palestinians held in Israeli jails and members of the German Red Army Faction in German prisons. The German government refused the demands but offered an endless amount of money to the terrorists. The Israeli government refused to negotiate.

The terrorists finally agreed to an offer of free passage for them and their hostages to Cairo, Egypt. But the German authorities attempted a rescue operation at Fürstenfeldbruck, a Nato airbase near Munich. In an ensuing gunbattle, all the hostages, five terrorists and a German policeman were killed.

In the aftermath, the Games continued but many athletes withdrew. Israel’s secret service Mossad launched Operation Wrath of God and Operation Spring of Youth to track down and kill the planners of the “Munich Massacre”.

Munich apart, Germany’s tryst with hosting the Olympics has always been fraught with controversy.

The first time it hosted the Games in 1936 in Berlin, the black and red Swastika flag of the Nazis fluttered over the stadiums. Berlin had been awarded the Olympics in 1931 — two years before Hitler came to power — to signal its return to the world community after its defeat in World War I. The Nazi Party used the Olympics as a propaganda event. The anti-Semitic excesses were soft-pedalled to project a view of Germany as a developing nation at peace with itself. No stone was left unturned to propagate the idea of the “Aryan” heritage and the link between ancient Greece and 20th century Germany. Spain and the Soviet Union, however, boycotted the event.

Hitler hired Leni Riefenstahl to film the Games. The filmmaking techniques she used in her 1938-film Olympia pioneered styles in sports movies and it has been hailed as a classic despite its propaganda content.

Germany ended at the top of the table with a medal count of 89, including 33 gold.

But African American athlete Jesse Owensdented the myth of Germanic superiority by winning four gold medals in track event. Hitler reportedly refused to shake hands with him or present him the medals. His return to the US was no better: his amateur status was cancelled when he declined to take part in a sporting event in Sweden. Despite his achievements, neither President Franklin Delano Roosevelt nor his successor, Harry S. Truman, invited Owens to the White House.

The other disappointment for Germany was delivered by the Indian (then British India) hockey team . Led by legendary hockey champion Dhyan Chand, the Indian team thrashed the Germans in the final with an 8-1 margin.

The dark clouds of World War II that had just started to gather on the horizon had a faint golden lighting, thanks to Indian supremacy in hockey.

Superheroes

John Akii-Bua

When the 400-m hurdles started in Munich in 1972, little was known about John Akii-Bua, a 22-year-old from war-hit Uganda. Akii-Bua , who inevitably found his place in the inside lanes at the heats as well as the semi-finals, could not train in his home country because of the ongoing civil war there in which he lost many relatives.

The lanky young man, along with his coach Malcolm Arnold, had trained outside the country, to stay away from war-hit nation, led by Idi Amin, the dictator of Uganda. After he finished the heats on top, clocking 50.35 seconds, Uganda was upbeat.

However, the semi-final and the finals were still ahead.

In the semi-finals, Akii-Bua was placed along top medal contenders, including Olympic champion from Britain David Hemery and then the best in the world, Ralph Mann of the United States. Akii-Bua ran hard and perfectly jumped over the hurdles, albeit in a very unconventional manner, and finished on top. Uganda’s hopes were now rising.

The final was a thrilling affair. Akii-Bua ran like a hare and jumped adroitly like a frog and took just 47.82 seconds to finish. It was Gold for the Ugandan.

An old pair of Puma shoes, with one of its spikes missing, failed to prevent the hero from becoming the champion.

To this day, Akii-Bua remains the only Ugandan to win a gold at the Olympics.

Nadia Comaneci

The legendary Romanian gymnast was barely 14 years old when she took part in the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. Russian Olga Kobut had jumped to new heights in the 1972 Olympics, but Comaneci went a step ahead. Not only did she win one gold after another, she jumped and swung herself to an extent nobody else could, or would have imagined. She did the unbelievable — scored a perfect 10!

Before the tournament, when Omega, the sponsors, asked if there should be a provision for a full 10.00, they were denied. Nadia’s flawless performance in the uneven bars fetched her an unthinkable perfect 10.00, and the scoreboard read “1.00”! She went beyond what the machine could.

Comaneci went on to win three golds, one silver and a bronze in Montreal. She followed it up by another two golds and two silvers at the 1980 Moscow Olympics.

It has been three decades since her retirement, but the legend, now 50, continues to inspire gymnasts across the world.

Compiled by Aniruddha Biswas, Thirumoy Banerjee and Uttaran Das Gupta

Last week’s question:

Who is the youngest daughter of late superstar Rajesh Khanna?

The correct answer for last week’s question is: Rinke Khanna

Readers who gave the correct answer are:

Kirtima Singh,
Class X, DAV Public School, Jehanabad

Aditi, Class VIII B,
Chhapra Central School

Ansh Vaibhav,
Class XII, St Joseph Public School, Kalinagar, Begusarai

Astu Vaishnav,
Class X, St Joseph Public School, Kalinagar, Begusarai

Suyash Karn,
Class IX-C, DAV, Samastipur

Somdutta, Class VI,
St Joseph Secondary School, Ballia, Begusarai

Satarupa, Class VII,
St Joseph Secondary School, Ballia, Begusarai

Aman Kumar, Class XII,
LS College, Muzaffarpur

Gaurav Shandilya,
Class XII, DAV Public school, Muzaffarpur

Bhavya Kumar,
Class VIII, Notre Dame Academy, Jamalpur

This week’s question: Name this Indian sportsperson?

Clue: He is the sole individual gold medallist from India at the Olympics

Readers can send their answers to ttbihar@abp.in

Remember to mention your name, address, class, school and email id

with the answers. Please send only one answer