Agree with Stephen Fry- BUT DON'T RUIN WINTER OLYMPICS 2014 for our beautiful 4years training athletes 4 Olympics and Paralympics- could never 4give that..... China was beautiful and here are countries around the world with problems being colour blind, gender illiterate and religious comfort- Canada was founded on our Christian Bible and we are okay with Faiths that are peaceful, kind and equality and respect of children.... matters..
Stephen Fry asks PM to back campaign against Russian Winter Olympics
Broadcaster says Moscow anti-gay laws are unacceptable and he admires David Cameron for knowing right from wrong
- IN 2013 CIVILIZED WORLD- dump Russia- bring winter games back to Canada - Vancouver
BRING THEM BACK 2 CANADA.... JUST BRING THEM BACK 2 CANADA- VANCOUVER- AND WHILE UR AT IT.... GET THE FIFA AND AND ALL SPORTS GLOBALLY- OUT OF ISLAMIC COUNTRIES THAT JAIL THE WOMEN WHO GET RAPED OVER THE MONSTERS WHO RAPE... AND HATRED OF RACE, COLOUR, CREED ETC... It's 2013 and the world is supposed 2 be civilized.... there must be repect of each and all our athletes - seriously.... Global Olympic Committee must take the responsibility here... and not jeopardize our children competing globally in Sochi
BRING THE GAMES BACK 2 CANADA.. UNLESS RUSSIA'S WILLING 2 RESPECT ALL NATIONS PARTICIPATING
AND...Chechnya and Sochi-This distance is equal to 300.76 miles- Oh Sweet Jesus... Mother Mary and Joseph- these Muslim NewAgeNazis murder little school kids - dozens at at time..... seriously???
Classified - "Oh... Canada" [Official Video]
Stephen Fry asks PM to back campaign against Russian Winter Olympics
Broadcaster says Moscow anti-gay laws are unacceptable and he admires David Cameron for knowing right from wrong
Press Association
theguardian.com, Wednesday 7 August 2013 13.19 BST
Stephen Fry - seen here at the Lord's Ashes Test match - said the civilised world should turn its back on Putin's government over its anti-gay laws. Photograph: Andrew Fosker/Rex Features
Stephen Fry has urged David Cameron to support moves to strip Russia of the 2014 Winter Olympics over concerns about anti-gay laws passed in the country.
The broadcaster, in an open letter on his website, compared the situation to the decision to hold the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany and said the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, was "making scapegoats of gay people".
He said: "An absolute ban on the Russian Winter Olympics of 2014 in Sochi is simply essential. Stage them elsewhere in Utah, Lillehammer, anywhere you like. At all costs, Putin cannot be seen to have the approval of the civilised world."
In the letter, which was also sent to London 2012 supremo Lord Coe and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Fry said: "The summer Olympics of 2012 were one of the most glorious moments of my life and the life of my country. For there to be a Russian Winter Olympics would stain the movement forever and wipe away any of that glory."
Addressing the prime minister directly, Fry said he was "a man for whom I have the utmost respect".
He added: "As the leader of a party I have for almost all of my life opposed and instinctively disliked, you showed a determined, passionate and clearly honest commitment to LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) rights and helped push gay marriage through both houses of our parliament in the teeth of vehement opposition from so many of your own side.
"For that I will always admire you, whatever other differences may lie between us. In the end I believe you know when a thing is wrong or right. Please act on that instinct now."
It comes after politicians in Russia's lower house of parliament, the Duma, passed a law imposing heavy fines for providing information about homosexuality to people under 18.
Last month, the IOC said it would "work to ensure that the Games can take place without discrimination against athletes, officials, spectators and the media".
It said: "To that end, the IOC has received assurances from the highest level of government in Russia that the legislation will not affect those attending or taking part in the Games."
http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2013/aug/07/stephen-fry-russia-winter-olympics
Even God and Pope PAPA Francis have come in2 the year 2013 and recognizes that the world is civilized and equality, caring, walk the talk of acceptance means we are all grown up, intelligent, educated and want a world of freedom, peace and pursuit of happiness
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Canada Games Day 5: Preview
Acadia Axewoman Jasmine Smith, 18, of Falmouth listens to her coach during a time out in an Aug. 6 game against Ontario. Megan Mahon - Communications Nova Scotia
Published on August 7, 2013 Jennifer Hoegg RSS Feed
Kings' athletes advance in soccer, basketball
Topics : Canada Games , Port Williams , Nova Scotia , Quebec
Women’s soccer
Emily Nickerson, Coldbrook, and Jessica Shaffelburg, Port Williams, along with Axewomen recruit Katie Ross, Bedford, are moving into the semifinals with Team Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia will play Quebec Wednesday at 2:15 p.m. Atlantic. TSN is broadcasting the women’s semifinal round.
Another new Axewoman, Meghan Earle, and her Newfoundland and Labrador team play at 3:30 p.m. against Manitoba in consolation round.
Men’s basketball
Port Williams’ Gage Sabean and Wolfville’s Brett Dickie play in the men’s basketball quarter-finals today at 4:15 p.m. against Quebec.
Swimming
There are eight Wolfville Tritons and Acadia swimmers at the Games. Preliminary heats are at 10:30 a.m. Finals are at 7 p.m.
Men’s volleyball
Nova Scotia’s men’s volleyball team, including Nigel Herritt, Kentville, and Rob Johnson, Port Williams, play at noon against New Brunswick in consolation play.
Read more special articles :
- Nova Scotia’s women’s soccer team relishing underdog tag at Summer Games
- Updated: Canada Games Day 4: Results
- Canada Games Day 4: Preview
- Updated: Canada Games Day 3: Results
Women’s volleyball
Team Nova Scotia - including Axewomen Jasmine Smith, Falmouth, and Julie Thiessen, Middleton – has a consolation game at 2:30 p.m. against Quebec.
Find out more...
Live swimming results are available here and a slideshow of swimming photos is here.
Watch the Canada Games online.
Full schedules, results and statistics are available here.
Gage Sabean, 15, Port Williams, and Dakeyo Downey, 17, Dartmouth, defend against Ontario’s Devonte Campbell Aug. 6 at the Canada Games.
Read more about the local athletes or see a slideshow of them at the Games.
Mobile-friendly link to Kingscountynews.ca coverage.
http://www.kingscountynews.ca/Sports/2013-08-07/article-3341392/Canada-Games-Day-5-Preview/1
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Olympic Games
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the 776 BC to AD 393 games, see Ancient Olympic Games. For the most recent Summer Games that were held in London, see 2012 Summer Olympics. For the Summer Games to be held in Rio de Janeiro, see 2016 Summer Olympics. For the Winter Games to be held in Sochi, Russia, see 2014 Winter Olympics.
"Olympics" redirects here. For other uses, see Olympic (disambiguation).
Organizations
Charter·
IOC·
NOCs·
Symbols
Sports·
Competitors
Medal tables·
Medalists·
Ceremonies·
Bidding
Games
Ancient Olympic Games
Summer Olympic Games
Winter Olympic Games
Paralympic Games
Youth Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games (French: Jeux olympiques[1]) are the leading international sporting event featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games are considered to be the world's foremost sports competition with more than 200 nations participating.[2] The Olympic Games are held every four years, with the Summer and Winter Games alternating, meaning they each occur every four years but two years apart. Their creation was inspired by the ancient Olympic Games, which were held in Olympia, Greece, from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD. Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894. The IOC is the governing body of the Olympic Movement, with the Olympic Charter defining its structure and authority.
The evolution of the Olympic Movement during the 20th and 21st centuries has resulted in several changes to the Olympic Games. Some of these adjustments include the creation of the Winter Games for ice and winter sports, the Paralympic Games for athletes with a disability, and the Youth Olympic Games for teenage athletes. The IOC has had to adapt to a variety of economic, political, and technological advancements. As a result, the Olympics shifted away from pure amateurism, as envisioned by Coubertin, to allow participation of professional athletes. The growing importance of mass media created the issue of corporate sponsorship and commercialization of the Games. World wars led to the cancellation of the 1916, 1940, and 1944 Games. Large boycotts during the Cold War limited participation in the 1980 and 1984 Games.
The Olympic Movement consists of international sports federations (IFs), National Olympic Committees (NOCs), and organizing committees for each specific Olympic Games. As the decision-making body, the IOC is responsible for choosing the host city for each celebration of the Games. The host city is responsible for organizing and funding the Games consistent with the Olympic Charter. The Olympic program, consisting of the sports to be contested at the Games, is determined by the IOC. There are several Olympic rituals and symbols, such as the Olympic flag and torch, as well as the opening and closing ceremonies. Over 13,000 athletes compete at the Summer and Winter Olympic Games in 33 different sports and nearly 400 events. The first, second, and third place finishers in each event receive Olympic medals: gold, silver, and bronze, respectively.
The Games have grown in scale to the point that nearly every nation is represented. Such growth has created numerous challenges, including boycotts, doping, bribery, and acts of terrorism. Every two years the Olympics and its media exposure provide unknown athletes with the chance to attain national, and sometimes international fame. The Games also constitute an opportunity for the host city and country to showcase themselves to the world.
Contents
[hide] 1 Ancient Olympics
2 Modern Games 2.1 Forerunners
2.2 Revival
2.3 1896 Games
2.4 Changes and adaptations 2.4.1 Winter Games
2.4.2 Paralympics
2.4.3 Youth Games
2.5 Recent games
2.6 Economic and social impact on host cities and countries
3 International Olympic Committee 3.1 Criticism
4 Commercialization 4.1 Budget
4.2 Effect of television
4.3 Controversy
5 Symbols
6 Ceremonies 6.1 Opening
6.2 Closing
6.3 Medal presentation
7 Sports 7.1 Amateurism and professionalism
8 Controversies 8.1 Boycotts
8.2 Politics
8.3 Use of performance enhancing drugs
8.4 Sex discrimination
8.5 Terrorism and violence
9 Citizenship 9.1 IOC rules for citizenship
9.2 Reasons for changing citizenship
9.3 Citizenship changes and disputes
10 Champions and medalists
11 Host nations and cities
12 See also
13 References
14 Sources
15 Further reading
16 External links
Ancient Olympics
Main article: Ancient Olympic Games
Stadium in Olympia, Greece.
The Ancient Olympic Games were religious and athletic festivals held every four years at the sanctuary of Zeus in Olympia, Greece. Competition was among representatives of several city-states and kingdoms of Ancient Greece. These Games featured mainly athletic but also combat sports such as wrestling and the pankration, horse and chariot racing events. It has been widely written that during the Games, all conflicts among the participating city-states were postponed until the Games were finished. This cessation of hostilities was known as the Olympic peace or truce.[3] This idea is a modern myth because the Greeks never suspended their wars. The truce did allow those religious pilgrims who were traveling to Olympia to pass through warring territories unmolested because they were protected by Zeus.[4] The origin of the Olympics is shrouded in mystery and legend;[5] one of the most popular myths identifies Heracles and his father Zeus as the progenitors of the Games.[6][7][8] According to legend, it was Heracles who first called the Games "Olympic" and established the custom of holding them every four years.[9] The myth continues that after Heracles completed his twelve labors, he built the Olympic Stadium as an honor to Zeus. Following its completion, he walked in a straight line for 200 steps and called this distance a "stadion" (Greek: st?d???, Latin: stadium, "stage"), which later became a unit of distance. The most widely accepted inception date for the Ancient Olympics is 776 BC; this is based on inscriptions, found at Olympia, listing the winners of a footrace held every four years starting in 776 BC.[10] The Ancient Games featured running events, a pentathlon (consisting of a jumping event, discus and javelin throws, a foot race, and wrestling), boxing, wrestling, pankration, and equestrian events.[11][12] Tradition has it that Coroebus, a cook from the city of Elis, was the first Olympic champion.[13]
The Olympics were of fundamental religious importance, featuring sporting events alongside ritual sacrifices honoring both Zeus (whose famous statue by Phidias stood in his temple at Olympia) and Pelops, divine hero and mythical king of Olympia. Pelops was famous for his chariot race with King Oenomaus of Pisatis.[14] The winners of the events were admired and immortalized in poems and statues.[15] The Games were held every four years, and this period, known as an Olympiad, was used by Greeks as one of their units of time measurement. The Games were part of a cycle known as the Panhellenic Games, which included the Pythian Games, the Nemean Games, and the Isthmian Games.[16]
The Olympic Games reached their zenith in the 6th and 5th centuries BC, but then gradually declined in importance as the Romans gained power and influence in Greece. While there is no scholarly consensus as to when the Games officially ended, the most commonly held date is 393 AD, when the emperor Theodosius I decreed that all pagan cults and practices be eliminated.[17] Another date commonly cited is 426 AD, when his successor, Theodosius II, ordered the destruction of all Greek temples.[18]
Modern Games
Forerunners
Baron Pierre de Coubertin
Various uses of the term "Olympic" to describe athletic events in the modern era have been documented since the 17th century. The first such event was the Cotswold Games or "Cotswold Olimpick Games", an annual meeting near Chipping Campden, England, involving various sports. It was first organized by the lawyer Robert Dover between 1612 and 1642, with several later celebrations leading up to the present day. The British Olympic Association, in its bid for the 2012 Olympic Games in London, mentioned these games as "the first stirrings of Britain's Olympic beginnings".[19]
L'Olympiade de la République, a national Olympic festival held annually from 1796 to 1798 in Revolutionary France also attempted to emulate the ancient Olympic Games.[20] The competition included several disciplines from the ancient Greek Olympics. The 1796 Games also marked the introduction of the metric system into sport.[20]
In 1850 an Olympian Class was started by Dr. William Penny Brookes at Much Wenlock, in Shropshire, England. In 1859, Dr. Brookes changed the name to the Wenlock Olympian Games. This annual sports festival continues to this day.[21] The Wenlock Olympian Society was founded by Dr. Brookes on 15 November 1860.[22]
Between 1862 and 1867, Liverpool held an annual Grand Olympic Festival. Devised by John Hulley and Charles Melly, these games were the first to be wholly amateur in nature and international in outlook, although only 'gentlemen amateurs' could compete.[23][24] The programme of the first modern Olympiad in Athens in 1896 was almost identical to that of the Liverpool Olympics.[25] In 1865 Hulley, Dr. Brookes and E.G. Ravenstein founded the National Olympian Association in Liverpool, a forerunner of the British Olympic Association. Its articles of foundation provided the framework for the International Olympic Charter.[26] In 1866, a national Olympic Games in Great Britain was organized at London's Crystal Palace.[27]
Revival
A postage stamp from the first Greek Olympic stamp set.
Greek interest in reviving the Olympic Games began with the Greek War of Independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1821. It was first proposed by poet and newspaper editor Panagiotis Soutsos in his poem "Dialogue of the Dead", published in 1833.[28] Evangelos Zappas, a wealthy Greek-Romanian philanthropist, first wrote to King Otto of Greece, in 1856, offering to fund a permanent revival of the Olympic Games.[29] Zappas sponsored the first Olympic Games in 1859, which was held in an Athens city square. Athletes participated from Greece and the Ottoman Empire. Zappas funded the restoration of the ancient Panathenaic Stadium so that it could host all future Olympic Games.[29]
The stadium hosted Olympics in 1870 and 1875.[30] Thirty thousand spectators attended that Games in 1870, though no official attendance records are available for the 1875 Games.[31] In 1890, after attending the Olympian Games of the Wenlock Olympian Society, Baron Pierre de Coubertin was inspired to found the International Olympic Committee (IOC).[32] Coubertin built on the ideas and work of Brookes and Zappas with the aim of establishing internationally rotating Olympic Games that would occur every four years.[32] He presented these ideas during the first Olympic Congress of the newly created International Olympic Committee. This meeting was held from 16 to 23 June 1894, at the University of Paris. On the last day of the Congress, it was decided that the first Olympic Games, to come under the auspices of the IOC, would take place in Athens in 1896.[33] The IOC elected the Greek writer Demetrius Vikelas as its first president.[34]
1896 Games
Main article: 1896 Summer Olympics
The opening ceremony in the Panathinaiko Stadium.
The first Games held under the auspices of the IOC was hosted in the Panathenaic stadium in Athens in 1896. The Games brought together 14 nations and 241 athletes who competed in 43 events.[35] Zappas and his cousin Konstantinos Zappas had left the Greek government a trust to fund future Olympic Games. This trust was used to help finance the 1896 Games.[36][37][38] George Averoff contributed generously for the refurbishment of the stadium in preparation for the Games.[39] The Greek government also provided funding, which was expected to be recouped through the sale of tickets and from the sale of the first Olympic commemorative stamp set.[39]
Greek officials and the public were enthusiastic about the experience of hosting an Olympic Games. This feeling was shared by many of the athletes, who even demanded that Athens be the permanent Olympic host city. The IOC intended for subsequent Games to be rotated to various host cities around the world. The second Olympics was held in Paris.[40]
Changes and adaptations
Main article: Summer Olympic Games
After the success of the 1896 Games, the Olympics entered a period of stagnation that threatened their survival. The Olympic Games held at the Paris Exposition in 1900 and the World's fair at St. Louis in 1904 were side-shows. The Games at Paris did not have a stadium; but was notable for being the first time women took part in the Games. When the St. Louis Games were celebrated roughly 650 athletes participated, but 580 were from the United States. The homogeneous nature of these celebrations was a low point for the Olympic Movement.[41] The Games rebounded when the 1906 Intercalated Games (so-called because they were the second Games held within the third Olympiad) were held in Athens. These Games are not officially recognized by the IOC and no Intercalated Games have been held since. The Games attracted a broad international field of participants and generated great public interest. This marked the beginning of a rise in both the popularity and the size of the Olympics.[42]
Winter Games
Main article: Winter Olympic Games
An ice hockey game during the 1928 Winter Olympics at St. Moritz.
The Winter Olympics was created to feature snow and ice sports that were logistically impossible to hold during the Summer Games. Figure skating (in 1908 and 1920) and ice hockey (in 1920) were featured as Olympic events at the Summer Olympics. The IOC desired to expand this list of sports to encompass other winter activities. At the 1921 Olympic Congress, in Lausanne, it was decided to hold a winter version of the Olympic Games. A winter sports week (it was actually 11 days) was held in 1924 in Chamonix, France, in connection with the Paris Games held three months later; this event became the first Winter Olympic Games.[43] Although the same country was originally intended to host both the Winter and Summer Games in a given year, this idea was quickly abandoned. The IOC mandated that the Winter Games be celebrated every four years on the same year as their summer counterpart.[44] This tradition was upheld until the 1992 Games in Albertville, France; after that, beginning with the 1994 Games, the Winter Olympics were held every four years, two years after each Summer Olympics.
Paralympics
Main article: Paralympic Games
In 1948, Sir Ludwig Guttmann, determined to promote the rehabitation of soldiers after World War II, organized a multi-sport event between several hospitals to coincide with the 1948 London Olympics. Guttmann's event, known then as the Stoke Mandeville Games, became an annual sports festival. Over the next twelve years, Guttmann and others continued their efforts to use sports as an avenue to healing. For the 1960 Olympic Games, in Rome, Guttmann brought 400 athletes to compete in the "Parallel Olympics", which became known as the first Paralympics. Since then, the Paralympics have been held in every Olympic year. Since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, the host city for the Olympics has also played host to the Paralympics.[45] In 2001 the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) signed an agreement guaranteeing that host cities would be contracted to manage both the Olympic and Paralympic Games.[46][47] The agreement came into effect at the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing, and the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver. Chairman of the London organising committee, Lord Coe, said about the 2012 Summer Paralympics and Olympics in London that,
" We want to change public attitudes towards disability, celebrate the excellence of Paralympic sport and to enshrine from the very outset that the two Games are an integrated whole.[48] "
Youth Games
Main article: Youth Olympic Games
In 2010, the Olympic Games were complemented by the Youth Games, which give athletes between the ages of 14 and 18 the chance to compete. The Youth Olympic Games were conceived by IOC president Jacques Rogge in 2001 and approved during the 119th Congress of the IOC.[49][50] The first Summer Youth Games were held in Singapore from 14–26 August 2010, while the inaugural Winter Games were hosted in Innsbruck, Austria, two years later.[51] These Games will be shorter than the senior Games; the summer version will last twelve days, while the winter version will last nine days.[52] The IOC allows 3,500 athletes and 875 officials to participate at the Summer Youth Games, and 970 athletes and 580 officials at the Winter Youth Games.[53][54] The sports to be contested will coincide with those scheduled for the senior Games, however there will be variations on the sports including mixed NOC and mixed gender teams as well as a reduced number of disciplines and events.[55]
Recent games
From 241 participants representing 14 nations in 1896, the Games have grown to about 10,500 competitors from 204 nations at the 2012 Summer Olympics.[56] The scope and scale of the Winter Olympics is smaller. For example, Vancouver hosted 2,566 athletes from 82 nations competing in 84 events during the 2010 Winter Olympics.[57] During the Games most athletes and officials are housed in the Olympic Village. This village is intended to be a self-contained home for all the Olympic participants, and is furnished with cafeterias, health clinics, and locations for religious expression.[58]
The IOC allowed the formation of National Olympic Committees representing nations that did not meet the strict requirements for political sovereignty that other international organizations demand. As a result, colonies and dependencies are permitted to compete at Olympic Games. Examples of this include territories such as Puerto Rico, Bermuda, and Hong Kong, all of which compete as separate nations despite being legally a part of another country.[59] The current version of the Charter allows for the establishment of new National Olympic Committees to represent nation which qualify as "an independent State recognized by the international community".[60] Therefore, it did not allow the formation of National Olympic Committees for Sint Maarten and Curaçao when they gained the same constitutional status as Aruba in 2010, although the IOC had recognized the Aruban Olympic Committee in 1986.[61][62]
Economic and social impact on host cities and countries
Many economists are skeptical about the economic benefits of hosting the Olympic Games, emphasizing that such "mega-events" often have large costs while yielding relatively few tangible benefits in the long run. Conversely hosting (or even bidding for) the Olympics appears to increase the host country's exports, as the host or candidate country sends a signal about trade openness when bidding to host the Games.[63] Moreover, research suggests that hosting the Summer Olympics has a strong positive effect on the philanthropic contributions of corporations headquartered in the host city, which seems to benefit the local nonprofit sector. This positive effect begins in the years leading up to the Games and might persist for several years afterwards, although not permanently. This finding suggests that hosting the Olympics might create opportunities for cities to influence local corporations in ways that benefit the local nonprofit sector and civil society.[64] The Games have also had significant negative effects on host communities; for example, the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions reports that the Olympics displaced more than two million people over two decades, often disproportionately affecting disadvantaged groups.[65]
International Olympic Committee
Main article: International Olympic Committee
The I.O.C. headquarters at Lausanne.
The Olympic Movement encompasses a large number of national and international sporting organizations and federations, recognized media partners, as well as athletes, officials, judges, and every other person and institution that agrees to abide by the rules of the Olympic Charter.[66] As the umbrella organization of the Olympic Movement, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is responsible for selecting the host city, overseeing the planning of the Olympic Games, updating and approving the sports program, and negotiating sponsorship and broadcasting rights.[67]
The Olympic Movement is made of three major elements:
International Federations (IFs) are the governing bodies that supervise a sport at an international level. For example, the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) is the IF for Association football (soccer), and the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball is the international governing body for volleyball. There are currently 35 IFs in the Olympic Movement, representing each of the Olympic sports.[68]
National Olympic Committees (NOCs) represent and regulate the Olympic Movement within each country. For example, the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) is the NOC of the United States. There are currently 205 NOCs recognized by the IOC.[69]
Organizing Committees for the Olympic Games (OCOGs) are temporary committees responsible for the organization of each Olympic Games. OCOGs are dissolved after each Games once the final report is delivered to the IOC.[70]
French and English are the official languages of the Olympic Movement. The other language used at each Olympic Games is the language of the host country (or languages, if a country has more than one official language apart from French or English). Every proclamation (such as the announcement of each country during the parade of nations in the opening ceremony) is spoken in these three (or more) languages, or the main two depending on whether the host country is an English or French speaking country.[71]
Criticism
The IOC has often been criticized for being an intractable organization, with several members on the committee for life. The presidential terms of Avery Brundage and Juan Antonio Samaranch were especially controversial. Brundage was president for over 20 years, and during his tenure he protected the Olympics from political involvement and the influence of advertising.[72] He was accused of both racism, for his handling of the apartheid issue with the South African delegation, and antisemitism.[73] Under the Samaranch presidency, the office was accused of both nepotism and corruption.[74] Samaranch's ties with the Franco regime in Spain were also a source of criticism.[75]
In 1998, it was uncovered that several IOC members had taken bribes from members of the Salt Lake City bid committee for the hosting of the 2002 Winter Olympics. The IOC pursued an investigation which led to the resignation of four members and expulsion of six others. The scandal set off further reforms that changed the way host cities were selected, to avoid similar cases in the future.[76]
A BBC documentary entitled Panorama: Buying the Games, aired in August 2004, investigated the taking of bribes in the bidding process for the 2012 Summer Olympics.[77] The documentary claimed it was possible to bribe IOC members into voting for a particular candidate city. After being narrowly defeated in their bid for the 2012 Summer Games,[78] Parisian Mayor Bertrand Delanoë specifically accused the British prime minister Tony Blair and the London Bid Committee (headed by former Olympic champion Sebastian Coe) of breaking the bid rules. He cited French president Jacques Chirac as a witness; Chirac gave guarded interviews regarding his involvement.[79] The allegation was never fully explored. The Turin bid for the 2006 Winter Olympics was also shrouded in controversy. A prominent IOC member, Marc Hodler, strongly connected with the rival bid of Sion, Switzerland, alleged bribery of IOC officials by members of the Turin Organizing Committee. These accusations led to a wide-ranging investigation. The allegations also served to sour many IOC members against Sion's bid and potentially helped Turin to capture the host city nomination.[80]
In July 2012, The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) called the continued refusal by the International Olympic Committee to hold a moment of silence at the opening ceremony for the eleven Israeli athletes killed by Palestinian terrorists at the 1972 Munich Olympics, "a continuing stubborn insensitivity and callousness to the memory of the murdered Israeli athletes."[81]
Commercialization
Main article: Cost of the Olympic Games
The IOC originally resisted funding by corporate sponsors. It was not until the retirement of IOC president Avery Brundage, in 1972, that the IOC began to explore the potential of the television medium and the lucrative advertising markets available to them.[82] Under the leadership of Juan Antonio Samaranch the Games began to shift toward international sponsors who sought to link their products to the Olympic brand.[83]
Budget
During the first half of the 20th century the IOC ran on a small budget.[83][84] As president of the IOC from 1952 to 1972, Avery Brundage rejected all attempts to link the Olympics with commercial interest.[82] Brundage believed the lobby of corporate interests would unduly impact the IOC's decision-making.[82] Brundage's resistance to this revenue stream meant the IOC left organizing committees to negotiate their own sponsorship contracts and use the Olympic symbols.[82] When Brundage retired the IOC had US$2 million in assets; eight years later the IOC coffers had swelled to US$45 million.[82] This was primarily due to a shift in ideology toward expansion of the Games through corporate sponsorship and the sale of television rights.[82] When Juan Antonio Samaranch was elected IOC president in 1980 his desire was to make the IOC financially independent.[84]
The 1984 Summer Olympics became a watershed moment in Olympic history. The Los Angeles-based organizing committee, led by Peter Ueberroth, was able to generate a surplus of US$225 million, which was an unprecedented amount at that time.[85] The organizing committee had been able to create such a surplus in part by selling exclusive sponsorship rights to select companies.[85] The IOC sought to gain control of these sponsorship rights. Samaranch helped to establish The Olympic Program (TOP) in 1985, in order to create an Olympic brand.[83] Membership in TOP was, and is, very exclusive and expensive. Fees cost US$50 million for a four-year membership.[84] Members of TOP received exclusive global advertising rights for their product category, and use of the Olympic symbol, the interlocking rings, in their publications and advertisements.[86]
Effect of television
A cartoon from the 1936 Berlin Olympics imagines the year 2000 when spectators will have been replaced by television and radio, their cheers coming from loudspeakers.
The 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin were the first Games to be broadcast on television, though only to local audiences.[87] The 1956 Winter Olympics were the first internationally televised Olympic Games,[88] and the following Winter Games had their broadcasting rights sold for the first time to specialized television broadcasting networks—CBS paid US$394,000 for the American rights,[89] and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) allocated US$660,000.[83] In the following decades the Olympics became one of the ideological fronts of the Cold War. Superpowers jockeyed for political supremacy, and the IOC wanted to take advantage of this heightened interest via the broadcast medium.[89] The sale of broadcast rights enabled the IOC to increase the exposure of the Olympic Games, thereby generating more interest, which in turn created more appeal to advertisers time on television. This cycle allowed the IOC to charge ever-increasing fees for those rights.[89] For example, CBS paid US$375 million for the rights of the 1998 Nagano Games,[90] while NBC spent US$3.5 billion for the broadcast rights of all the Olympic Games from 2000 to 2012.[83]
Viewership increased exponentially from the 1960s until the end of the century. This was due to the use of satellites to broadcast live television worldwide in 1964, and the introduction of color television in 1968.[91] Global audience estimates for the 1968 Mexico City Games was 600 million, whereas at the Los Angeles Games of 1984, the audience numbers had increased to 900 million; that number swelled to 3.5 billion by the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.[92] However, at the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, NBC drew the lowest ratings for any Summer or Winter Olympics since 1968.[93] This was attributed to two factors: one was the increased competition from cable channels, the second was the internet, which was able to display results and video in real time. Television companies were still relying on tape-delayed content, which was becoming outdated in the information era.[94] A drop in ratings meant that television studios had to give away free advertising time.[95] With such high costs charged to broadcast the Games, the added pressure of the internet, and increased competition from cable, the television lobby demanded concessions from the IOC to boost ratings.[96] The IOC responded by making a number of changes to the Olympic program. At the Summer Games, the gymnastics competition was expanded from seven to nine nights, and a Champions Gala was added to draw greater interest.[97] The IOC also expanded the swimming and diving programs, both popular sports with a broad base of television viewers.[97] Finally, the American television lobby was able to dictate when certain events were held so that they could be broadcast live during prime time in the United States.[98] The results of these efforts were mixed: ratings for the 2006 Winter Games were significantly lower than those for the 2002 Games, while there was a sharp increase in viewership for the 2008 Summer Olympics, and the 2012 Summer Games became the most watched event in US television history.[95][99][100]
Controversy
The sale of the Olympic brand has been controversial. The argument is that the Games have become indistinguishable from any other commercialized sporting spectacle.[86] Specific criticism was levelled at the IOC for market saturation during the 1996 Atlanta and 2000 Sydney Games. The cities were awash in corporations and merchants attempting to sell Olympic-related wares.[101] The IOC indicated that they would address this to prevent spectacles of over-marketing at future Games.[101] Another criticism is that the Games are funded by host cities and national governments; the IOC incurs none of the cost, yet controls all the rights and profits from the Olympic symbols. The IOC also takes a percentage of all sponsorship and broadcast income.[86] Host cities continue to compete ardently for the right to host the Games, even though there is no certainty that they will earn back their investments.[102] Research has shown that trade is around 30 percent higher for countries that have hosted the Olympics.[103]
Symbols
Main article: Olympic symbols
The Olympic flag.
The Olympic Movement uses symbols to represent the ideals embodied in the Olympic Charter. The Olympic symbol, better known as the Olympic rings, consists of five intertwined rings and represents the unity of the five inhabited continents (Africa, America, Asia, Oceania, Europe). The colored version of the rings—blue, yellow, black, green, and red—over a white field forms the Olympic flag. These colors were chosen because every nation had at least one of them on its national flag. The flag was adopted in 1914 but flown for the first time only at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium. It has since been hoisted during each celebration of the Games.[104]
The Olympic motto, Citius, Altius, Fortius, a Latin expression meaning "Faster, Higher, Stronger" was proposed by Pierre de Coubertin in 1894 and has been official since 1924. The motto was coined by Coubertin's friend the Dominican priest Henri Didon OP, for a Paris youth gathering of 1891.[105]
Coubertin's Olympic ideals are expressed in the Olympic 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.[104]
Months before each Games, the Olympic Flame is lit in Olympia in a ceremony that reflects ancient Greek rituals. A female performer, acting as a priestess, ignites a torch by placing it inside a parabolic mirror which focuses the sun's rays; she then lights the torch of the first relay bearer, thus initiating the Olympic torch relay that will carry the flame to the host city's Olympic stadium, where it plays an important role in the opening ceremony.[106] Though the flame has been an Olympic symbol since 1928, the torch relay was introduced at the 1936 Summer Games, as part of the German government's attempt to promote its National Socialist ideology.[104]
The Olympic mascot, an animal or human figure representing the cultural heritage of the host country, was introduced in 1968. It has played an important part on the Games identity promotion since the 1980 Summer Olympics, when the Russian bear cub Misha reached international stardom.[107] The mascot of the Summer Olympics in London was named Wenlock after the town of Much Wenlock in Shropshire. Much Wenlock still hosts the Wenlock Olympian Games, which were an inspiration to Pierre de Coubertin for the Olympic Games.[108]
Ceremonies
Main article: Olympic Games ceremony
Opening
A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London
As mandated by the Olympic Charter, various elements frame the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. This ceremony takes place before the events have occurred.[109][110] Most of these rituals were established at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp.[111] The ceremony typically starts with the hoisting of the host country's flag and a performance of its national anthem.[109][110] The host nation then presents artistic displays of music, singing, dance, and theater representative of its culture.[111] The artistic presentations have grown in scale and complexity as successive hosts attempt to provide a ceremony that outlasts its predecessor's in terms of memorability. The opening ceremony of the Beijing Games reportedly cost $100 million, with much of the cost incurred in the artistic segment.[112]
After the artistic portion of the ceremony, the athletes parade into the stadium grouped by nation. Greece is traditionally the first nation to enter in order to honor the origins of the Olympics. Nations then enter the stadium alphabetically according to the host country's chosen language, with the host country's athletes being the last to enter. During the 2004 Summer Olympics, which was hosted in Athens, Greece, the Greek flag entered the stadium first, while the Greek delegation entered last. Speeches are given, formally opening the Games. Finally, the Olympic torch is brought into the stadium and passed on until it reaches the final torch carrier, often a successful Olympic athlete from the host nation, who lights the Olympic flame in the stadium's cauldron.[109][110]
Closing
Athletes gather in the stadium during the closing ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics.
The closing ceremony of the Olympic Games takes place after all sporting events have concluded. Flag-bearers from each participating country enter the stadium, followed by the athletes who enter together, without any national distinction.[113] Three national flags are hoisted while the corresponding national anthems are played: the flag of the current host country; the flag of Greece, to honor the birthplace of the Olympic Games; and the flag of the country hosting the next Summer or Winter Olympic Games.[113] The president of the organizing committee and the IOC president make their closing speeches, the Games are officially closed, and the Olympic flame is extinguished.[114] In what is known as the Antwerp Ceremony, the mayor of the city that organized the Games transfers a special Olympic flag to the president of the IOC, who then passes it on to the mayor of the city hosting the next Olympic Games.[115] The next host nation then also briefly introduces itself with artistic displays of dance and theater representative of its culture.[113]
Medal presentation
A medal ceremony during the 2008 Summer Olympics.
A medal ceremony is held after each Olympic event is concluded. The winner, second and third-place competitors or teams stand on top of a three-tiered rostrum to be awarded their respective medals.[116] After the medals are given out by an IOC member, the national flags of the three medalists are raised while the national anthem of the gold medalist's country plays.[117] Volunteering citizens of the host country also act as hosts during the medal ceremonies, as they aid the officials who present the medals and act as flag-bearers.[118]
Sports
Main article: Olympic sports
The Olympic Games program consists of 35 sports, 30 disciplines and nearly 400 events. For example, wrestling is a Summer Olympic sport, comprising two disciplines: Greco-Roman and Freestyle. It is further broken down into fourteen events for men and four events for women, each representing a different weight class.[119] The Summer Olympics program includes 26 sports, while the Winter Olympics program features 15 sports.[120] Athletics, swimming, fencing, and artistic gymnastics are the only summer sports that have never been absent from the Olympic program. Cross-country skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, Nordic combined, ski jumping, and speed skating have been featured at every Winter Olympics program since its inception in 1924. Current Olympic sports, like badminton, basketball, and volleyball, first appeared on the program as demonstration sports, and were later promoted to full Olympic sports. Some sports that were featured in earlier Games were later dropped from the program.[121]
Olympic sports are governed by international sports federations (IFs) recognized by the IOC as the global supervisors of those sports. There are 35 federations represented at the IOC.[122] There are sports recognized by the IOC that are not included on the Olympic program. These sports are not considered Olympic sports, but they can be promoted to this status during a program revision that occurs in the first IOC session following a celebration of the Olympic Games.[123][124] During such revisions, sports can be excluded or included in the program on the basis of a two-thirds majority vote of the members of the IOC.[125] There are recognized sports that have never been on an Olympic program in any capacity, including chess and surfing.[126]
In October and November 2004, the IOC established an Olympic Programme Commission, which was tasked with reviewing the sports on the Olympic program and all non-Olympic recognized sports. The goal was to apply a systematic approach to establishing the Olympic program for each celebration of the Games.[127] The commission formulated seven criteria to judge whether a sport should be included on the Olympic program.[127] These criteria are history and tradition of the sport, universality, popularity of the sport, image, athletes' health, development of the International Federation that governs the sport, and costs of holding the sport.[127] From this study five recognized sports emerged as candidates for inclusion at the 2012 Summer Olympics: golf, karate, rugby union, roller sports and squash.[127] These sports were reviewed by the IOC Executive Board and then referred to the General Session in Singapore in July 2005. Of the five sports recommended for inclusion only two were selected as finalists: karate and squash.[127] Neither sport attained the required two-thirds vote and consequently they were not promoted to the Olympic program.[127] In October 2009 the IOC voted to instate golf and rugby union as Olympic sports for the 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympic Games.[128]
The 114th IOC Session, in 2002, limited the Summer Games program to a maximum of 28 sports, 301 events, and 10,500 athletes.[127] Three years later, at the 117th IOC Session, the first major program revision was performed, which resulted in the exclusion of baseball and softball from the official program of the 2012 London Games. Since there was no agreement in the promotion of two other sports, the 2012 program featured just 26 sports.[127] The 2016 and 2020 Games will return to the maximum of 28 sports given the addition of rugby and golf.[128]
Amateurism and professionalism
Further information: Amateur
Professional NHL players were allowed to participate in ice hockey starting in 1998 (1998 Gold medal game between Russia and the Czech Republic pictured).
The ethos of the aristocracy as exemplified in the English public school greatly influenced Pierre de Coubertin.[129] The public schools subscribed to the belief that sport formed an important part of education, an attitude summed up in the saying mens sana in corpore sano, a sound mind in a sound body. In this ethos, a gentleman was one who became an all-rounder, not the best at one specific thing. There was also a prevailing concept of fairness, in which practicing or training was considered tantamount to cheating.[129] Those who practiced a sport professionally were considered to have an unfair advantage over those who practiced it merely as a hobby.[129]
The exclusion of professionals caused several controversies throughout the history of the modern Olympics. The 1912 Olympic pentathlon and decathlon champion Jim Thorpe was stripped of his medals when it was discovered that he had played semi-professional baseball before the Olympics. His medals were posthumously restored by the IOC in 1983 on compassionate grounds.[130] Swiss and Austrian skiers boycotted the 1936 Winter Olympics in support of their skiing teachers, who were not allowed to compete because they earned money with their sport and were thus considered professionals.[131]
As class structure evolved through the 20th century, the definition of the amateur athlete as an aristocratic gentleman became outdated.[129] The advent of the state-sponsored "full-time amateur athlete" of the Eastern Bloc countries further eroded the ideology of the pure amateur, as it put the self-financed amateurs of the Western countries at a disadvantage. Nevertheless, the IOC held to the traditional rules regarding amateurism.[132] Beginning in the 1970s, amateurism requirements were gradually phased out of the Olympic Charter. After the 1988 Games, the IOC decided to make all professional athletes eligible for the Olympics, subject to the approval of the IFs.[133] As of 2004, the only sport in which no professionals compete is boxing, although even this requires a definition of amateurism based on fight rules rather than on payment, as some boxers receive cash prizes from their National Olympic Committees.
Controversies
Main article: Olympic Games scandals and controversies
Boycotts
Map showing the countries that boycotted the 1976 (yellow), 1980 (blue) and 1984 (red) Summer Olympics.
Australia, France, Great Britain and Switzerland are the only countries to be represented at every Olympic Games since their inception in 1896. While countries sometimes miss an Olympics due to a lack of qualified athletes, some choose to boycott a celebration of the Games for various reasons. The Olympic Council of Ireland boycotted the 1936 Berlin Games, because the IOC insisted its team needed to be restricted to the Irish Free State rather than representing the entire island of Ireland.[134] There were three boycotts of the 1956 Melbourne Olympics: Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland refused to attend because of the repression of the Hungarian uprising by the Soviet Union, but did send an equestrian delegation to Stockholm; Cambodia, Egypt, Iraq and Lebanon boycotted the Games because of the Suez Crisis; and China (the "People's Republic of China") boycotted the Games because Taiwan was allowed to compete in the Games as the "Republic of China".[135] In 1972 and 1976 a large number of African countries threatened the IOC with a boycott to force them to ban South Africa and Rhodesia, because of their segregationist regimes. New Zealand was also one of the African boycott targets, because its national rugby union team had toured apartheid-ruled South Africa. The IOC conceded in the first two cases, but refused to ban New Zealand on the grounds that rugby was not an Olympic sport.[136] Fulfilling their threat, twenty African countries were joined by Guyana and Iraq in a withdrawal from the Montreal Games, after a few of their athletes had already competed.[136][137] Taiwan also decided to boycott these Games because the People's Republic of China (PRC) exerted pressure on the Montreal organizing committee to keep the delegation from the Republic of China (ROC) from competing under that name. The ROC refused a proposed compromise that would have still allowed them to use the ROC flag and anthem as long as the name was changed.[138] Taiwan did not participate again until 1984, when it returned under the name of Chinese Taipei and with a special flag and anthem.[139]
In 1980 and 1984, the Cold War opponents boycotted each other's Games. Sixty-five nations refused to compete at the Moscow Olympics in 1980 because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. This boycott reduced the number of nations participating to 81, the lowest number since 1956.[140] The Soviet Union and 15 other nations countered by boycotting the Los Angeles Olympics of 1984, contending that they could not guarantee the safety of their athletes. Soviet officials defended their decision to withdraw from the Games by saying that "chauvinistic sentiments and an anti-Soviet hysteria are being whipped up in the United States".[141] The boycotting nations of the Eastern Bloc staged their own alternate event, the Friendship Games, in July and August.[142][143]
There had been growing calls for boycotts of Chinese goods and the 2008 Olympics in Beijing in protest of China's human rights record, and in response to Tibetan disturbances. Ultimately, no nation supported a boycott.[144][145] In August 2008, the government of Georgia called for a boycott of the 2014 Winter Olympics, set to be held in Sochi, Russia, in response to Russia's participation in the 2008 South Ossetia war.[146][147]
Politics
Jesse Owens on the podium after winning the long jump at the 1936 Summer Olympics.
The Olympic Games have been used as a platform to promote political ideologies almost from its inception. Nazi Germany wished to portray the National Socialist Party as benevolent and peace-loving when they hosted the 1936 Games, though they used the Games to display Aryan superiority.[148] Germany was the most successful nation at the Games, which did much to support their allegations of Aryan supremacy, but notable victories by African American Jesse Owens, who won four gold medals, and Hungarian Jew Ibolya Csák, blunted the message.[149] The Soviet Union did not participate until the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. Instead, starting in 1928, the Soviets organized an international sports event called Spartakiads. During the interwar period of the 1920s and 1930s, communist and socialist organizations in several countries, including the United States, attempted to counter what they called the "bourgeois" Olympics with the Workers Olympics.[150][151] It was not until the 1956 Summer Games that the Soviets emerged as a sporting superpower and, in doing so, took full advantage of the publicity that came with winning at the Olympics.[152] Individual athletes have also used the Olympic stage to promote their own political agenda. At the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, two American track and field athletes, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who finished first and third in the 200 meters, performed the Black Power salute on the victory stand. The second place finisher, Peter Norman of Australia, wore an Olympic Project for human rights badge in support of Smith and Carlos. In response to the protest, IOC president Avery Brundage told the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) to either send the two athletes home or withdraw the track and field team. The USOC opted for the former.[153]
Currently, the government of Iran has taken steps to avoid any competition between its athletes and those from Israel. An Iranian judoka, Arash Miresmaeili, did not compete in a match against an Israeli during the 2004 Summer Olympics. Although he was officially disqualified for being overweight, Miresmaeli was awarded US$125,000 in prize money by the Iranian government, an amount paid to all Iranian gold medal winners. He was officially cleared of intentionally avoiding the bout, but his receipt of the prize money raised suspicion.[154]
Use of performance enhancing drugs
Main article: Use of performance-enhancing drugs in the Olympic Games
Thomas Hicks running the marathon at the 1904 Summer Olympics.
In the early 20th century, many Olympic athletes began using drugs to improve and increase their athletic abilities. In 1904, Thomas Hicks-a gold medalist for the marathon, was given strychnine by his coach.[155] The only Olympic death linked to performance enhancing occurred at the 1960 Rome games. The Danish cyclist, Knud Enemark Jensen fell from his bicycle and later died. A coroner's inquiry found that he was under the influence of amphetamines.[156] By the mid-1960s, sports federations were starting to ban the use of performance enhancing drugs; in 1967 the IOC followed suit.[157]
The first Olympic athlete to test positive for the use of performance enhancing drugs was Hans-Gunnar Liljenwall, a Swedish pentathlete at the 1968 Summer Olympics, who lost his bronze medal for alcohol use.[158] The most publicized doping-related disqualification was in 1988 the Canadian Olympics where the Canadian sprinter, Ben Johnson (who won the 100-metre dash) was positive for stanozolol. His gold medal was later stripped and awarded to the American runner-up Carl Lewis, who himself had tested positive for banned substances prior to the Olympics.[159]
In the late 1990s, the IOC took the initiative in a more organized battle against doping, by forming the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in 1999. There was a sharp increase in positive drug tests at the 2000 Summer Olympics and 2002 Winter Olympics. Several medalists in weightlifting and cross-country skiing were disqualified because of doping offenses. During the 2006 Winter Olympics, only one athlete failed a drug test and had a medal revoked. The IOC-established drug testing regimen (now known as the Olympic Standard) has set the worldwide benchmark that other sporting federations around the world attempt to emulate.[160] During the Beijing games, 3,667 athletes were tested by the IOC under the auspices of the World Anti-Doping Agency. Both urine and blood tests were used to detect banned substances. Several athletes were barred from competition by their National Olympic Committees prior to the Games; only three athletes failed drug tests while in competition in Beijing.[156][161] In London over 6,000 Olympic and Paralympic athletes were tested. Prior to the Games 107 athletes tested positive for banned substances and were not allowed to compete.[162][163] During and after the Games eight athletes tested positive for a banned substance and were suspended, including shot putter Nadzeya Ostapchuk who was stripped of her gold medal.[164]
Sex discrimination
Main article: Women at the Olympics
Charlotte Cooper of the United Kingdom, first woman Olympic champion, in the 1900 Games.
Women were first allowed to compete at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris, but at the 1992 Summer Olympics thirty-five countries were still fielding all-male delegations.[165] This number dropped rapidly over the following years. In 2000, Bahrain sent two women competitors for the first time: Fatema Hameed Gerashi and Mariam Mohamed Hadi Al Hilli.[166] In 2004, Robina Muqimyar and Fariba Rezayee became the first women to compete for Afghanistan at the Olympics.[167] In 2008, the United Arab Emirates sent female athletes (Maitha Al Maktoum competed in taekwondo, and Latifa Al Maktoum in equestrian) to the Olympic Games for the first time. Both athletes were from Dubai's ruling family.[168]
By 2010, only three countries had never sent female athletes to the Games: Brunei, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Brunei had taken part in only three celebrations of the Games, sending a single athlete on each occasion, but Saudi Arabia and Qatar had been competing regularly with all-male teams. In 2010, the International Olympic Committee announced it would "press" these countries to enable and facilitate the participation of women for the 2012 Summer Olympics. Anita DeFrantz, chair of the IOC's Women and Sports Commission, suggested that countries be barred if they prevented women from competing. Shortly thereafter, the Qatar Olympic Committee announced that it "hoped to send up to four female athletes in shooting and fencing" to the 2012 Summer Games in London.
In 2008, Ali Al-Ahmed, director of the Institute for Gulf Affairs, likewise called for Saudi Arabia to be barred from the Games, describing its ban on women athletes as a violation of the International Olympic Committee charter. He noted: "For the last 15 years, many international nongovernmental organizations worldwide have been trying to lobby the IOC for better enforcement of its own laws banning gender discrimination. [...] While their efforts did result in increasing numbers of women Olympians, the IOC has been reluctant to take a strong position and threaten the discriminating countries with suspension or expulsion."[165] In July 2010, The Independent reported: "Pressure is growing on the International Olympic Committee to kick out Saudi Arabia, who are likely to be the only major nation not to include women in their Olympic team for 2012. [...] Should Saudi Arabia [...] send a male-only team to London, we understand they will face protests from equal rights and women's groups which threaten to disrupt the Games".[169]
At the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England, for the first time in Olympic history, every country competing included female athletes[170] Saudi Arabia included two female athletes in its delegation; Qatar, four; and Brunei, one (Maziah Mahusin, in the 400m hurdles). Qatar made one of its first female Olympians, Bahiya al-Hamad (shooting), its flagbearer at the 2012 Games.[171] Also at the 2012 Olympics, runner Maryam Yusuf Jamal of Bahrain became the first Gulf female athlete to win a medal when she won a bronze for her showing in the 1,500m race.[172]
The only sport on the Olympic programme that features men and women competing together is the equestrian disciplines. There is no "Women's Eventing", or 'Men's Dressage'. As of 2008, there were still more medal events for men than women. With the addition of women's boxing to the program in the 2012 Summer Olympics, however, female athletes were able to compete in all the same sports as men.[173] There are currently two Olympic events in which male athletes may not compete: synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics.
Terrorism and violence
Three Olympiads had to pass without a celebration of the Games because of war: the 1916 Games were cancelled because of World War I, and the summer and winter games of 1940 and 1944 were cancelled because of World War II. The South Ossetia War between Georgia and Russia erupted on the opening day of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Both President Bush and Prime Minister Putin were attending the Olympics at that time and spoke together about the conflict at a luncheon hosted by Chinese president Hu Jintao.[174] When Nino Salukvadze of Georgia won the bronze medal in the 10 meter air pistol competition, she stood on the medal podium with Natalia Paderina, a Russian shooter who had won the silver. In what became a much-publicized event from the Beijing Games, Salukvadze and Paderina embraced on the podium after the ceremony had ended.[175]
Terrorism most directly affected the Olympic Games in 1972. When the Summer Games were held in Munich, Germany, eleven members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage by the Palestinian terrorist group Black September in what is now known as the Munich massacre. The terrorists killed two of the athletes soon after they had taken them hostage and killed the other nine during a failed liberation attempt. A German police officer and 5 terrorists also perished.[176]
Terrorism affected the last two Olympic Games held in the United States. During the Summer Olympics in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, a bomb was detonated at the Centennial Olympic Park, which killed two and injured 111 others. The bomb was set by Eric Rudolph, an American domestic terrorist, who is currently serving a life sentence for the bombing.[177] The 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, took place just five months after the September 11 attacks, which meant a higher level of security than ever before provided for an Olympic Games. The opening ceremonies of the Games featured symbols of the day's events. They included the flag that flew at Ground Zero, NYPD officer Daniel Rodríguez singing "God Bless America", and honor guards of NYPD and FDNY members. The events of that day have made security at the Olympic Games an increasing concern for Olympic planners.[178]
Citizenship
IOC rules for citizenship
The Olympic Charter requires that an athlete be a national of the country they compete for. Dual nationals may compete for either country, as long as three years have passed between when the competitor competed for his former country. However, if the NOCs and IF involved agree, the IOC Executive Board may reduce or cancel this period.[179] This waiting period exists only for those who previously competed for one nation and want to compete for another. If an athlete gains a new or second nationality, they do not have to wait any designated amount of time before participating for the new or second nation. The IOC is only concerned with issues of citizenship and nationality after individual nations have granted citizenship to athletes.[180]
Reasons for changing citizenship
Sometimes, athletes become citizens of new nations solely for the purpose of competing in the Olympics. This usually happens either because people are drawn to sponsorships and training facilities in places like the United States or because an athlete does not qualify in their original country. This is usually because there are many qualified athletes in an athlete’s home country and they want to be able to participate as well as help the team of their new country. Between 1992 and 2008, there were about fifty athletes that have emigrated to the United States to compete on the US Olympic team after having previously competed for another nation.[181]
Citizenship changes and disputes
One of the most famous cases of changing nationality for the Olympics was Zola Budd, a South African runner who emigrated to the United Kingdom because there was an apartheid-era ban on the Olympics in South Africa. Budd was eligible for British citizenship because her grandfather was born there, but British citizens accused the government of expediting the citizenship process for her.[182]
Other notable examples include Kenyan runner Bernard Lagat who became a United States citizen in May 2004. The Kenyan constitution requires that one renounce their Kenyan citizenship when they become a citizen of another nation. Lagat competed for Kenya in the 2004 Athens Olympics even though he had already become a United States citizen. According to Kenya, he was no longer a Kenyan citizen, leaving his silver medal in jeopardy. Lagat said he started the citizenship process in late 2003 and did not expect to become an American citizen until after the Athens games.[183] Basketball player Becky Hammon was not being considered for the United States Olympic team but wanted to play in an Olympic Games, so she emigrated to Russia where she already played in a domestic league during the WNBA offseason. Hammon received criticism from some Americans, including the US national team coach, even being called unpatriotic.[184]
Champions and medalists
Further information: Lists of Olympic medalists and List of multiple Olympic gold medalists
The athletes or teams who place first, second, or third in each event receive medals. The winners receive gold medals, which were solid gold until 1912, then made of gilded silver and now gold-plated silver. Every gold medal however must contain at least six grams of pure gold.[185] The runners-up receive silver medals and the third-place athletes are awarded bronze medals. In events contested by a single-elimination tournament (most notably boxing), third place might not be determined and both semifinal losers receive bronze medals. At the 1896 Olympics only the first two received a medal; silver for first and bronze for second. The current three-medal format was introduced at the 1904 Olympics.[186] From 1948 onward athletes placing fourth, fifth, and sixth have received certificates, which became officially known as victory diplomas; in 1984 victory diplomas for seventh- and eighth-place finishers were added. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, the gold, silver, and bronze medal winners were also given olive wreaths.[187] The IOC does not keep statistics of medals won, but National Olympic Committees and the media record medal statistics as a measure of success.[188]
Host nations and cities
Map of Summer Olympics locations. Countries that have hosted one Summer Olympics are shaded green, while countries that have hosted two or more are shaded blue.
Map of Winter Olympics locations. Countries that have hosted one Winter Olympics are shaded green, while countries that have hosted two or more are shaded blue.
Main article: List of Olympic Games host cities
The host city for an Olympic Games is usually chosen seven to eight years ahead of their celebration.[189] The process of selection is carried out in two phases that span a two-year period. The prospective host city applies to its country's National Olympic Committee; if more than one city from the same country submits a proposal to its NOC, the national committee typically holds an internal selection, since only one city per NOC can be presented to the International Olympic Committee for consideration. Once the deadline for submission of proposals by the NOCs is reached, the first phase (Application) begins with the applicant cities asked to complete a questionnaire regarding several key criteria related to the organization of the Olympic Games.[190] In this form, the applicants must give assurances that they will comply with the Olympic Charter and with any other regulations established by the IOC Executive Committee.[189] The evaluation of the filled questionnaires by a specialized group provides the IOC with an overview of each applicant's project and their potential to host the Games. On the basis of this technical evaluation, the IOC Executive Board selects the applicants that will proceed to the candidature stage.[190]
Once the candidate cities are selected, they must submit to the IOC a bigger and more detailed presentation of their project as part of a candidature file. Each city is thoroughly analyzed by an evaluation commission. This commission will also visit the candidate cities, interviewing local officials and inspecting prospective venue sites, and submit a report on its findings one month prior to the IOC's final decision. During the interview process the candidate city must also guarantee that it will be able to fund the Games.[189] After the work of the evaluation commission, a list of candidates is presented to the General Session of the IOC, which must assemble in a country that does not have a candidate city in the running. The IOC members gathered in the Session have the final vote on the host city. Once elected, the host city bid committee (together with the NOC of the respective country) signs a Host City Contract with the IOC, officially becoming an Olympic host nation and host city.[189]
By 2016, the Olympic Games will have been hosted by 44 cities in 23 countries, but by cities outside Europe and North America on only eight occasions. Since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, the Olympics have been held in Asia or Oceania four times, a sharp increase compared to the previous 92 years of modern Olympic history. The 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro will be the first Olympics for a South American country. No bids from countries in Africa have succeeded.
The United States has hosted eight Olympic Games, four Summer and four Winter, more than any other nation. The British capital London holds the distinction of hosting three Olympic Games, all Summer, more than any other city. The other nations hosting the Summer Games twice are Germany, Australia, France and Greece. The other cities hosting the Summer Games twice are Los Angeles, Paris and Athens.
In addition to the United States, nations hosting multiple Winter Games are France with three, while Switzerland, Austria, Norway, Japan, Canada and Italy have hosted twice. Among host cities, Lake Placid, Innsbruck and St. Moritz have played host to the Winter Olympic Games more than once, each holding that honor twice. The most recent Winter Games were held in Vancouver, Canada's third Olympics overall. The next Winter Games will be in Sochi in 2014, Russia's first Winter Olympics and second Olympics overall.
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Paralympic Games
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For the most recent Summer Games in London, see 2012 Summer Paralympics. For the most recent Winter Games in Vancouver, see 2010 Winter Paralympics.
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The Paralympic Games is a major international multi-sport event, involving athletes with a range of physical and intellectual disabilities, including mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness, and cerebral palsy. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul, South Korea, are held immediately following the respective Olympic Games. All Paralympic Games are governed by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).
The Paralympics have grown from a small gathering of British World War II veterans in 1948 to become one of the largest international sporting events by the early 21st century. Paralympians strive for equal treatment with non-disabled Olympic athletes, but there is a large funding gap between Olympic and Paralympic athletes.
The Paralympic Games are organized in parallel with the Olympic Games, while the IOC-recognized Special Olympics World Games include athletes with intellectual disabilities, and the Deaflympics include deaf athletes.[1][2]
The present formal explanation for the name "Paralympic" is that it derives from the Greek preposition pa??, pará ("beside" or "alongside") and thus refers to a competition held in parallel with the Olympic Games.[3] The Summer Games of 1988 held in Seoul was the first time the term "Paralympic" came into official use.
Given the wide variety of disabilities that Paralympic athletes have, there are several categories in which the athletes compete. The allowable disabilities are broken down into six broad categories. The categories are amputee, cerebral palsy, intellectual disability, wheelchair, visually impaired, and Les Autres (literally "The Others", which are athletes with disabilities that do not fall into the other five categories; these include dwarfism, multiple sclerosis, and congenital disorders). These categories are further broken down into classifications, which vary from sport to sport. The classification system has led to cheating controversies revolving around athletes who over-stated their disabilities, in addition to the use of performance-enhancing drugs seen in other events.
Contents
[hide] 1 History 1.1 Forerunners
1.2 Milestones
1.3 Winter Games
1.4 Recent games
2 International Paralympic Committee 2.1 Forerunners (1964–1989)
2.2 IPC (since 1989)
3 Name and symbols
4 Ceremonies 4.1 Opening
4.2 Closing
4.3 Medal presentation
5 Equality 5.1 Relationship with the Olympics 5.1.1 Paralympians at the Olympics
5.1.2 Funding
5.2 Media coverage
5.3 Outside the games
6 Classification 6.1 Categories
6.2 Classification system 6.2.1 Medical classification (until 1980s)
6.2.2 Functional classification (since 1980s)
7 Sports
8 Controversy 8.1 Cheating
9 Notable champions and achievements
10 Host cities
11 See also
12 Notes
13 References
14 Further reading
15 External links
History[edit source]
Forerunners[edit source]
Further information: World Wheelchair and Amputee Games
Sir Ludwig Guttmann
Athletes with disabilities did compete in the Olympic Games prior to the advent of the Paralympics. The first athlete to do so was German American gymnast George Eyser in 1904, who had one artificial leg. Hungarian Karoly Takacs competed in shooting events in both the 1948 and 1952 Summer Olympics. He was a right-arm amputee and could shoot left-handed. Another disabled athlete to appear in the Olympics prior to the Paralympic Games was Liz Hartel, a Danish equestrian athlete who had contracted polio in 1943 and won a silver medal in the dressage event.[4]
The first organized athletic day for disabled athletes that coincided with the Olympic Games took place on the day of the opening of the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom. German born Dr. Ludwig Guttmann of Stoke Mandeville Hospital,[5] who had been helped to flee Nazi Germany by the Council for Assisting Refugee Academics (CARA) in 1939,[6] hosted a sports competition for British World War II veteran patients with spinal cord injuries. The first games were called the 1948 International Wheelchair Games, and were intended to coincide with the 1948 Olympics.[7] Dr. Guttman's aim was to create an elite sports competition for people with disabilities that would be equivalent to the Olympic Games.[7] The games were held again at the same location in 1952, and Dutch veterans took part alongside the British, making it the first international competition of its kind. These early competitions, also known as the Stoke Mandeville Games, have been described as the precursors of the Paralympic Games.[8]
Milestones[edit source]
There have been several milestones in the Paralympic movement. The first official Paralympic Games, no longer open solely to war veterans, was held in Rome in 1960.[9] 400 athletes from 23 countries competed at the 1960 Games. Since 1960, the Paralympic Games have taken place in the same year as the Olympic Games.[10][11] The Games were initially open only to athletes in wheelchairs; at the 1976 Summer Games, athletes with different disabilities were included for the first time at a Summer Paralympics.[7] With the inclusion of more disability classifications the 1976 Summer Games expanded to 1,600 athletes from 40 countries.[10] The 1988 Summer Paralympics in Seoul, South Korea, was another milestone for the Paralympic movement. It was in Seoul that the Paralympic Summer Games were held directly after the Olympic Summer Games, in the same host city, and using the same facilities. This set a precedent that was followed in 1992, 1996 and 2000. It was eventually formalized in an agreement between the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2001,[10][12] and was recently extended through 2020.[13] The 1992 Winter Paralympics were the first Winter Games to use the same facilities as the Winter Olympics.
Winter Games[edit source]
Main article: Winter Paralympic Games
The first Winter Paralympic Games were held in 1976 in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden. This was the first Paralympics in which multiple categories of athletes with disabilities could compete.[10] The Winter Games were celebrated every four years on the same year as their summer counterpart, just as the Olympics were. This tradition was upheld until the 1992 Games in Albertville, France; after that, beginning with the 1994 Games, the Winter Paralympics and the Winter Olympics have been held in those even numbered years separate from the Summer Games.[10]
Recent games[edit source]
The Paralympic Games were designed to emphasize the participants' athletic achievements, not their disability.[3] The movement has grown dramatically since its early days – for example the number of athletes participating in the Summer Paralympic Games has increased from 400 athletes in Rome in 1960 to over 3,900 athletes from 146 countries in Beijing in 2008.[14] Both the Paralympic Summer and Winter Games are recognized on the world stage. The Paralympics is no longer held solely for British war veterans or just for athletes in wheelchairs, but for elite athletes with a wide variety of disabilities from all over the world.[15]
International Paralympic Committee[edit source]
Main article: International Paralympic Committee
Forerunners (1964–1989)[edit source]
The first organization dedicated to advancement of athletic opportunities for people with a disability was the International Sports Organization for the Disabled (ISOD), founded in 1964. The founders of this organization intended it to be a governing body to disability sports what the IOC was to the Olympic Games.[16] This committee eventually became the International Coordinating Committee of World Sports Organizations for the Disabled (ICC), which was established in 1982. The ICC was tasked with advocating for the rights of athletes with a disability in front of the IOC.[17] After the success of the cooperative effort between the ICC and the IOC, which resulted in the 1988 Summer Paralympics in Seoul, the ICC determined the need to expand and include representatives from all nations that had disability sports programs. They also deemed it necessary to include athletes in the decisions of the Paralympic governing body. Consequently this body was reorganized as the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) in 1989.[10][17]
IPC (since 1989)[edit source]
A white building with trees next to it fronting a street with a car driving past
IPC headquarters in Bonn
The IPC is the global governing body of the Paralympic Movement. It comprises 174 National Paralympic Committees (NPC) and four disability-specific international sports federations. The president of the IPC is Philip Craven, a former Paralympian from Great Britain. In his capacity as head of the IPC, Craven is also a member of the International Olympic Committee.[18] The IPC's international headquarters are in Bonn, Germany. The IPC is responsible for organizing the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games. It also serves as the International Federation for nine sports. This requires the IPC to supervise and coordinate the World Championships and other competitions for each of the nine sports it regulates.[3] Subsumed under the authority of the IPC are a large number of national and international sporting organizations and federations. The IPC also recognizes media partners, certifies officials, judges, and is responsible for enforcing the bylaws of the Paralympic Charter.[19]
The IPC has a cooperative relationship with the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Delegates of the IPC are also members of the IOC and participate on IOC committees and commissions. The two governing bodies remain distinct, with separate Games, despite the close working relationship.[20]
Name and symbols[edit source]
A flag with three red, gree, and blue swooshes on a white background. It is attached to a flag pole and is framed by a blue sky
The Paralympic flag
Main article: Paralympic symbols
The present formal explanation for the name is that it derives from the Greek preposition pa??, pará ("beside" or "alongside") and thus refers to a competition held in parallel with the Olympic Games.[21] The Summer Games of 1988 held in Seoul was the first time the term "Paralympic" came into official use.
"Spirit in Motion" is the motto for the Paralympic movement. The symbol for the Paralympics contains three colours, red, blue, and green, which are the colours most widely represented in the flags of nations. The colours are each in the shape of an Agito (which is Latin for "I move"), an asymmetrical crescent specially designed for the Paralympic movement. The three Agitos circle a central point, which is a symbol for the athletes congregating from all points of the globe.[22] The motto and symbol of the IPC were changed in 2003 to their current versions. The change was intended to convey the idea that Paralympians have a spirit of competition and that the IPC as an organization realizes its potential and is moving forward to achieve it. The vision of the IPC is, "To enable Paralympic athletes to achieve sporting excellence and to inspire and excite the world."[23] The Paralympic anthem is "Hymn de l'Avenir" or "Anthem of the Future". It was composed by Thierry Darnis and adopted as the official anthem in March 1996.[24]
Ceremonies[edit source]
Opening[edit source]
A portion of the stadium with stands full of people, a large artificial tree is on the right side of the image. A group of people are walking together on the stadium floor
Opening ceremony of the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens
As mandated by the Paralympic Charter, various elements frame the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games. Most of these rituals were established at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp.[25] The ceremony typically starts with the hoisting of the host country's flag and a performance of its national anthem. The host nation then presents artistic displays of music, singing, dance, and theatre representative of its culture.
After the artistic portion of the ceremony, the athletes parade into the stadium grouped by nation. Nations enter the stadium alphabetically according to the host country's chosen language, with the host country's athletes being the last to enter. Speeches are given, formally opening the games. Finally, the Paralympic torch is brought into the stadium and passed on until it reaches the final torch carrier—often a Paralympic athlete from the host nation—who lights the Paralympic flame in the stadium's cauldron.[26]
Closing[edit source]
The closing ceremony of the Paralympic Games takes place after all sporting events have concluded. Flag-bearers from each participating country enter, followed by the athletes who enter together, without any national distinction. The Paralympic flag is taken down. The national flag of the country hosting the next Summer or Winter Paralympic Games is hoisted while the corresponding national anthem is played. The games are officially closed, and the Paralympic flame is extinguished.[27] After these compulsory elements, the next host nation briefly introduces itself with artistic displays of dance and theater representative of its culture.
Medal presentation[edit source]
six men stand together wearing Paralympic medals and waving flower bouquets
A medal ceremony during the 2010 Winter Paralympics.
A medal ceremony is held after each Paralympic event is concluded. The winner, second and third-place competitors or teams stand on top of a three-tiered rostrum to be awarded their respective medals. After the medals are given out by an IPC member, the national flags of the three medallists are raised while the national anthem of the gold medallists country plays.[28] Volunteering citizens of the host country also act as hosts during the medal ceremonies, as they aid the officials who present the medals and act as flag-bearers.[29] For every Paralympic event, the respective medal ceremony is held, at most, one day after the event's final.
Equality[edit source]
Relationship with the Olympics[edit source]
In 2001 the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) signed an agreement which guaranteed that host cities would be contracted to manage both the Olympic and Paralympic Games. This agreement will remain in effect until the 2012 Summer Olympics[10] and will be further extended to the 2014 Winter Olympics and 2016 Summer Olympics.[30]
The IOC has written its commitment to equal access to athletics for all people into its charter, which states,[31]
" The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practising sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play....Any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement. "
While the charter is silent on discrimination specifically related to disability; given the language in the charter regarding discrimination it is reasonable to infer that discrimination on the basis of disability would be against the ideals of the Olympic Charter and the IOC.[32] This is also consistent with the Paralympic Charter, which forbids discrimination on the basis of political, religious, economic, disability, gender, sexual orientation or racial reasons.[33]
Chairman of the London organising committee, Sebastian Coe, said about the 2012 Summer Paralympics and 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England, that
" We want to change public attitudes towards disability, celebrate the excellence of Paralympic sport and to enshrine from the very outset that the two Games are an integrated whole. "
[34]
Paralympians at the Olympics[edit source]
A man in a spandex singlet runs on a track. He has two prosthetics below the knees
Oscar Pistorius at a track meet on 8 July 2007
See also: List of athletes who have competed in the Paralympics and Olympics
Paralympic athletes have sought equal opportunities to compete at the Olympic Games. The precedent was set by Neroli Fairhall, a Paralympic archer from New Zealand, who competed at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.[35]
In 2008 Oscar Pistorius, a South African sprinter, attempted to qualify for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Pistorius had both his legs amputated below the knee and races with two carbon fibre blades manufactured by Ossur. He holds Paralympic records in the 100, 200, and 400 meter events. Pistorius missed qualifying for the 2008 Summer Olympics in the 400 meter race, by 0.70 seconds. He qualified for the 2008 Summer Paralympics where he won gold medals in the 100, 200, and 400 meter sprints.[36] In 2011, Pistorius qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics and competed in two events: he made the semi-final in the 400 metres race; and his team came 8th in the final of the 4 × 400 metres relay race.[37]
Some athletes without a disability also compete at the Paralympics; The sighted guides for athletes with a visual impairment are such a close and essential part of the competition that the athlete with visual impairment and the guide are considered a team, and both athletes are medal candidates.[38]
Funding[edit source]
There has been criticism for not providing equal funding to Paralympic athletes as compared to Olympic athletes. An example of this criticism was a lawsuit filed by Paralympic athletes Tony Iniguez, Scot Hollonbeck and Jacob Heilveil of the United States, in 2003.[39] They alleged that the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), which also include the USOC Paralympic Division (the National Paralympic Committee), was underfunding American Paralympic athletes. Iniguez cited the fact that the USOC made healthcare benefits available to a smaller percentage of Paralympians, the USOC provided smaller quarterly training stipends and paid smaller financial awards for medals won at a Paralympics. US Paralympians saw this as a disadvantage for the US Paralympic athletes, as nations such as Canada and Britain supported Paralympians and Olympians virtually equally. The USOC did not deny the discrepancy in funding and contended that this was due to the fact that it did not receive any government financial support. As a result it had to rely on revenue generated by the media exposure of its athletes. Olympic athletic success resulted in greater exposure for the USOC than Paralympic athletic achievements. The case was heard by lower courts, who ruled that the USOC has the right to allocate its finances to athletes at different rates. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court,[40] where on September 6, 2008 it announced that it would not hear the appeal. However, during the time the lawsuit lasted (from 2003 to 2008), the funding from the USOC had nearly tripled. In 2008 $11.4 million was earmarked for Paralympic athletes, up from $3 million in 2004.[39]
As with the Olympics, recent Paralympics have also been supported by contributions from major sponsors. Unlike the Olympics, where the IOC mandates that arenas be clean of sponsor logos, the Paralympics do allow the logos of official sponsors to be displayed inside arenas and on uniforms.[41]
Media coverage[edit source]
While the Olympic Games have experienced tremendous growth in global media coverage since the 1984 Summer Olympics, the Paralympics have been unable to maintain a consistent international media presence.
Television broadcasts of Paralympic Games began in 1976, but this early coverage was confined to taped-delay releases to one nation or region. At the 1992 Summer Paralympics there were 45 hours of live coverage but it was available only in Europe. Other countries broadcast highlight packages during the Games. No meaningful improvements in coverage occurred until the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney.[42]
The 2000 Paralympics represented a significant increase in global media exposure for the Paralympic Games. A deal was reached between the Sydney Paralympic Organizing Committee (SPOC) and All Media Sports (AMS) to broadcast the Games internationally. Deals were reached with Asian, South American, and European broadcast companies to distribute coverage to as many markets as possible. The Games were also webcast for the first time. Because of these efforts the Sydney Paralympics reached a global audience estimated at 300 million people.[43] Also significant was the fact that the organizers did not have to pay networks to televise the Games as had been done at the 1992 and 1996 Games.[44] Despite these advances consistent media attention has been a challenge, which was evidenced in the coverage in Great Britain of the 2010 Winter Paralympics.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) was criticized for its minimal coverage of the 2010 Winter Paralympics as compared to its coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympics. The BBC announced it would stream some content on its website and show a one-hour highlight program after the Games ended. For the Winter Olympics the BBC aired 160 hours of coverage. The response from the BBC was that budget constraints and the "time zone factor" necessitated a limited broadcast schedule.[45] The reduction in coverage was done in spite of increased ratings for the 2008 Summer Paralympics, which was watched by 23% of the population of Great Britain.[45] In Norway, the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) broadcast 30 hours of the 2010 Winter Games live. NRK-sport were critical of parts of the TV production from Vancouver, and notified the EBU of issues such as the biathlon coverage excluding the shooting, and cross-country skiing with skiers in the distance, making it hard to follow the progress of the competition. NRK were far more pleased with the production of the ice sledge hockey and wheelchair curling events, which they felt reached the same level as the Olympic Games.[46]
Commercial broadcaster Channel 4 acquired the rights to the Paralympics in the United Kingdom for the 2012 Summer Paralympics, and planned to air extensive coverage of the games; Channel 4 aired 150 hours of coverage, and also offered mobile apps, and three dedicated streaming channels of additional coverage on Sky, Freesat, Virgin Media and Channel 4's website."[47] Channel 4 also made a push to heighten the profile of the Paralympics in the country by producing a 2 minute trailer for its coverage, "Meet the Superhumans"; which premièred simultaneously on over 70 commercial channels in the UK on 17 July 2012.[48][49] Channel 4 have also acquired the rights to the 2014 Winter Paralympics and the 2016 Summer Paralympics.[50]
American broadcaster NBC Sports, who also owns the broadcast rights to the Olympics, has been criticised by athletes and IPC officials for airing only a bare minimum of coverage from the Paralympics; the lack of coverage from NBC in Athens was a cause for concern from senior IPC officials, especially given that the United States was bidding for the 2012 Games. In 2012 NBC only produced around 5 hours of tape delayed highlights from the Games, airing on the pay TV channel NBC Sports Network, and did not cover the ceremonies at all.[51]
IPC president Philip Craven was vocal about NBC's reluctance to air coverage in 2012, expressing his disappointment for American athletes and viewers who would miss the "amazing images" the games would bring, and remarking that "some people think that North America always lead[s] on everything, and on this they don't. It's about time they caught up."[52] Following the closing ceremonies, Craven hinted that the IPC might greater scrutiny on broadcasters at future editions of the Paralympics (or may strip NBC of its broadcast rights), by stating that "if we find our values don’t fit, we’ll have to go somewhere else."[53]
Outside the games[edit source]
A 2010 study by the University of British Columbia (UBC) on the Olympic Games Impact (OGI), showed that of roughly 1,600 Canadian respondents, 41–50 percent believed the 2010 Paralympic and Olympic Games in Vancouver, Canada triggered additional accessibility of buildings, sidewalks and public spaces. 23 percent of employers said the Games had increased their willingness to hire people with disabilities. [54]
Chief Executive Officer for the International Paralympic Committee, Xavier Gonzalez, said about the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, China, that [55]
" In China, the (Paralympic) Games were really a transformation tool for changing attitudes across the board in China towards people with disability, to building accessibility facilities in the city, to changing laws to allow people with a disability to be part of society. "
Classification[edit source]
Main article: Disability sport classification
A woman sitting on sit-skis, she is pushing herself with two poles
Olena Iurkovska of Ukraine competing on cross-country sit-skis at the 2010 Winter Paralympics.
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has established ten disability categories. Athletes are divided within each category according to their level of impairment, in a functional classification system which differs from sport to sport.
Categories[edit source]
The IPC has established ten disability categories, including physical, visual, and intellectual impairment. Athletes with one of these disabilities can compete in the Paralympics though not every sport can allow for every disability category. These categories apply to both Summer and Winter Paralympics.[56]
Physical Impairment - There are eight different types of physical impairment:
Impaired muscle power - With impairments in this category, the force generated by muscles, such as the muscles of one limb, one side of the body or the lower half of the body is reduced, e.g. due to spinal-cord injury, spina bifida or polio.
Impaired passive range of movement - Range of movement in one or more joints is reduced in a systematic way. Acute conditions such as arthritis are not included.
Loss of limb or limb deficiency - A total or partial absence of bones or joints from partial or total loss due to illness, trauma, or congenital limb deficiency (e.g. dysmelia).
Leg-length difference - Significant bone shortening occurs in one leg due to congenital deficiency or trauma.
Short stature - Standing height is reduced due to shortened legs, arms and trunk, which are due to a musculoskeletal deficit of bone or cartilage structures.
Hypertonia - Hypertonia is marked by an abnormal increase in muscle tension and reduced ability of a muscle to stretch. Hypertonia may result from injury, disease, or conditions which involve damage to the central nervous system (e.g. cerebral palsy).
Ataxia - Ataxia is an impairment that consists of a lack of coordination of muscle movements (e.g. cerebral palsy, Friedreich’s ataxia).
Athetosis - Athetosis is generally characterized by unbalanced, involuntary movements and a difficulty maintaining a symmetrical posture (e.g. cerebral palsy, choreoathetosis).
Visual Impairment - Athletes with visual impairment ranging from partial vision, sufficient to be judged legally blind, to total blindness. This includes impairment of one or more component of the visual system (eye structure, receptors, optic nerve pathway, and visual cortex).[56] The sighted guides for athletes with a visual impairment are such a close and essential part of the competition that the athlete with visual impairment and the guide are considered a team. Beginning in 2012, these guides (along with sighted goalkeepers in 5-a-side football became eligible to receive medals of their own.[38][57]
Intellectual Disability - Athletes with a significant impairment in intellectual functioning and associated limitations in adaptive behaviour. The IPC primarily serves athletes with physical disabilities, but the disability group Intellectual Disability has been added to some Paralympic Games. This includes only elite athletes with intellectual disabilities diagnosed before the age of 18.[56] However, the IOC-recognized Special Olympics World Games are open to all people with intellectual disabilities.[2][58]
Classification system[edit source]
Within the disability categories the athletes still need to be divided according to level of impairment. The classification systems differ from sport to sport and are intended to open up sports to as many athletes as possible who can participate in fair competitions against athletes with similar levels of ability. The biggest challenge in the classification system is how to account for the wide variety and severity of disabilities. Consequently, there is a range of impairment within most classifications .[59]
Medical classification (until 1980s)[edit source]
From its inception until the 1980s, the Paralympic system for classifying athletes consisted of a medical evaluation and diagnosis of impairment. An athlete's medical condition was the only factor used to determine what class they competed in. For example an athlete who had a spinal cord injury that resulted in lower limb paresis, would not compete in the same wheelchair race as an athlete with a double above-knee amputation. The fact that their disability caused the same impairment did not factor into classification determination, the only consideration was their medical diagnosis. It was not until views on disabled athletics shifted from just a form of rehabilitation to an end in itself, that the classification system changed from medical diagnosis to a focus on the functional abilities of the athlete.[60]
Functional classification (since 1980s)[edit source]
Three men wearing eye shades laying on the floor, a red ball is to the left of the image
The Swedish goalball team at the 2004 Summer Paralympics
While there is no clear date when the shift occurred, a functional classification system became the norm for disabled athletic classification in the 1980s. In a functional system the focus is on what impact the athlete's impairment has on his or her athletic performance. Under this system, athletes with total loss of function in their legs will compete together in most sports, because their functional loss is the same and the reason for the loss is immaterial. The only exception to the functional system is the classification format used by International Blind Sport Federation (IBSF0), which still uses a medically based system.[60]
Some sports are only held for certain disability types. For example, goalball is only for visually impaired athletes. The Paralympics recognizes three different grades of visual impairment, consequently all competitors in goalball must wear a visor or "black out mask" so that athletes with less visual impairment will not have an advantage.[61] Other sports, like athletics, are open to athletes with a wide variety of impairments. In athletics participants are broken down into a range of classes based on the disability they have and then they are placed in a classification within that range based on their level of impairment. For example: classes 11–13 are for visually impaired athletes, which class they are in depends on their level of visual impairment.[62] There are also team competitions such as wheelchair rugby. Members of the team are each given a point value based on their activity limitation. A lower score indicates a more severe activity limitation than a higher score. A team cannot have more than a certain maximum total of points on the field of play at the same time to ensure equal competition. For example, in wheelchair rugby the five players' combined disability number must total no more than eight points.[63]
Sports[edit source]
Main article: Paralympic sports
There are twenty sports on the Summer Paralympic program and five sports on the Winter Paralympics program. Within some of the sports are several events. For example, alpine skiing has a slalom and giant slalom. The IPC has governance over several of the sports but not all of them. Other international organizations, known as International Sports Federations (IF), notably the International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation (IWAS), the International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA), and the Cerebral Palsy International Sports and Recreation Association (CP-ISRA), govern some sports that are specific to certain disability groups.[64] There are national chapters for these International Sport Federations including National Paralympic Committees, which are responsible for recruitment of athletes and governance of sports at the national level.[65]
Controversy[edit source]
Cheating[edit source]
Main article: Cheating at the Paralympic Games
After the 2000 Sydney Games, a Spanish basketball player alleged that several members of the gold-medal winning Spanish basketball intellectually disabled (ID) team were not disabled. He claimed that only two athletes out of the twelve-member team met the qualifications of an intellectually disabled athlete.[66] A controversy ensued and the IPC called on the Spanish National Paralympic Committee to launch an investigation.[67] The investigation uncovered several Spanish athletes who had flouted the ID rules. In an interview with the president of the federation that oversees ID competition, Fernando Martin Vicente admitted that athletes around the world were breaking the ID eligibility rules. The IPC responded by starting an investigation of its own.[66] The results of the IPC's investigation confirmed the Spanish athlete's allegations and also determined that the incident was not isolated to the basketball ID event or to Spanish athletes.[66] As a result all ID competitions were suspended indefinitely.[68] The ban was lifted after the 2008 Games after work had been done to tighten the criteria and controls governing admission of athletes with intellectual disabilities. Four sports, swimming, athletics, table tennis and rowing, were anticipated to hold competitions for ID athletes at the 2012 Summer Paralympics.[69][70]
The Paralympics have also been tainted by steroid use. At the 2008 Games in Beijing, three powerlifters and a German basketball player were banned after having tested positive for banned substances.[69] This was a decrease in comparison to the ten powerlifters and one track athlete who were banned from the 2000 Games.[71] German skier Thomas Oelsner became the first Winter Paralympian to test positive for steroids. He had won two gold medals at the 2002 Winter Paralympics, but his medals were stripped after his positive drug test.[72] At the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Swedish curler Glenn Ikonen tested positive for a banned substance and was suspended for six months[73] by the IPC. He was removed from the rest of the curling competition but his team was allowed to continue. The 54-year-old curler said his doctor had prescribed a medication on the banned substances list.[74][75]
Another concern now facing Paralympic officials is the technique of "boosting". Athletes can artificially increase their blood pressure, often by self-harming, which has been shown to improve performance by up to 15%. This is most effective in the endurance sports such as cross-country skiing. To increase blood pressure athletes will deliberately cause trauma to limbs below a spinal injury. This trauma can include breaking bones, strapping extremities in too tightly, and using high-pressured compression stockings. The injury is painless but it does have an impact on the athlete's blood pressure.[76]
Another potential concern is the use of gene therapy among Paralympic athletes. All Paralympic athletes are banned from enhancing their abilities through gene doping, but it is extremely difficult to differentiate these concepts.[77] The World Anti-Doping Agency is currently researching both gene doping and gene therapy, in part to discern the boundary between the two closely related concepts.[78]
The IPC have been working with the World Anti-Doping Agency since 2003, to ensure compliance with WADA's anti-doping code among its Paralympic athletes.[79] The IPC has also promised to continue increasing the number of athletes tested at each of its Games, in order to further minimize the possible impact of doping in Paralympic sports.[79] Mandatory in- and out-of competition testing has also been implemented by the IPC to further ensure all of its athletes are performing in compliance with WADA regulations.[79]
Notable champions and achievements[edit source]
Further information: Lists of Paralympic medalists and List of multiple Paralympic gold medalists
Trischa Zorn of the United States is the most decorated Paralympian in history. She competed in the blind swimming events and won a total of 55 medals, 41 of which are gold. Her Paralympic career spanned 24 years from 1980 to 2004. She was also an alternate on the 1980 American Olympic swim team, but did not go to the Olympics due to a boycott by the United States and several of its allies.[80][81] Ragnhild Myklebust of Norway holds the record for the most medals ever won at the Winter Paralympic Games. Competing in a variety of events in 1988, 1992, 1994 and 2002, she won a total of 22 medals, of which 17 were gold. After winning five gold medals at the 2002 Games she retired at the age of 58.[82] Neroli Fairhall, a paraplegic archer from New Zealand, was the first paraplegic competitor, and the first Paralympian, to participate in the Olympic Games, when she competed in the 1984 Summer Olympics in thirty-fourth in the Olympic archery competition, and won a Paralympic gold medal in the same event.
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FREEDOM TO READ- FREEDOM 4 EDUCATION- the greatest weapon of this world- Education- Self-Empowerment- FREEDOM FROM CHILD ABUSE- FREEDOM 4 GIRLS AND WOMEN GLOBALLY..... when women equal men on the UNITED NATIONS DESPOTS AND THIEVES market.... there will be no wars... and all children will maters
CHILD ABUSE HEALING MONUMENT- TORONTO- CANADA- COME VISIT-
"I've fought in Vietnam... and ... I was abused as a child.... child abuse was harder"
http://www.irvingstudios.com/child_abuse_survivor_monument/images/quilt_inventory/711A2_square.htm
http://www.irvingstudios.com/child_abuse_survivor_monument/poetry/711A2_poem2a.htm#711a2
http://www.irvingstudios.com/child_abuse_survivor_monument/CanadianResponse.htm#top01
FREEDOM TO READ- FREEDOM 4 EDUCATION- the greatest weapon of this world- Education- Self-Empowerment
On Tuesday Feb 19 2013, Defense Minister Peter MacKay read to some elementary students in support of Adopt a Library Literacy Program.
http://www.myspace.com/nova0000scotia/photos/71842042?authkey=blOAKNrBGXQ%2Be6uwIF%2BB9N1HhGpyVB98yss3s3mdcNuPZMiJNvgHSyWYfW7ZMp3nLfog3EnfjwFaN6uXH5oxX62sOu%2FjxLjwAgUIxo%2BLsU4%3D#%7B%22ImageId%22%3A71842042%7D
Adopt a Library is a literacy program that is supported by the Rotary Club of Pictou and supplies books to almost every elementary school child in Nova Scotia. It also runs the WOW Reading Challenge where schools compete against each other to read the most books. Adopt a Library does not supply books to school libraries but gets them directly into the hands of the children.
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FROM OUR CANADA
One Billion Rising
There was a monumental event that took place on February 14 this year that seems went largely unnoticed by much of the mainstream media no, not Valentine’s Day—an event called "One Billion Rising" a global campaign to end violence against women and girls. To be honest, I had heard nothing about it until I came across a news piece done by NPR in the states. The event called for one billion women around the world to join together and dance in a show of collective strength. The word billion refers to the statistic that one in three women will be raped or beaten in their lifetime, or about one billion—that’s shocking. ?The campaign was founded by playwright and activist Eve Ensler who said, ?"Today the dancing begins and with this dancing we express our outrage and joy and our firm global call for a world where women are free and safe and cherished and equal. Dance with your body, for your body, for the bodies of women and the earth." ?The rally was held in more than 190 countries including most major cities in Canada and was deemed a success by organizers as women from all walks of life joined in mass dance movements and flash mobs around the world—what a joyous way to send such an important message.?To see much more about this movement go to www.onebillionrising.org.
http://www.readersdigest.ca/our-canada/maryanne/one-billion-rising
----------------
teens and youngbloods- brave enough to keep their babies...shania talks about her momma being one of those kids - who folks abandoned because she was pregnant and kept her baby...
I Ain't Goin Down-Shania Twain
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZgLjuJjUek
COMMENT:
Just wanna say im a single mom to a 2 yrs old pretty daughter.....just love this song the first time i hear it!! I will hold on to what I believe in ....I ain't going dow!!Lov U? Shania! :)
AND...
This momma decided to give her baby up 4 adoption.... some regret... some thrilled how he turned out with parents who truly loved him.....
Michelle Wright - He Would Be Sixteen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xejDR9vcjp0
AND.... it a youngblood has the courage to keep her baby and continue on school- because the greatest power a person can have is... the empowerment of education
Mark Wills - Don't Laugh At Me
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVjbo8dW9c8
COMMENT;
This song really touches my heart. I am in the 8th grade, and I used to get bullied all throughout school. It really does suck. What angers me so much is that there are so many young adults out in the world that realizes how much they are hurting a person, and they still don't care! I have took up for so many friends, and strangers? because a lot of people don't care about anyone else but their self!
I go to a school where everyone is a label!
Society is horrible & we need to all make a change
----------------
EVERY DAY IS INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY- no more abuses- no more excuses
ONE IN THREE WOMEN WILL BE BEATEN, RAPED OR MURDERED ON THIS PLANET....Global Girl Power Rising... and this is NOT just valentine's day...it's every day..... ONE BILLION RISING
One Billion Rising Lunapads & AFRIpads
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWSjCdMxsS0
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One Billion Rising: Robert Redford on why he is joining Eve Ensler's campaign
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCHXBQIU01Y
READER'S DIGEST CANADA
One Billion Rising
There was a monumental event that took place on February 14 this year that seems went largely unnoticed by much of the mainstream media no, not Valentine’s Day—an event called "One Billion Rising" a global campaign to end violence against women and girls. To be honest, I had heard nothing about it until I came across a news piece done by NPR in the states. The event called for one billion women around the world to join together and dance in a show of collective strength. The word billion refers to the statistic that one in three women will be raped or beaten in their lifetime, or about one billion—that’s shocking. ?The campaign was founded by playwright and activist Eve Ensler who said, ?"Today the dancing begins and with this dancing we express our outrage and joy and our firm global call for a world where women are free and safe and cherished and equal. Dance with your body, for your body, for the bodies of women and the earth." ?The rally was held in more than 190 countries including most major cities in Canada and was deemed a success by organizers as women from all walks of life joined in mass dance movements and flash mobs around the world—what a joyous way to send such an important message.?To see much more about this movement go to www.onebillionrising.org.
One Billion Rising - Canada
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LinrSwJXcTM
Published on Jan 27, 2013
I'm Rising Because..."Over 50% of Canadian women by the age of 16 will have experienced at least one incident of sexual or physical violence. Why Would You Not Take Action? "
Toronto City Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam is Rising with One Billion Rising Toronto on February 14, 2013.
Thank you to fb.com/onebillionrisingtoronto for posting this Canadian perspective. Danya Daccash, M.S.W.
~ http://www.telephonecounsellingforwom...
~ http://www.facebook.com/danyadaccash
AND...
ewwww AMAZON- DON'T PAY TAXES AND T-SHIRTS SAY 'RAPE A LOT'
Amazon row over 'rape' T-shirt Amazon has yet to respond to a BBC request for a comment
Internet retailer Amazon is continuing to list clothes from a US firm despite a row over a T-shirt printed with the message: "Keep calm and rape a lot."
On Friday, US company Solid Gold Bomb apologised for selling the T-shirt and removed it from sale, saying a listing was automatically generated in error.
Earlier on Saturday the firm had T-shirts for sale with messages including "keep calm and hit her".
An Amazon statement said later "those items are not available for sale".
The T-shirts are based on the World War II wartime propaganda slogan "keep calm and carry on".
Among the 8,425 T-shirts still offered for sale by the company on the Amazon site at 12:00 GMT on Saturday were those with the slogans "keep calm and knife her" and "keep calm and grope a lot".
By 14:00 GMT, all items listed for sale by Solid Gold Bomb were unavailable to buy with visitors unable to click on the "add to basket" button.
Solid Gold Bomb said any offensive items were "certainly in the deletion queue and will be removed as soon as the processing is complete".
'Mellow-harsher'
The sale of the T-shirts has been criticised by former Labour deputy leader Lord Prescott, who said on Twitter: "First Amazon avoids paying UK tax. Now they're make money from domestic violence."
Times journalist and author Caitlin Moran tweeted: "Wow. Keep Calm & Hit Her T-shirts on Amazon. What a massive mellow-harsher."
In Friday's statement, Solid Gold Bomb said it had been "informed of the fact that we were selling an offensive T-shirt primarily in the UK".
It added: "This has been immediately deleted as it was and had been automatically generated using a scripted computer process running against hundreds of thousands of dictionary words."
The company said it accepted "the responsibility of the error and our doing our best to correct the issues at hand.
"We're sorry for the ill-feeling this has caused."
---------------
CHILD ABUSE SURVIVOR MONUMENT- Toronto, Canada- 4 the victors over childabuse- and those who did NOT make it...
The Survivor Monument Project was active at its Birch Avenue studio from 1997 to 2003.
Survivor and supporter participation in creating the quilt squares of the Child Abuse Monument was completed in 2003. In May of 2005 The Survivor Monument Project finished its work at the Birch Studio. Dr. Irving has continued to be directly involved in the fine art bronze casting of the large Monument figures.
When funding permits, Dr. Irving will complete the bronze casting of the second "Reaching Out" figure.
http://www.irvingstudios.com/child_abuse_survivor_monument/index.html
Dr. Michael Irving led
sculpting and poetry
workshops to create the
materials of the Child
Abuse Survivor
Monument Project.
The sculpted quilt
squares and poetry of
the workshop
participants became the
resource material of the
project's many activities.
The four art and poetry
books linked to from this
web page tell the story
of: the confrontation with
the angst and legacy of
child abuse; the struggle
to find answers and
understanding; the
difficult journey of
healing; the value and
power of connecting with
others; the movement
into healing and
recovery; the freedoms
and victories that are the
rewards of
perseverance.
These books are
presented here to assist
others with understanding
and healing.
We are seeking a
publisher who would
publish these as art and
poetry books. Contact
Dr. Irving at
mci@irvingstudios.com
"HandPrints to Give Kids a Hand"
(PDF version of instructions for printing)
(PDF version of template page for printing)
Sculptor and Psychotherapist, Dr. Michael C. Irving is asking you to share his vision of "A massive visualization of the world we want for children" by letting your hand join others inside the "Reaching Out Child Abuse Monument."
Dr. Irving and the participants who collaborated with him to sculpt the quilt squares of the "Reaching Out" Monument shared a common desire that the Child Abuse Monument would be an extraordinary force assisting with helping survivors to heal and for the prevention of child abuse.
The sculpture above is the first completed bronze of two figures composing the "Reaching Out" monument vignette. The second figure will take another year to complete after funding is raised for the art foundry process.
Dr. Irving is using the first figure as the centre piece of the "Creating A New Reality" campaign to generate a massive "National Visualization of Healing and Prevention." Dr. Irving is asking people to draw an outline of their hand on a piece of paper and just sign their initials or write a message.
The HandPrint Visualizations can be for:
a.) Prevention of abuse;
b.) Support for survivors or
c.) Story telling and healing for yourself;
We have thousands of these hand drawings now. When both monument figures are done we will place all of the "Creating A New Reality" papers inside the two monument figures. Their energy and messages will serve for centuries as a national visualization creating healing and prevention. protect children.
A large space inside the Monument figures allow for the placement of hand outlines and messages on pieces of paper. People are asked to draw an outline of their hand on a piece of paper (8.5 inches by 11 inches) and write a message on or around the hand outline.
An outline of your hand on a regular piece of paper would be a wonderful contribution towards this visualized intention. Also, ask some of your friends, colleagues or family to make an outline of their hand and send for inclusion as a collective visualization in the monument. Instructions and directions for the "Creating A New Reality" Visualization can be found directly below:
Children at schools, shopping malls, churches and community centres gave Dr. Irving outlines of hands with messages for a collective visualization
of our intention to protect children.
The hand outlines and messages on this web page will be included inside the "Reaching Out" Child Abuse Monument as part of a "National Visualization" healing for survivors and prevention of child abuse".
Will your hand be there along side them?
Child Abuse,
You don't have to worry.
It Stops Now.
Nikko, age 11
Your hand outline and message can join thousands of other Canadians who have contributed to making the "Art" of the Child Abuse Monument.
Don’t abuse your kids.
Stop and give a hand.
Kids have feelings.
Don’t because kids are
humans.
I wish for child abuse to stop. I wish for peace.
Aaron, age9
I love being a Kid.
I think child abuse should stop and stop NOW!!!
Kyle, age 8
Why should child abuse happen. We don't want it happening, no one does. So, Don't do it.
Clair, age 11
Keep the peace in your home, school and in your HEART.
Shanese, age 10
Through 2008 until the fall of 2011
we are still accepting hand outlines
for placement inside the "Reaching Out" Child Abuse Monument
To contribute a "Create a New Reality Visualization" for placement inside The "Reaching Out" Child Abuse Monument.
1. Draw an outline of your hand on a piece of 8 1/2 x 11 paper or the back of your printout;
2. On or around the outline of your hand, write or draw message of:
** a .) Prevention of abuse;
** b.) Support for survivors or
** c.) Story telling and healing for yourself;
3. Send your personal "Creating A New Reality" HandPrint for the Child Abuse Monument to:
"Reaching Out" Child Abuse Monument c/o
Dr. Michael C. Irving
274 Rhodes Ave.
Toronto, Ontario
Canada, M4L 3A3
You can also "Create A New Reality" with a donation. You do not need to give a donation to contribute a hand, though your donations are greatly appreciated.
Even donations of $10.00 or $20.00 will help to bring the monument to schools, community centres and events for gather contributions for the "Creating A New Reality" Vision.
Cheques can be made out to The Survivor Monument Project and sent to the address above or donate online directly below.
Make a donation with PayPal or
donate with a major credit card through PayPal
HandPrint Visualizations
The "HandPrints" of the "Creating A New Reality" Vision can be a simple outline of a hand with an initial or name. If you want you can include a message or images. They serve as a written visualization of our intention to provide healing support for survivors and protection of children. As an extraordinary collective coming together of positive visualizations inside the "Reaching Out" Monument the Hands will be a force for change today and tomorrow.
At schools across the country children drew an outline of their hand and wrote a message.
Messages written on outlines of hands were displayed in shopping malls from the Atlantic to the Pacific. What a powerful "National Visualization".
http://www.irvingstudios.com/child_abuse_survivor_monument/studio_visits.htm
STORIES OF FEAR- OF CHILD ABUSE- ALL AROUND THE WORLD
He's Watching
Mysterious nights went by, slowly unnumbered,
While her innocent body lay in an enchantingly deep slumber.
A monster in the dark lurked about
Conjuring up evil, so for her, there was no way out.
He cast his evil spell that fathomed her soul.
No one was she to tell, when from her innocence he stole.
There’s nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.
He’s sneering, waiting, and watching.
Sighs of the dawn suddenly appear
and the secrets of the night are profoundly made clear.
King of the giants, with all of their knowledge, could not foresee
the woe, the pain and the misery.
Poison still lingers in the air.
No need to worry, for he is still there.
He’s sneering, waiting, and watching.
The sun begins to shine through the shadowy veil.
Time heals all wounds and life prevails.
The evil of the night no longer hoovers over her breast.
She can sleep without crying and fear is put to rest.
Her beauty is more captivating with each passing day,
Yet, taunting memories still creep in her way.
He’s sneering, waiting, and watching.
Pulled out of dreamland by an overwhelming fright,
Make him stop! What’s that sound? I’m scared!
Who keeps lurking in the night?
Her trembling heart is silenced by the refuge that is near.
Was it a dream or is he still there?
Her conscience is seared!
She knows he is still there,
Sneering, waiting and watching,
Somewhere?
By: Connie Lee/Founder/President of the FACSA Foundation
Springhill, LA.
STATISTICS ON CHILD ABUSE
IN CANADA
A child dies every week in Canada at the hands of a care-giver.
(Statistics Canada, 1980-89)
70% of children who are victims of homicide are killed before the age of 5.
(Statistics Canada, 1980-89)
80% of abusers are known to their child victims.
(Dr. Harriett MacMillan et al., McMaster University, J.A.M.A., July, 1997)
More than 90% of child abuse cases are unreported.
(The Gallup Organization, 1995)
1 out of every 3 female children, and 1 out of every 5 male children in Canada will be sexually abused before they reach adulthood.
(The National Clearinghouse on Family Violence, 1994)
Children with disabilities are 10 times more vulnerable to sexual abuse than non-disabled children.
(National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse, 1996)
BEWARE THE NIGHT
Beware! Beware this street laced
with hungry dogs
Impatiently licking their lips
in shadowy doorways
I hear them gnawing on the fragment
bones of ignorance and innocence
I am destined to be savaged
by a rabid dog,
for I walk unseen
close in the shadows of tall
building and I must surly
meet such beasts
But again if I seek the bright
openness of the neon lights,
green eyes from the bordering
malevolent darkness wait
to jump out to render me
Be vigilant friend if passing
you hear, echoing
from the blackened ally way,
de-vouring snarl
-- Beware! ----
Alison
RESPONDING TO THE VOICE OF CHILDREN
Dear Dr. Irving,
In recent weeks you attended Downtown Alternative School to discuss your Child Abuse Survivor Monument Project with the students. My child was one of those students and the effect your project had on her has prompted me to write you and express my thanks. The children made paper hands to put inside the monument with comments expressing their thoughts and feelings on the issue of child abuse.
Late that evening, when my child was in bed, she turned to me and asked if I knew about child abuse. She then told me about the project. The events of the day had a strong impact on her. She could not understand how people could be cruel to children.
We talked at length. My daughter would like to see the monument stand for thousands of years to let future generations know that the people of our time had a caring side, that we were aware of the suffering and tried to do something about it.
Something as simple as the making of a paper hand opened up a door to awareness for my eleven-year old child. For this gift, I thank you.
Elizabeth Sellwood, Mother
May 24, 1999
HANDPRINT SQUARE-
Incest
Deep in my core lies hidden
the seed of life -
lost amidst the pain
of someone else’s choice.
Incestuous abuse
ravages my childhood,
steals my future,
destroys my SELF.
Agony courses
through my veins:
Burning, Freezing,
Struggling, Debilitating.
There is power in my choice -
I choose to feel the pain,
to grieve the loss, to be sad;
to Live, to BE.
Ruth Cook
RUTH'S HANDPRINT
http://www.irvingstudios.com/child_abuse_survivor_monument/poetry/706A2_poem7b.htm#706a2
Traps
Traps are set for tiny things
Hopeless, small, with no wings.
Escape is not a question here
Shadows, shadows everywhere.
Scream the words that hold you tight
Take a leap into the night.
Babette Healy
BABETTE'S HANDPRINT
http://www.irvingstudios.com/child_abuse_survivor_monument/poetry/706A3_poem8f.htm#706a3
Silk Ribbons
My chains of bondage forced, not wanted
I am alone waiting for the key.
Please mommy help me...nothing, no one
Only silk ribbons in the breeze cascading from
my hair...pretty, but silent...helpless
Time -- loss -- found
Courage!
From my soul...I’m afraid, need to tell
Told! I live...free
to soar.
Tracy Kloske
Thread of Hope
Oh my soul screams in silence
I weep...my loss is so deep
Torn, ripped and thrown away
I am forgotten...no place in your world
Drowned in an instant - a moment lost forever
Holding on --- letting go
Suspended by a thread of hope
From hell to here -- here to the future
Anticipation - unknown
Tracy Kloske
TRACY'S HANDPRINT
http://www.irvingstudios.com/child_abuse_survivor_monument/poetry/706A4_poem5b.htm#706a4
Silenced Voice
I have no voice.
I draw in silence.
I speak through my drawings.
Our silent tears are overflowing with screaming pain,
Our Mother’s hate inflicted upon her child, for a lifetime to remain.
The Beast’s hand created too many tears.
For each tormented tear we created a child,
My voice of what I hear and see from so many children inside.
In my drawings you’ll see the torture we survived.
Please, Please don’t destroy my silent voice.
Keep it safe,
Protect it,
So we can share it.
Please, Please don’t throw out my silent voice.
You see, we must say "Hello" to the pain in our silent tears
Before we can say "Goodbye" to the pain we survived in fear.
Gloria Large
and
The Chorus Line
http://www.irvingstudios.com/child_abuse_survivor_monument/poetry/706A5_poem4a.htm#706a5
I Remember
I died as I was born.
I saw the light,
Quickly my soul was torn.
Softly in the night,
Pain became my friend.
Sadness and devastation my end.
Clutching at beauty of rock and tree,
To ease the cold within.
Searching for the light,
Finding the fire.
Burned again and again.
Fireflies, flowers, snakes and rats,
Never will it end.
I remember when butterflies were free,
When sap ran sweetly from the tree,
I held my puppy close to me, for comfort.
I remember when blood ran from my mouth
Like ice cream dripping
From a cone on a hazy afternoon.
I remember riding my horse in the shade of the wood
Picnic lunches all alone
My fantasy land of Robin Hood
Castles and guard we all stood.
I remember people all dressed in black
Incense burning
I want to turn back.
I remember the knives,
The will of the group
The chanting, the dancing,
This was no fun group.
I remember the sounds, of screams in the dark
Of death and destruction
On a Saturday night.
I remember crucifixions
In God’s Holy name
Face up on the floor
Nailed in my pain.
Rebecca Martin
http://www.irvingstudios.com/child_abuse_survivor_monument/poetry/706A6_poem1.htm#706a6
MESSAGE
Reality came when I placed my hand in the plaster. As I sat with lamp support, Monica, Jackie, Sue - I felt like a person. I felt like what it feels like to be in existence. I finally feel like I am the reason to heal - even though there are many other reasons, I have never felt like I was a reason.
There is a lot of grief at what I lost. As I look behind me from the mountain top, you see I believe I’ve climbed one peak, I look and see the storms and valleys I have walked through - I feel God and Jesus have been there all along from the beginning
Eye(s) see you forever
Eye(s) see you forever
Eye(s) see you forever
Watching the black cold
feeling my terror, my shame
I’m crying desperate and needy for someone
Not those crazy orange people!
Satan is laughing, the madness of blindness
Dirty, yucky stupid girl!
Is there any worth to the life
Slowly, inside the warmth returns with God
with grief, with fear of the
birth about to happen
Watching me, watching, watching, watching
Tenderness in my hand.
Clare Nickerson
http://www.irvingstudios.com/child_abuse_survivor_monument/poetry/706A7_poem1.htm#706a7
Secret No More
The pain is mine
The knot in my stomach that is there now
Has been with me all my life
The gruesome craving to eat raw meat today
Taught to me by cult members yesterday
Encouraged by mother, the witch
How did I get there ?
In my daddie’s car of midnight blue
Oh how poignant !
This child’s favourite colour.
The joy of the colour masked the fear
and set the tears to shame
The tricycle - midnight blue, of course
To share a ride with sister
I was too small to help.
She screamed
I hurt for I was stepped on as I fell at my daddie’s feet
I cried but no one cared,
So I went to the garden to bury another soul of mine
I was a baby wanting to be held
wanting to be hugged
wanting to be loved
wanting to be cherished
But I was nothing, just another piece of meat
The tightness of my breath
The pain in my chest.
Will not stop me any longer.
I will run no more.
I will open the doors, not in vigilance
But in preparedness to yell
NO MORE ! NO MORE !
The secret will be told
I will hug and love and cherish the child in me
There will be no more beatings that cause life long bruises
EXPOSE ; EXPOSE ; EXPOSE
In the garden, I will cultivate my spirit
It is me
It is mine
To go
To show
To tell
A secret no more.
Sheila Pavey
http://www.irvingstudios.com/child_abuse_survivor_monument/poetry/706A9_poem4a.htm#706a9
Free At Last
I pull, I twist, I squeeze, I stretch
this hard shapeless piece of wax,
Wanting to create a picture
that shows the honest facts.
Needing to show the world
my anguish, sorrow and pain,
Where a child so full of hurt
lay crumpled, covered with shame.
Shame for things done to me
with choices I never had
Constantly told by all
that I was the one who was bad.
As I manipulate this piece of wax,
I feel a warm and cleansing glow,
Where my little spark of hope
can finally start to grow.
Freedom from abuse memories
that are pulled from my dark past
To be healed, respected and believed in
as I begin to shout, "I am free at last!"
Cherlyn Tannor
http://www.irvingstudios.com/child_abuse_survivor_monument/poetry/706A12_poem5a.htm#706a12
http://www.irvingstudios.com/child_abuse_survivor_monument/images/quilt_inventory/706A2_square.htm
Realities/information/
statistics/actions
Many addicts use drugs to escape the truth of being sexually abused. It is not usually a conscious decision, but one that is sublimated into a socially more acceptable activity. "It was a way to escape - there was no one to tell about what was happening to me." "I don’t care what people think when I’m drunk or high." It is more socially acceptable to be using drugs or alcohol than to talk about the reason behind it. It takes the attention away from the sexual abuse. Drugs and alcohol are coping mechanisms which allow addicts to be able to talk to anyone. Most addicts need them to get through the day.
Very few services exist to help with both issues: addictions and abuse. It needs to be understood that the two go hand in hand. The services which do exist are often inadequate, requiring the individual to heal only on the therapist’s terms, or to "get clean first, then we’ll talk". Often if you make one mistake, you’re out of the addiction program. This isn’t fair. Only one out of every 100 people make it, perhaps because of the programs themselves.
Survivors need to value themselves, to be true to themselves. Survivors often find it hard to say no to anything, and survivors need to fit in, so they often say yes. They often have no boundaries, because they often have no idea of what boundaries are. Our abusers took away our trust. When parents, the most trustworthy individuals in a child’s life, tell a child the boundaries and then break them, this tells a child that it’s okay for them to go beyond the rules. As survivor parents, we let our children take control of us because we don’t ever want to break their trust.
We need to understand that treatment for addictions is slow and progressive. You cannot help addicts quickly or with some other drug.
Addictions
Resources are going to have to address both issues: addictions and abuse. We need facilities and clinicians that deal with both issues simultaneously - not one day Alcoholics Anonymous, the next day therapy for abuse.
Addicted survivors have to be able to find a way to deal with the pain without drugs or alcohol. Eventually an addicted person reaches a point where they cannot use the drugs or alcohol because it will kill them. Often, survivors manifesting addictive behaviours find that the experience no longer helps. When nothing works for them any more, this is frequently a turning point in their recovery.
There are common central issues to both emotional and spiritual healing: there are trust issues in both areas, as well as anger and rage, there is also terror, shame and guilt. Healing needs to happen in each of these areas.
Are there pressures in society which push people into addiction? "All of the addicts I have known have been sexually abused." Sexual abuse is a huge contributor to addiction. Some survivors turn to prostitution, a form of addiction.
Concerns
There is an enormous cost to society from addictions and abuse. If we could cure or end child abuse, we would empty prisons and eliminate drug and alcohol problems.
What are the possible consequences of giving out the information that the majority of addicts were abused as children? Would this frighten the survivor? Is it dangerous to provide the information? Many addicts could become normalized as a result.
The statistics and surveys are ever changing. Surveys vary because sometimes people don’t remember being abused or they don't want to tell anyone about their experience.
Survivors need to feel safe to tell, or people won’t come forward to reveal their experiences of abuse.
Confidentiality needs to be maintained. How do we make it safe for people to ask for help? How do we make it so that people don’t feel isolated and alone? Sometimes survivors are the most helpful people for other survivors to talk to.
http://www.irvingstudios.com/child_abuse_survivor_monument/Addictions.htm#706a13
Hatred
Who’s to pay at the end of the day
For the cruelty and pain
That obliterated all sunshine or rain?
Unforgiveness, the judgement, children’s innocent illusion
The apparent unreality and impossible resolution.
Who’s to pay?
Who’s to pay at the end of the day
For the bitterness and sadness
The overwhelming madness?
T.
Shattered Youth
Depression takes over and so I search my soul and my inner self,
Hoping to discover some explanation of a senseless situation.
I look to the mirror
What do I see?
A frightened child,
Please don't let it be me.
In the deepest regions of my confused and cluttered mind,
Are shards of what seem to be a nightmare of the worst kind.
I look to the mirror
What do I see?
A frightened child,
Please don't let it be me.
For years I avoided this reflection because of its unpleasantness
Swiftly running endlessly away from the reality of its existence.
I look to the mirror
What do I see?
A frightened child,
Please don't let it be me.
A safe life, for this young soul, would require a guard.
A rock, a hammer, a fist, thrusting forward
Too hard, too hurtful, too inexplicably wild,
To obliterate the reflection of this child.
And so, I think, I am drawn to a conclusion,
For this child, there will be no more confusion.
Suddenly, the pieces crash to the floor.
The child runs frantically to get out the door.
She searches for the exit and the blood runs cold
As she realizes that it is surrounded by the mold
Of the mirror that she shattered to bits that day.
Destroyed is the escape route to a safe place to play.
T.
http://www.irvingstudios.com/child_abuse_survivor_monument/poetry/709A1_poem17b.htm#709a1
Metamorphosis
A little Child, new to the land,
Came to meet dad, far away.
Taken from home, she is trusting and hopeful
Caring and loving, wanting someone to know she is there.
But she is only a child and, small and insignificant, so
Like the caterpillar in its cocoon.
In my family, I learned to be afraid.
Coarse words and actions not nice to see.
A first secret to keep inside of me.
So, I continued to hide deeper into my
Protective shell feeling different,
Unattractive and used.
Two big secrets converged for me, followed
By panic attacks and depression, you see.
No one to turn to, no one at all.
I’m full of pain, anger and despair.
I feel like I’m drowning in there.
Help me! Stop the pain! Kill the pain! KILL ME!
No! Wait! What about my family?
No! Kill the pain! Take the pills! Kill me!
No! Stop, stop! What about your family?
Help me someone to break out of this shell!
It’s too tight and confining, I can tell.
Help me to find some sense of release
From keeping these secrets all to myself.
A wonderful lady came to my aid and now, I’m learning
To forgive that little girl.
She helped me to see
All the beauty and strength inside of me.
Thank you my friend for your patience and care
For without you, I would not be here.
I can never express how truly grateful I feel
About our time working through all my problems and fears.
It can also happen to you.
Time is a healer and hope is there too.
Courage is needed to block the despair
But when you are done, all is worthwhile;
So keep up your spirit while you try.
M.
http://www.irvingstudios.com/child_abuse_survivor_monument/poetry/709A3_poem1.htm#709a3
Blanking out
Little girl sick –
Gagging – hot
Little hands
Pushing away bloody hands
Tears come.
Throbbing, popping pulse
Beating inside my thing
Crying
Stopped breathing –
No feeling
Blanking out.
I don’t like this
Too too hard
Squishy inside
Lost – no center
Klutzy, clumsy
Dear Daddy do you "no"
I hate.
Maureen McGowan
Workshop Assistant
http://www.irvingstudios.com/child_abuse_survivor_monument/poetry/709A5_poem4c.htm#709a5
The Silent Pain
Physical pain, hard
mental anguish, hard
the hardest thing of all ...
- what it does to the core
Silent not by choice
but by force
He is supposed to
protect
but he kills - me
Despite the pain
I overcome.
Today I am stronger
conscious of the silent
pain in others
No words pass
but so much said.
Silence speaks loud
if people listen
not with ears
but with hearts
H.
http://www.irvingstudios.com/child_abuse_survivor_monument/poetry/709A6_poem2b.htm#709a6
Nothing Stuff
The hardest thing
‘bout child abuse is
If you tell
You’re ostracized.
I told mother;
Her eyes closed
and
opened naught
for
two whole years
but
By then I knew
if
I wanted to be heard
I talked about the weather
and nothing stuff.
I lay huddled in my wool blanket
I’m cold
I’m hungry
I lay listening to the February snow storm,
listening to the wind pulling the tent
and the snow pellets driving against
the canvas.
I’m so cold and hungry.
When I grow up
I’m going to feed my children
and
keep them warm.
Patricia Bear Claw
January 5, 1998
Being involved in the Survivor Monument Project has been a wonderful experience for me. Working with others of like background to erect a work of art that will be on display allows me to know that never again will child abuse be swept under the rug of secrecy. It exists! It acknowledges that and that makes it more comfortable in my mind. I hope it helps others in similar situations to find comfort that they are not alone - this project is breaking the silence.
http://www.irvingstudios.com/child_abuse_survivor_monument/poetry/711A1_poem4a.htm#711a1
Once an Old Story
Like a builder
I repair and prepare
my song
Frightened as I crawl
change - transform
trusting my love
your love
Once this old story
held my attention
Now I don’t need it
Gerry Brodey
http://www.irvingstudios.com/child_abuse_survivor_monument/poetry/711A2_poem2a.htm#711a2
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SHELDON KENNEDY- CHILD ABUSE SURVIVOR- who had the guts to tell Canada what happened to a boy who loved hockey.... and the monster that destroyed a piece of his youth 4-EV-A
To prevent sex abuse, empower the bystander
Sheldon Kennedy, Respect Group Inc.
Sheldon Kennedy, Respect Group Inc.
The following testimony was delivered on Tuesday to the U.S. Congressional Subcommittee on Children and Families by Sheldon Kennedy, the co-founder of Respect Group Inc.
For many Canadians, hockey is everything. It is our passion, our culture and our national pride. Like most boys growing up on the Prairies, I dreamed of playing in the National Hockey League and, luckily for me, that dream came true. I played for the Detroit Red Wings, the Boston Bruins and the Calgary Flames.
But it’s not my dream that I’m best known for — it’s my nightmare. As a junior hockey player, I suffered years of sexual abuse and harassment at the hands of my coach, Graham James.
Despite the nature of the abuse, the hurt I experienced and the fact I knew what was being done to me was wrong, it took me over 10 years to come forward to the authorities. Why didn’t I say anything? This is the question that I asked myself again, and again and again. It’s the question I know everyone else was asking. And it’s the question that plagues the millions of sexual abuse victims around the world.
Even though I wrote a whole book on the subject, the answer is quite simple: Because I didn’t think anyone would believe me. In my case, my abuser was named the International Hockey Man of the Year. In Canada, that gave him almost God-like status. Sound familiar?
The man who preyed on me took advantage of his position as a coach to look for children who were especially vulnerable (single parent households, families with drinking problems, boys who needed a father figure, etc.). These kids — and often their parents too — looked up to him as a hero. This was someone who could make their dreams come true and he used that trust to hurt them. This imbalance of power and authority creates a deeper problem and it’s the one that I think this subcommittee has to deal with head-on if you truly want to prevent child abuse.
In every case of child abuse — certainly in my own — there are people who had a "gut feeling" that something was wrong but didn’t do anything about it. Their attitude was, "I don’t want to get involved," "it’s not my problem," "he couldn’t possibly be doing that" or "the authorities will take care of it."
And that’s what pedophiles and predators are counting on. They are counting on the public’s ignorance or — worse yet — their indifference. That’s what keeps child abusers in business. And that is what you have to address.
From my experience, a child who is being abused has to tell — on average — seven people before their story is taken seriously. Seven. That is completely unacceptable.
When my story became public in 1997, there were people who refused to believe it. Many were angry that I had exposed an ugly side of their beloved sport.
Fortunately, Hockey Canada responded seriously to my situation and made abuse-prevention education mandatory for their 70,000 coaches. And this is the positive message that I want to leave you with this morning.
Seven years ago, I co-founded Respect Group Inc., in partnership with the Canadian Red Cross and its internationally recognized experts in the prevention of child abuse.
Together, we launched an online training program for sport leaders called "Respect in Sport." It focuses on educating all adult youth leaders on abuse, bullying and harassment prevention including a sound understanding of your legal and moral responsibilities.
Our belief at Respect Group is that we may never fully eliminate child abuse, but by empowering the 99% of well-intentioned adults working with our youth, we can greatly reduce it. I am proud to say that, through Respect in Sport, we have already certified over 150,000 youth leaders, which represents a high percentage of all Canadian coaches.
Many sport and youth-serving organizations have mandated the Respect in Sport program, and the list continues to grow: Hockey Canada, Gymnastics Canada, the Province of Manitoba, school boards and some early adopters here in the United States, including USA Triathlon and USRowing. In addition, organizations such as Hockey Canada and Gymnastics Canada have implemented our Respect in Sport program designed specifically for parents.
We also are seeing proactive initiatives by the Canadian government to combat child maltreatment — not just tougher legislation and minimum sentences for perpetrators — but a federal approach to prevention education that spans the ministries that touch our most vulnerable youth.
We have learned that social change takes time and has to occur at both the grass-roots level and from the government on down. I am pleased to say that is exactly what is happening in Canada, and I hope it’s what will happen here in the United States, too.
Over the years, through my work at Respect Group, I’ve learned that:
•Educating the good people — the well-intentioned 99% of our population — is our best defence to prevent abuse;
•Training must be mandatory to ensure full compliance and reduce liability;
•The education has to be simple and consistent;
•All forms of abuse leave the same emotional scars, so training has to be comprehensive;
•Education is best delivered online to ensure consistency, safety of the learner, convenience and the greatest reach; and finally,
•Training must be ongoing, it’s not a one-time thing.
Too often, society’s response to child abuse is to focus on punishing the criminal. If the teacher, priest or coach is sent to jail for a long time, then we feel that we’ve done our jobs as citizens or as politicians. Punishing the bad guys makes us feel good, but it does not fully solve the problem. You need to give all adults working with youth, and all parents, the tools to recognize and respond to abuse when it first arises.
I am under no illusion that such an approach will fully eliminate child abuse, but I do know that mandatory education creates a platform within all organizations for that conversation to happen. Empower the bystanders and you’ll be taking an important first step in breaking the silence on child abuse.
Visit Respect Group Inc. to learn more about Sheldon Kennedy’s work.
Learn more about Canadian Red Cross’ violence prevention work through its program entitled RespectED: Violence & Abuse Prevention.
SHELDON KENNEDY- 4 CHILD ABUSE SURVIVORS- CANADA RED CROSS
RespectED programs & services
Browse Programs as a Learner »
A learner is an individual who takes RespectED courses for interest or professional development but is not interested in facilitating any of the RespectED programs.
Browse programs to find out how to become a RespectED Training Partner or Prevention Educator »
A RespectED Training Partner is a school or an organization that offers Canadian Red Cross RespectED training for children, youth or adults using their personnel who are trained as Prevention Educators or Trainers.
A RespectED Prevention Educator is an individual sponsored by a RespectED Training Partner who has successfully completed the RespectED Prevention Educator Training program and has been certified to deliver specific programs.
How do we partner with RespectED to deliver violence prevention programs in our organization or community? »
http://www.redcross.ca/article.asp?id=39951&tid=001
AND.. CANADIAN RED CROSS- 4 KIDS...
How We Help > RespectED:
Violence Prevention
RespectED:
Violence Prevention
•RespectED programs & services
•Become a Prevention Educator
•For youth
•Aboriginal Communities and Healing
•c.a.r.e.
•Protect your Kids Online
•Prevention Nexus
•News
•Red Cross OnLine Learning
•10 Steps to Creating Safe Environments for Children and Youth
•Protection Legislation
•Contact RespectED
•Evaluation Studies
For youth
Abuse, violence, bullying: the hurt is real – and can be stopped.
You have the right to be protected – and to be safe from violence. No one has a right to harm you, to make you feel small or stupid, or to touch you how and where you don't want to be touched. Not even people close to you. If this is happening to you or a friend, if you are afraid or hurting, please ask for help.
To get help, you can:
•Tell an adult you trust, like a school counselor, your parent or a friend's parent, your teacher or coach, a spiritual leader or your uncle or aunt. Keep telling until you get the help you need!
•Contact the Kids HelpPhone: 1-800-668-6868 or go to http://www.kidshelpphone.ca/
•Call your local crisis line.
•Keep telling until you get help—and remember: this is not your fault!
•Under 19? You have rights.
It's easy to get sucked in... protect yourself!
It could involve the exchange of sex for money or other valuable goods, such as food, drugs or transportation - in other words, something you need. More»
Love isn’t supposed to leave bruises.
As many as 25 per cent of Canadian youth experience violence or abuse in a dating relationship. Learn about the warning signs of an unhealthy relationship and what you can do. More»
Stand up to bullying.
One in five Canadian youth reports being bullied regularly, but when a friend steps in, bullying stops half the time in 10 seconds or less. Learn ways that you stand up to bullying. More»
Become a youth facilitator
The Canadian Red Cross Beyond the Hurt program is a bullying prevention program with a difference -- peer facilitation is what sets this school and community program apart. Older peers, typically grades 10-12, are trained to deliver presentations to youth, with the support of an adult in their school who is also trained. More»
To learn more about the Canadian Red Cross violence and abuse prevention program or to become involved, contact your local Red Cross office.
You Make the Difference – Support Programs that Help Prevent Violence and Abuse
RespectED programs are made possible through the generous support of donors like you. Please donate to the Canadian Red Cross Fund today.
http://www.redcross.ca/article.asp?id=504&tid=030
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PAEDOPHILE HUNTING- AND NAILING THE CREEPS OF EVIL- Finally United Kingdom is stepping up.... unfortunate that Europe won't and that American laws are still 2 lax... and the Aussies and Kiwis lead the day in getting these monsters...
WHAT IT'S LIKE SURVIVING- CHILD ABUSE- 2 many don't
CHILD ABUSE MONUMENT- Toronto Canada- built 4 survivors of Child Abuse and those we lost queens-park-toronto-canada
UNITED KINGDOM CATCHING ON 2 CANADA- IT'S ALL ABOUT THE VICTIMS.... AND PAEDOPHILES... EVIL PAEDOPHILES DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO RAPE KIDS ON THE STAND WITH THE VOICES OF THEIR LAWYERS.... EV-A AGAIN.....
Child sex abuse trials to be assigned special judges to help witnesses
Lord chief justice approves core list of judges for lengthy cases, in move to limit cross-examination in court
Owen Bowcott, legal affairs correspondent
The Guardian, Wednesday 7 August 2013
The Lord chief justice, Lord Judge, says proper treatment of vulnerable witnesses is a priority for him. Photograph: Katie Collins/PA
A list of experienced judges qualified to conduct lengthy child sex abuse cases is to be established to protect vulnerable witnesses from excessive cross-examination in court.
Lord Judge, the lord chief justice, made the announcement in a four-page letter released today. He is resisting a recommendation from the Commons' home affairs select committee that specialist courts be created to deal with such allegations or even sex offences in general.
In the letter Judge formally responded to an approach last month by the MP Keith Vaz, Labour chairman of the committee, suggesting improvements in the way child sexual exploitation cases are handled in court. Concerns about the welfare of vulnerable witnesses in court have been heightened by the case of Frances Andrade, who killed herself last year after giving evidence at the trial of a former teacher who was convicted of sexual offences against her.
Judge, who stands down after five years as lord chief justice in October, said "proper treatment of vulnerable witnesses" had been a priority of his, and of the judiciary in general, for many years.
Judges trying serious sexual offences are already vetted to ensure they have sufficient expertise and are specially trained in dealing with problems associated with historic sex abuse cases, the competence of child witnesses and other issues.
Judge said, however: "In light of the rare instances relating to multi-defendant trials in which the process may have operated imperfectly for at least some vulnerable witnesses, I have reviewed the position of the judges who conduct these trials."
Consequently, resident judges at crown courts will draw up a list (for approval by a senior presiding judge) of the judges who can try such cases.
This additional precaution will be taken for serious sex cases "likely to last more than 10 days … or where one or more of the witnesses is significantly vulnerable". It will also apply to other cases in which a "significantly vulnerable witness" is to be called in circumstances that require especially sensitive handling.
Turning to the home affairs committee's call for specialist courts, Judge said that he did not agree that they would "materially improve the position".
He added: "Restricting the available venues to a few specialist centres is likely to lead to far greater waiting times because of the limited number of court rooms, judges and staff.
"Additionally, these courts are likely to prove expensive to set up and run. Instead, the combination of the other very sensible proposals in your report, including the training of advocates and the additional training of the core group of judges, will in my view deliver exactly the same outcome as a specialist court."
Earlier this year Judge urged that research be carried out into the long-term effects on those who gave evidence about sexual abuse when a child.
"We have not yet fully answered the question whether it is necessary for the child witness ever to come to court at all," the lord chief justice said, "and whether for some of them, at any rate, attendance at trial cannot be arranged in a more congenial place, with necessary safeguards to ensure judicial control over the trial process and the safeguarding of the interests of the defendant."
Judge has said the question of whether it is necessary for child witnesses ever to come to court at all, has not been answered. More than 30,000 children in the UK are called to give evidence in court every year for all types of offences, he added.
http://www.theguardian.com/law/2013/aug/07/child-sex-abuse-trials-special-judges
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