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Olympics: Athletes
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Because the Olympics are held only once every four years, the public and athletes often consider them as more important and valuable than world championships and other international tournaments, which are often held annually. Many athletes have become celebrities or heroes in their own country, or even world-wide, after becoming Olympic champions.
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Although the Olympic Charter, the official constitution of the Olympic movement, proclaims that the Olympics are contests among individuals and not among nations, the IOC assigns to the various NOCs the task of selecting national Olympic teams. In most cases the NOCs do this by holding Olympic trials or by choosing athletes on the basis of their previous performances. From the start of the modern Olympic Games, male amateur athletes of every race, religion, and nationality have been eligible to participate.
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The Young Athletes Program will expand its successful pilot project to twelve additional locations, six of those in countries outside the U.S., increasing the number of youth involved in Special Olympics on a global scale. Designed for children ages two through seven, the program strengthens physical development and self-esteem by building skills for future sports participation and socialization. Family members and caregivers ... are encouraged to become involved as the child learns success through physical activity.
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One of the main problems facing the Olympics (and international sports in general) is doping, or performance enhancing drugs. In the early 20th century, many Olympic athletes began using drugs to enhance their performance. For example, the winner of the marathon at the 1904 Games, Thomas J. Hicks, was given strychnine and brandy by his coach, even during the race. As these methods became more extreme, gradually the awareness grew that this was no longer a matter of health through sports. In the mid-1960s, sports federations put a ban on doping, and the IOC followed suit in 1967.
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Coubertin and the IOC intended from the start for the Olympics to be open only to amateurs. Amateurism was determined by adherence to the amateur rule, which was originally devised in the 19th century to prevent working-class athletes from participating in sports such as rowing and tennis. Because the amateur rule prevented athletes from earning any pay from activities in any way related to sports, working-class athletes could not afford to make a living and train for competition at the same time.
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LASG, a nonprofit corporation, is considered among the top 10 Olympics training facilities in the country, which has been training Los Angeles youth since 1975. Led by All Svirsky, USA Olympic & National Coach, four-time USA Gymnastics Coach of the Year, Inductee to the Gymnastics hall of Fame, LASG has provided thousands of young athletes with quality gymnastics instruction and has produced several Olympians and internationally-ranked athletes.
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