Download or read book The First London Olympics written by Rebecca Jenkins and published by Piatkus. This book was released on 2012-05-26 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the summer that saw the first successful flight of the Zeppelin, a 140 acre site of scrubland in West London was transformed into the White City, which housed the 1908 Franco-British Exhibition - and a state-of-the-art stadium built to house the first London Olympics. The Olympics were organised by volunteers in just 18 months and at a fraction of the cost of the modern Olympics and yet, just as today, the sport was overshadowed by doping scandals and caused international uproar. The ferocious competitiveness of a US team dominated by New York Irish Americans led to a succession of 'scandals' culminating in the historic marathon when Italian confectioner baker Dorando Pietri's heroic efforts at the limits of exhaustion so entranced on-lookers that track officials helped him across the finish line. Coinciding with the 100th Anniversary of the first London Olympics, this delightful social and sporting history - illustrated with over 70 contemporary images - provides a thought-provoking contrast to the forthcoming 2012 Olympic Games.

Download or read book Showdown at Shepherd s Bush written by David Davis and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2012-06-19 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The epic clash of an Irish-American, Italian, and Onondaga-Canadian that jump-started the first marathon mania and heralded the modern age in sports The eyes of the world watched as three runners—dirt poor Johnny Hayes, who used to run barefoot through the streets of New York City; candymaker Dorando Pietri; and the famed Tom Longboat—converged for an epic battle at the 1908 London Olympics. The incredible finish was contested the world over when Pietri, who initially ran the wrong way upon entering the stadium at Shepherd's Bush, finished first but was disqualified for receiving aid from officials after collapsing just shy of the finish line, thus giving the title to runner-up Hayes. In the midst of anti-American sentiment, Queen Alexandra awarded a special cup to Pietri, who became an international celebrity and inspired one of Irving Berlin's first songs. In Showdown at Shepherd's Bush, David Davis recalls a time when runners braved injurious roads with slips of leather for shoes and when marathon mania became a worldwide obsession. Standing next to Cait Murphy's Crazy '08 as an invaluable look at a bygone sporting era, Showdown at Shepherd's Bush is a dramatic narrative aimed at the recordsetting number of marathon participants in the United States (more than 500,000 in 2010!) and other running enthusiasts, and timed nicely for the return of the Olympics to London in 2012.

Download or read book London Olympics written by Janie Hampton and published by Shire Publications. This book was released on 2011-07-19 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The fourth Olympic Games of the modern era, in 1908, were set to be held in Rome, but when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 1906, Italy needed all her resources to rebuild Naples. London stepped up to the plate and with only two years to prepare the British Olympic organisers pulled off a successful Olympic Games. Miraculously, they managed to do so while shunning all municipal and government assistance and using only private enterprise for the arrangements. In under a year, the White City stadium was built on the site of the forthcoming Franco-British exhibition, with a running track, cycling track, football field, swimming pool and platform for gymnastics and wrestling. Events at the 1908 Olympic Games included real tennis, tug-of-war, motor-boat racing, archery, rackets, and rugby; Olympic lacrosse also made its last appearance at these games. In 1948 the Olympics came to Britain again, and to a country still recovering from the Second World War. During this Austerity Era, food, clothing and gasoline were heavily rationed, and the Olympic organizers had to make do with what little they had at their disposal. The indomitable spirit of Londoners cheerfully overcame every obstacle, including shortages of equipment and appalling weather. British women athletes sewed their own uniforms; American competitors shared their beef steaks with the British; and the French brought a goods train full of wine and steak. Czechoslovakian Emil Zátopek, Fanny Blankers-Koen from The Netherlands and British Boy Scouts traveled together on the London Underground. Medals were awarded for art and poetry. The entire budget for the 1948 Games was £760,000, and they turned a profit of £29,000. The first two London Olympics offer food for thought in the run-up to London 2012, with its multi-billion pound budget during a global economic recession, new sporting arenas, Olympic villages, and high-speed rail links. This history of London Olympics, which concludes with a look ahead to 2012, is a timely and fascinating chronicle of the Olympic Games of another age.

Download or read book Britain and the Olympic Games 1908 1920 written by Luke J. Harris and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-04-29 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Britain and the Olympic Games, 1908-1920 focuses upon the presentation and descriptions of identity that are presented through the depictions of the Olympics in the national press. This book breaks Britain down into its four nations and presents the debates that were present within their national press.

Download or read book The Austerity Olympics written by Janie Hampton and published by Quarto Publishing Group USA. This book was released on 2012-01-01 with total page 447 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ‘An enthralling account.’ —Independent ‘A fascinating book … researched with an awesome thoroughness.’ —Daily Telegraph ‘Hampton’s excellent book should be compulsory reading for everyone involved in the 2012 London Olympics.’ —Daily Mail Critic’s Choice The budget for the 2012 Olympic village alone is already a billion pounds short. The likelihood of corporate sponsorship recedes with every day of the credit crunch. How on earth are we going to match the opening and closing ceremonies of Beijing, let along top them? Fortunately, London has been through just such hard times before in the run-up to an Olympics, and in 1948 it showed just how to run a fantastic Games on a tiny budget – indeed, make them all the better for it. Janie Hampton’s book about the last time the Olympics came to London is a tale of female competitors sewing their own kit, teams ferried to the Games on red London buses and billeted in Spartan hostels or even army camps, and the main stadium being hastily cleared of greyhound racing to allow the athletics to take place. The total budget was £760,000, great athletes like Emil Zatopek and Fanny Blankers-Koen thrilled the crowds, and at the end a profit was turned! This is a book that becomes more relevant and ironically entertaining every day nearer to 2012.

Download or read book The 1906 Olympic Games written by Bill Mallon and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2009-03-10 with total page 251 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the early concepts of the Olympic Games was to include "intercalated" Games every four years between the normal cycle, and to hold these Games in Athens, the ancestral home of the Olympics. In 1906 the first, and only one, of these games was held. Occurring only two years after the St. Louis Games of 1904 and two years before the London Games of 1908, the Athens Games were considered by many not to be "official"; social and political forces prevented continuation of the intercalation cycle in 1910 and later. Yet these Games were surprisingly successful and helped guarantee the survival of the modern Olympics. This book, fourth in the series on the early Olympics, presents all the data on 29 nation and city-state participants in more than a dozen events in the Athens Games. Scores and descriptions are provided, and many historical errors and omissions in other sources are corrected. Appendices include the published program for the Games, the actual schedule followed during the Games, and country-by country listings of all participating athletes.

Download or read book Results of the Early Modern Olympics The 1908 Olympic Games written by Bill Mallon and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Rise and Fall of Olympic Amateurism written by Matthew P Llewellyn and published by University of Illinois Press. This book was released on 2016-08-15 with total page 371 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For decades, amateurism defined the ideals undergirding the Olympic movement. No more. Today's Games present athletes who enjoy open corporate sponsorship and unabashedly compete for lucrative commercial endorsements. Matthew P. Llewellyn and John Gleaves analyze how this astonishing transformation took place. Drawing on Olympic archives and a wealth of research across media, the authors examine how an elite--white, wealthy, often Anglo-Saxon--controlled and shaped an enormously powerful myth of amateurism. The myth assumed an air of naturalness that made it seem unassailable and, not incidentally, served those in power. Llewellyn and Gleaves trace professionalism's inroads into the Olympics from tragic figures like Jim Thorpe through the shamateur era of under-the-table cash and state-supported athletes. As they show, the increasing acceptability of professionals went hand-in-hand with the Games becoming a for-profit international spectacle. Yet the myth of amateurism's purity remained a potent force, influencing how people around the globe imagined and understood sport. Timely and vivid with details, The Rise and Fall of Olympic Amateurism is the first book-length examination of the movement's foundational ideal.

Download or read book The Games A Global History of the Olympics written by David Goldblatt and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2016-07-26 with total page 755 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A people’s history of the Olympics.”—New York Times Book Review A Boston Globe Best Book of the Year A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of the Year The Games is best-selling sportswriter David Goldblatt’s sweeping, definitive history of the modern Olympics. Goldblatt brilliantly traces their history from the reinvention of the Games in Athens in 1896 to Rio in 2016, revealing how the Olympics developed into a global colossus and highlighting how they have been buffeted by (and affected by) domestic and international conflicts. Along the way, Goldblatt reveals the origins of beloved Olympic traditions (winners’ medals, the torch relay, the eternal flame) and popular events (gymnastics, alpine skiing, the marathon). And he delivers memorable portraits of Olympic icons from Jesse Owens to Nadia Comaneci, the Dream Team to Usain Bolt.

Download or read book Understanding the Olympics written by John Horne and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-04-08 with total page 414 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How did the Olympics evolve into a multi-national phenomenon? How can the Olympics help us to understand the relationship between sport and society? What will be the impact and legacy of the Olympics after Tokyo in 2020? Understanding the Olympics answers all these questions by exploring the social, cultural, political, historical, and economic context of the Games. This thoroughly revised and updated edition discusses recent attempts at future proofing by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in the face of growing global anti-Olympic activism, the changing geo-political context within which the Olympics take place, and the Olympic histories of the next three cities to host the Games – Tokyo (2020), Paris (2024), and Los Angeles (2028) – as well as the legacy of the London (2012) Olympics. For the first time, this new edition introduces the reader to the emergence of ‘other Games’ associated with the IOC – the Winter Olympics, the Paralympics, and the Youth Olympics. It also features a full Olympic history timeline, many new photographs, refreshed suggestions for further reading, and revised illustrations. The most up-to-date and authoritative textbook available on the Olympic Games, Understanding the Olympics is essential reading for anybody with an interest in the Olympics or the wider relationship between sport and society.

Download or read book The British Olympics written by Martin Polley and published by English Heritage. This book was released on 2012-07-31 with total page 207 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: History records that the Olympic Games originated in ancient Greece nearly three thousand years ago, died out around 393 AD, and were triumphantly reborn in 1896, in the Greek capital of Athens. Rather less well known is how, during the intervening centuries, an assortment of British writers, romantics, sportsmen and visionaries helped nurture that revival. Indeed, as sports historian Dr Martin Polley argues in this, the 12th book in the acclaimed Played in Britain series, our nation's fascination with all things Olympian has played a pivotal role in shaping the Games as we know them today, culminating in London becoming in 2012 the first city ever to stage a third modern Olympiad. Consider, for example, that the first published use of the word 'Olympian' in the English language dates from around 1590. Its author? William Shakespeare. And that the first games of the post-classical era to adopt the formal title 'Olympick' took place in the Cotswolds village of Chipping Campden in 1612. It was an English traveller, Richard Chandler, who rediscovered the lost site of Olympia in 1766, and a Shropshire doctor, William Penny Brookes, who, in 1850, founded the Much Wenlock Olympian Games, an annual community festival that inspired Pierre de Coubertin to revive the Games at an international level. Other Olympic festivals surfaced in London (to celebrate Queen Victoria's accession), in Liverpool, and in the north-east town of Morpeth, while the words 'Olympic' and 'Olympian' became steadily more ingrained in the popular imagination throughout the Victorian era. Britain's Olympic heritage gained added momentum in the 20th century. At White City in 1908, London built the world's first modern, purpose-built Olympic stadium, while in 1948 London stepped in to save the Games by offering Wembley Stadium. Also in the late 1940s, at Stoke Mandeville hospital in Buckinghamshire, the modern Paralympics were born when sporting contests were organised for injured servicemen. Thus the 2012 Games represent the culmination of over four hundred years of British enthusiasm and ingenuity; an attachment that has left in its wake a trail of fascinating stories, characters, sites, buildings and artefacts. Leading the reader on a marathon journey, The British Olympics charts them all, making this a vital and entertaining source for anyone with an interest in the Games, in sport, and in the wider narrative of Britain's social and cultural heritage.

Download or read book The Olympic Games written by Kristine Toohey and published by CABI. This book was released on 2007-11-08 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This 2nd edition of a highly successful book (published in 2000) provides a comprehensive, critical analysis of the Olympic Games using a multi-disciplinary social science approach. This revised edition contains much new data relating to the Sydney 2000 Games and their aftermath; and preparations for Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 Games. The book is broad-ranging and independent in its coverage, and includes the use of drugs, sex testing, accusations of power abuse among members of the IOC, the Games as a stage for political protest, media-related controversies, economic costs and benefits of the Games and historical conflicts between organizers and host communities.

Download or read book Handbook of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games written by Vassil Girginov and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Handbook of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games is an officially-licensed account of the world's greatest sporting and cultural event. It tells the complete story of the 2012 Games from inception, through the successful bidding process and the planning and preparation phase, to delivery, the post-Games period and legacy. Written by a world-class team of international sport scholars, researchers and writers, the book offers comprehensive analysis of the full social, cultural, political, historical, economic and sporting context of the Games. From the political, commercial and structural complexities of organising an event on such a scale, to the sporting action that holds the attention of the world, this book illuminates every aspect of the 2012 Games, helping us to better understand the vital role that sport and culture play in contemporary global society. The book is divided into two volumes. Volume One: Making the Games, examines the build-up to London 2012, covering key topics such as: the bidding process planning and decision making financing the Games developing the infrastructure engaging national and international governing bodies of sport engaging the UK public engaging a global public developing a legacy programme the Cultural Olympiad. Richly illustrated with the personal accounts of key stakeholders, from sports administrators and politicians to athletes and spectators, and including essential data and evocative visual material, this book is essential reading for anybody with a personal or professional interest in the Olympic and Paralympic Games, global culture or the development of sport.

Download or read book The Irish Whales written by Kevin Martin and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2020-09-01 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the early 1900s, the Olympic Games track and field throwing events were dominated by a group of Irish-born weight throwers representing the United States. Of immense size and with a larger-than-life presence, these athletes came to be known as the “Irish Whales.” In The Irish Whales: Olympians of Old New York, Kevin Martin shares the untold story of these Irish American athletes who competed with unparalleled distinction for the United States. James Mitchell, John Flanagan, Martin Sheridan, Pat McDonald, Paddy Ryan, and Con Walsh won a total of eighteen medals in the Olympic Games between 1900 and 1924 and completely dominated the world stage in their chosen athletic disciplines. They were lionized in the American and Irish press and became folk heroes among Irish-American immigrant communities. Almost all of these men were further distinguished by their membership in the fabled Irish American Athletic Club of New York and careers with the New York Police Department. The story of the Irish Whales is the very embodiment of the American Dream and exemplifies the triumph of many Irish emigrants in the New World. Featuring a wonderful collection of original photographs, The Irish Whales tells the dramatic stories of these international athletes and their extraordinary sporting successes.

Download or read book The Olympic Marathon written by David E. Martin and published by Human Kinetics. This book was released on 2000 with total page 532 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: No Olympic event can rival the rich history and grand spectacle of the marathon. Created for the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896 as a commemoration of the legendary run by the Greek messenger Philippides, the race has endured like no other, producing a century of awe-inspiring competition and unforgettable stories. The Olympic Marathon brings the high drama and rich details of the past 24 Olympic marathon races to life in a way no other book ever has. This definitive resource, written by world-renowned Olympic marathon experts David Martin and Roger Gynn, goes beyond statistics to offer readers a vivid chronicle of the athletes and their memorable marathon performances. Fans will relive the compelling moments that have made the Olympic marathon legendary: Spiridon Louis winning the first modern Olympic marathon in Athens in 1896, Emil Z "topek's dramatic triple-gold performance in 1952, Ethiopian Abebe Bikila winning a gold medal while running barefoot, Joan Benoit Samuelson earning her place in history as winner of the first Olympic women's marathon in 1984, and many other fascinating stories. For each race, The Olympic Marathon provides the following: -A summary of the geographical setting and political climate surrounding the Olympic Movement -A course map and detailed street description -A step-by-step narrative of how the race was run -Biographical sketches of the top three finishers -A "Looking Ahead" section, which summarizes marathon highlights leading up to the next Olympic marathon Generously illustrated, often with rare and never-before-published photos, a pictorial glimpse is provided into the contemporary atmosphere and dynamics of each race. Plus, for readers who want complete statistics on each race, the book provides a comprehensive appendix. Included are chronological and alphabetical race results for all men and women who participated in the event and listings of the fastest men's and women's Olympic marathon performances. The Olympic Marathon is the authoritative book on the race that has captured the imagination of the world. It's a one-of-a-kind resource that every fan of running and the Olympics will treasure.

Download or read book The Complete Book of the Winter Olympics written by David Wallechinsky and published by Amazon Difital Services LLC - Kdp Print Us. This book was released on 2014 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Published in anticipation of the 2014 Sochi Games, The Complete Book of the Winter Olympics has been expanded to include the rules and scoring for all the upcoming events. The book also looks at the history of each Olympic event from inception to the present day, including discontinued events and the four skating events first featured, before the creation of the Winter Olympics, in the 1908 London Summer Olympics. From speed skating to snowboarding, bobsled to ice hockey, the book gives the medals tables, timings, distances, and scores. But much more than a statistical compendium, the book also offers an abundance of Winter Olympic history, anecdotes, and lore, as authors David Wallechinsky and Jaime Loucky bring alive the most dramatic moments from the Games and celebrating the many extraordinary individuals who have competed."--Publisher's description.

Download or read book The Marathon Makers written by John Bryant and published by Kings Road Publishing. This book was released on 2009-04-17 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: **With a foreword by Sebastian Coe ** At the 1908 Summer Olympics, one of the contenders in the marathon was the diminutive Italian Dorando Pietri. After leading the pack at a grueling pace, Pietri staggered into the stadium, turned the wrong direction, and fell five times, after which two officials took him by the arms and brought him across the finish line. The American team lodged a complaint, and as a consequence, Pietri was disqualified and his first place medal went to the American Johnny Hayes. But the glory went to Pietri, who eventually became an international celebrity and received a silvered cup from Queen Alexandria for his efforts. After the race, Hayes and a Scottish sprinter, Wyndham Halswelle, were dragged into a dispute surrounding the race's official outcome, and a fierce war over sporting superiority between the United States and the British Empire resulted. The battle rapidly spilled over into politics and ethics, with allegations of cheating, drug-taking, and unprofessionalism levied by both nations. Bestselling author John Bryant delves into the lives of these three extraordinary men in a tale that stretches from rural Italy to Ellis Island, Broadway and beyond and explores the foundations of the modern sporting and marathon movements.