The Olympics in Ancient Greece

The first written records of the ancient Olympic Games date to 776 B.C., when a cook named
Coroebus won the only event–a 192-meter footrace called the stade (the origin of the modern
“stadium”)–to become the first Olympic champion. However, it is generally believed that the
Games had been going on for many years by that time. Legend has it that Heracles (the
Roman Hercules), son of Zeus and the mortal woman Alcmene, founded the Games, which
by the end of the 6th century B.C had become the most famous of all Greek sporting
festivals. The ancient Olympics were held every four years between August 6 and September
19 during a religious festival honoring Zeus. The Games were named for their location at
Olympia, a sacred site located near the western coast of the Peloponnese peninsula in
southern Greece. Their influence was so great that ancient historians began to measure time
by the four-year increments in between Olympic Games, which were known as Olympiads

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

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

The Olympic Movement: The term Olympic Movement means to include everybody and
everything involved in the Summer Games - national sport governing bodies, athletes, media,
and sponsors of the Summer Games. The Summer Games involve a number of organizations.
The main aim of these organizations is to organize Summer Games. All these organizations
are collectively known as the Olympic Movement.

Goal of the Olympic Movement: Olympic Movement was established by Pierre de

Coubertin. This French man wanted to revive the Summer Games to build a peaceful and
better world by educating youth through sports. Coubertin wanted to create an opportunity
when the sports could be practiced without any discrimination. He wanted to spread the
Olympic spirit all over the world - the spirit of mutual understanding and the spirit of
friendship, solidarity and fair play. This was and has been the goal of the Olympic
Movement.

ESSENTIAL MISSONS OF THE OLYMPIC MOVWMENT ARE:

1. Choice of the host city - The head of the Olympic Movement, International Olympic
Committee (IOC) is responsible to choose a host city for the Summer Games. The
host city is selected through an election procedure seven years prior to the Olympics.
The election is held in a country which does not have a candidate city as the host of
the Games.

2. Organization of the Summer Games - The Summer Games consist both the
Summer Games and the Olympic Winter Games. Both these games take place every
four years. The Summer Games are the exclusive property of the Olympic Movement.
The IOC owns all rights relating to the Summer Games --the rights relating to their
organization, exploitation, broadcasting and reproduction. The IOC is the final
authority to decide anything concerning the Summer Games. All profits derived from
the Summer Games are used for the development of the Olympic Movement and of
sport.
3. Promotion of women in sport - The first objective of the Olympic Movement has
always been to promote Olympism and develop sport worldwide. The IO, as the head
of the Olympic Movement, has always played a key role to promote women's
participation in sport at all levels. The increasing number of women athletes in the
Olympics is the result of the cooperation of the entire Olympic Movement and of the
measures taken by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), International
Federations (IFs) and National Olympic Committees (NOCs).
4. Protection of athletes - Protection of the athletes is one of the main priorities of the
Olympic Movement. To ensure the protection of the athletes, The IOC has taken
various measures - creation of the IOC Athletes' Commission, IOC Medical
Commission, Court Arbitration for Sport (CAS), World Anti-Doping Agency
(WADA) and World Olympians Association (WOA). Not only this, the IOC has made
it sure that the host cities of the Summer Games must take necessary measures of
environmental protection during the games.

5. Development through sport - According to Jacques Rogge, IOC President, "More

than ever, sport is a universal language and plays the role of catalyst in today's society
as a means of improving quality of life and well-being." Sport, through its educational
values and worldwide network, can play a major role in making a more prosperous
and peaceful society. Through sports development, wider human development goals
can be achieved.

6. Promotion of sustainable development - To develop the sport and environment

agenda, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has established a policy to
provide greater resources to sustainable development in and through sport at all
levels, and particularly at the Summer Games . Based on the principles mentioned in
the Olympic Charter this policy has two main objectives - to promote Summer Games
and to promote awareness of the importance of a healthy environment and sustainable
development among the members of the Olympic family as well as the sports
practitioners in general.

7. Respect for the Olympic Truce - The tradition of the Olympic Truce began in
Ancient Greece long back in the 9th century BC . The International Olympic
Committee (IOC) , as the supreme authority, decided to revive this ancient concept to
protect the interests of sport and the athletes in general. The International Olympic
Truce Foundation (IOTF) was created in 2000 , with a mission to promoting peace
through sport and the Olympic ideal.

8. Promotion of Culture and Olympic Education - The International Olympic

Committee (IOC) has also established a policy for the development of the culture and
Olympic education agenda. This policy has two main objectives - to develop the link
between culture and sport , encouraging cultural exchange and to promote Olympic
education and support other institutions which promote the values of Olympism.
Composition and general organisation of the Olympic Movement

1. Under the supreme authority and leadership of the International Olympic Committee, the Olympic
Movement encompasses organisations, athletes and other persons who agree to be guided by the
Olympic Charter. The goal of the Olympic Movement is to contribute to building a peaceful and
better world by educating youth through sport practised in accordance with Olympism and its values.

2. The three main constituents of the Olympic Movement are:

 the International Olympic Committee (“IOC”)

 The International Sports Federations (“IFs”)
 And the National Olympic Committees (“NOCs”).

3. In addition to its three main constituents, the Olympic Movement also encompasses the
Organising Committees for the Olympic Games (“OCOGs”), the national associations, clubs and
persons belonging to the IFs and NOCs, particularly the athletes, whose interests constitute a
fundamental element of the Olympic Movement’s action, as well as the judges, referees, coaches and
the other sports officials and technicians. It also includes other organisations and institutions as
recognised by the IOC.

Mission and role of the IOC

The mission of the IOC is to promote Olympism throughout the world and to lead the Olympic
Movement. The IOC’s role is:

1. to encourage and support the promotion of ethics and good governance in sport as well as education
of youth through sport and to dedicate its efforts to ensuring that, in sport, the spirit of fair play
prevails and violence is banned;

2. to encourage and support the organisation, development and coordination of sport and sports
competitions;

3. to ensure the regular celebration of the Olympic Games;

4. to cooperate with the competent public or private organisations and authorities in the endeavour to
place sport at the service of humanity and thereby to promote peace;

5. to take action to strengthen the unity of the Olympic Movement, to protect its independence and to
preserve the autonomy of sport;

6. to act against any form of discrimination affecting the Olympic Movement;

7. to encourage and support the promotion of women in sport at all levels and in all structures with a
view to implementing the principle of equality of men and women;

8. to protect clean athletes and the integrity of sport, by leading the fight against doping, and by taking
action against all forms of manipulation of competitions and related corruption;

9. to encourage and support measures relating to the medical care and health of athletes;

10. to oppose any political or commercial abuse of sport and athletes;

11. to encourage and support the efforts of sports organisations and public authorities to provide for
the social and professional future of athletes;

12. to encourage and support the development of sport for all;

13. to encourage and support a responsible concern for environmental issues, to promote sustainable
development in sport and to require that the Olympic Games are held accordingly;

14. to promote a positive legacy from the Olympic Games to the host cities and host countries;

15. to encourage and support initiatives blending sport with culture and education;

16. to encourage and support the activities of the International Olympic Academy (“IOA”) and other
institutions which dedicate themselves to Olympic education.
 Olympic Games

 The Olympic Games are competitions between athletes in individual or team events and not
between countries. They bring together the athletes selected by their respective NOCs, whose
entries have been accepted by the IOC. They compete under the technical direction of the IFs
concerned.
 The Olympic Games consist of the Games of the Olympiad and the Olympic Winter Games.
Only

The Olympic symbol

The Olympic symbol consists of five interlaced rings of equal dimensions (the Olympic rings), used
alone, in one or in five different colours. When used in its five-colour version, these colours shall be,
from left to right, blue, yellow, black, green and red. The rings are interlaced from left to right; the
blue, black and red rings are situated at the top, the yellow and green rings at the bottom in
accordance with the following graphic reproduction. The Olympic symbol expresses the activity of
the Olympic Movement and represents the union of the five continents and the meeting of athletes
from throughout the world at the Olympic Games

The Olympic flag

The Olympic flag has a white background, with no border. The Olympic symbol in its five colours is
located in its centre.

The summer Olympics

The Summer Olympic Games or the Games of the Olympiad (French: Jeux olympiques
d'été[1]), first held in 1896, is an international multi-sport event that is hosted by a different
city every four years. The most recent Olympics were held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The
International Olympic Committee organizes the games and oversees the host city's
preparations. In each Olympic event, gold medals are awarded for first place, silver medals
are awarded for second place, and bronze medals are awarded for third; this tradition began in
1904. The Winter Olympic Games were created due to the success of the Summer Olympics.
The Olympics have increased in scope from a 42-event competition with fewer than 250 male
competitors from 14 nations in 1896 to 302 events with 10,768 competitors (5,992 men,
4,776 women) from 204 nations in 2012.

Eighteen countries have hosted the Summer Olympics. The United States has hosted four
Summer Olympics (1904, 1932, 1984, 1996), more than any other nation, and Great Britain
has hosted three Summer Olympics (1908, 1948, 2012), all in London. Four cities have
hosted two Summer Olympics: Athens (1896, 2004), Paris (1900, 1924), Los Angeles (1932,
1984), and Tokyo (1964, 2020). Tokyo is the first city outside of the Western world to host
the Summer Olympics multiple times.

Asia has hosted the Summer Olympics four times (1964, 1988, 2008, 2020) in Japan, South
Korea, and China. The only Summer Olympics held in the Southern Hemisphere have been in
Australia (1956, 2000) and Brazil (2016). The 2016 Games are the first Summer Olympics to
be held in South America and the first to be held during the local winter season. Africa has
yet to host a Summer Olympics.

Only five countries—Greece, Australia, France, Great Britain, and Switzerland—have been
represented at every Summer Olympic Games. The only country to have won at least one
gold medal at every Summer Olympic Games is Great Britain. The United States leads the
all-time medal table.

Qualification

Qualification rules for each of the Olympic sports are set by the International Sports
Federations (IFs) that governs that sport's international competition.[2]

For individual sports, competitors typically qualify through attaining a certain place in a
major international event or on the IF's ranking list. There is a general rule that maximum
three individual athletes may represent each nation per competition. National Olympic
committees may enter a limited number of qualified competitors in each event, and the NOC
decides which qualified competitors to select as representatives in each event if more have
attained the benchmark than can be entered

Nations most often qualify teams for team sports through continental qualifying tournaments,
in which each continental association is given a certain number of sports in the Olympic
tournament. Each nation may be represented by no more than one team per competition a
team is two people in some sports.

Hosting

The United States has hosted four Summer Olympic Games, more than any other nation. The
United Kingdom hosted the 2012 Olympic Games, its third Summer Olympic Games, in its
capital London, making London the first city to host the Summer Olympic Games three
times. Australia, France, Germany, Greece, and Japan have all hosted the Summer Olympic
Games twice.
Other countries that have hosted the Summer Olympics are Belgium, Brazil, China, Canada,
Finland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, South Korea, Spain, the Soviet Union, and Sweden. Asia
has hosted the Summer Olympics three times and will host again in 2020. In 2016, Rio de
Janeiro hosted the first Summer Olympics in South America. Three cities have hosted two
Summer Olympic Games: Los Angeles, Paris, and Athens.

Stockholm has hosted events at two Summer Olympic Games, having hosted the games in
1912 and the equestrian events at the 1956 Summer Olympics—which they are usually listed
as jointly hosting.[4] Events at the Summer Olympics have also been held in Hong Kong and
the Netherlands, with the equestrian events at the 2008 Summer Olympics being held in Sha
Tin and Kwu Tung and two sailing races at the 1920 Summer Olympics being held in
Amsterdam. For the 2020 Summer Olympics, Tokyo will be the host city, hosting for the
second time, the first being in 1964.

The hosting of Summer Olympic Games through history has predominantly occurred in
English-speaking countries and European nations.[5] Tokyo will be the first city outside of
these regions to host the Summer Olympics twice.

Early years

The modern Olympic Games were founded in 1894 when Pierre de Coubertin sought to
promote international understanding through sporting competition. He based his Olympics on
the Wenlock Olympian Society Annual Games, which had been contested in Much Wenlock
since 1850.[6] The first edition of de Coubertin's games, held in Athens in 1896, attracted just
245 competitors, of whom more than 200 were Greek, and only 14 countries were
represented. Nevertheless, no international events of this magnitude had been organized
before. Female athletes were not allowed to compete, though one woman, Stamata Revithi,
ran the marathon course on her own, saying "[i]f the committee doesn't let me compete I will
go after them ".[7]

The 1896 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the Olympiad, was an
international multi-sport event which was celebrated in Athens, Greece, from 6 to 15 April
1896. It was the first Olympic Games held in the Modern era. About 100,000 people attended
for the opening of the games. The athletes came from 14 different nations, with most coming
from Greece. Although Greece had the most athletes, the U.S. finished with the most
champions. 11 Americans placed first in their events vs. the 10 from Greece.[8] Ancient
Greece was the birthplace of the Olympic Games, consequently Athens was perceived to be
an appropriate choice to stage the inaugural modern Games. It was unanimously chosen as
the host city during a congress organized by Pierre de Coubertin, a French pedagogue and
historian, in Paris, on 23 June 1894. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was also
established during this congress.
 The Olympics through the Years

 The first modern Olympics were held in Athens, Greece, in 1896. In the opening
ceremony, King Georgios I and a crowd of 60,000 spectators welcomed 280
participants from 13 nations (all male), who would compete in 43 events, including
track and field, gymnastics, swimming, wrestling, cycling, tennis, weightlifting,
shooting and fencing. All subsequent Olympiads have been numbered even when no
Games take place (as in 1916, during World War I, and in 1940 and 1944, during
World War II). The official symbol of the modern Games is five interlocking coloured
rings, representing the continents of North and South America, Asia, Africa, Europe
and Australia. The Olympic flag, featuring this symbol on a white background, flew
for the first time at the Antwerp Games in 1920.
 The Olympics truly took off as an international sporting event after 1924, when the
VIII Games were held in Paris. Some 3,000 athletes (with more than 100 women
among them) from 44 nations competed that year, and for the first time the Games
featured a closing ceremony. The Winter Olympics debuted that year, including such
events as figure skating, ice hockey, bobsledding and the biathlon. Eighty years later,
when the 2004 Summer Olympics returned to Athens for the first time in more than a
century, nearly 11,000 athletes from a record 201 countries competed. In a gesture
that joined both ancient and modern Olympic traditions, the shotput competition that
year was held at the site of the classical Games in Olympia.
 THE WINTER OLYMPICS

The Winter Olympic Games (French: Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international sporting
event that occurs once every four years. Unlike the Summer Olympics, the Winter Olympics feature
sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympics, the 1924 Winter Olympics, was held
in Chamonix, France. The original five sports (broken into nine disciplines) were bobsleigh, curling,
ice hockey, Nordic skiing (consisting of the disciplines military patrol, cross-country skiing, Nordic
combined, and ski jumping), and skating (consisting of the disciplines figure skating and speed
skating). The Games were held every four years from 1924 until 1936, after which they were
interrupted by World War II. The Olympics resumed in 1948 and was again held every four years.
Until 1992, the Winter and Summer Olympic Games were held in the same years, but in accordance
with a 1986 decision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to place the Summer and Winter
Games on separate four-year cycles in alternating even-numbered years, the next Winter Olympics
after 1992 was in 1994.

The Winter Games have evolved since its inception. Sports and disciplines have been added and some
of them, such as Alpine skiing, luge, short track speed skating, freestyle skiing, skeleton, and
snowboarding, have earned a permanent spot on the Olympic program. Others (such as curling and
bobsleigh) have been discontinued and later reintroduced, or have been permanently discontinued
(such as military patrol, though the modern Winter Olympic sport of biathlon is descended from it).[nb
2]
Still others, such as speed skiing, bandy and skijoring, were demonstration sports but never
incorporated as Olympic sports. The rise of television as a global medium for communication
enhanced the profile of the Games. It created an income stream, via the sale of broadcast rights and
advertising, which has become lucrative for the IOC. This allowed outside interests, such as television
companies and corporate sponsors, to exert influence. The IOC has had to address several criticisms,
internal scandals, the use of performance-enhancing drugs by Winter Olympians, as well as a political
boycott of the Winter Olympics. Nations have used the Winter Games to showcase the claimed
superiority of their political systems.

The Winter Olympics has been hosted on three continents by eleven different countries. The Games
have been held in the United States four times (1932, 1960, 1980, 2002); in France three times (1924,
1968, 1992); and in Austria (1964, 1976), Canada (1988, 2010), Japan (1972, 1998), Italy (1956,
2006), Norway (1952, 1994), and Switzerland (1928, 1948) twice. Also, the Games have been held in
Germany (1936), Yugoslavia (1984), and Russia (2014) once. The IOC has selected Pyeongchang,
South Korea, to host the 2018 Winter Olympics and Beijing, China, to host the 2022 Winter
Olympics. No city in the southern hemisphere has hosted or even been an applicant to host the Winter
Olympics; the major challenge preventing one hosting the games is the dependence on winter
weather, and the traditional February timing of the games falls in the middle of the southern
hemisphere summer.

Twelve countries – Austria, Canada, Finland, France, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Poland,
Sweden, Switzerland and the United States – have sent athletes to every Winter Olympic Games. Six
of those – Austria, Canada, Finland, Norway, Sweden and the United States – have earned medals at
every Winter Olympic Games, and only one – the United States – has earned gold at each Games.
Norway leads in terms of number of gold medals and overall number of medals. Germany and Japan
have been banned at times from competing in the Games.
 THE YOUTH OLYMPICS

The Youth Olympic Games (YOG) is an international multi-sport event organized by the
International Olympic Committee. The games are held every four years in staggered summer
and winter events consistent with the current Olympic Games format. The first summer
version was held in Singapore from 14 to 26 August 2010 while the first winter version was
held in Innsbruck, Austria from 13 to 22 January 2012.[1] The age limitation of the athletes is
14 to 18.[2] The idea of such an event was introduced by Johann Rosenzopf from Austria in
1998. On 6 July 2007, International Olympic Committee (IOC) members at the 119th IOC
session in Guatemala City approved the creation of a youth version of the Olympic Games,
with the intention of sharing the costs of hosting the event between the IOC and the host city,
whereas the traveling costs of athletes and coaches were to be paid by the IOC. These Games
will also feature cultural exchange programs and opportunities for participants to meet
Olympic athletes.

Several other Olympic events for youth, like the European Youth Olympic Festival held
every other year with summer and winter versions, and the Australian Youth Olympic
Festival, have proven successful. The Youth Games are modelled after these sporting events.
[3]
The YOG are also a successor to the discontinued World Youth Games.

The Summer Youth Olympic Games of Singapore in 2010 and Nanjing in 2014 each played
host to 3600 athletes and lasted 13 days, whereas the Winter YOG of Innsbruck in 2012 had
1059 athletes and lasted 10 days. Even though this exceeded initial estimates, the YOG are
still both smaller in size as well as shorter than their senior equivalents. The next Summer
YOG to take place will be the 2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games of Buenos Aires. The
next Winter YOG to take place will be the 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games of Lausanne

THE YOUTH OLYMPICS

The concept of the Youth Olympic Games came from Austrian industrial manager Johann
Rosenzopf in 1998. This was in response to growing global concerns about childhood obesity
and the dropping participation of youth in sport activities, especially amongst youth in
developed nations. It was further recognized that a youth version of the Olympic Games
would help foster participations in the Olympic Games. Despite these reasons for having an
Olympic event for young people, the IOC's response of holding a purely sporting event was
negative. IOC delegates wanted the event to be as much about cultural education and
exchange as it was about sports, which is why the Culture and Education Program (CEP) was
developed as a component of each celebration of the Games. Jacques Rogge, IOC President,
formally announced plans for the Youth Olympic Games at the 119th IOC session in
Guatemala City on 6 July 2007. There are several goals for the YOG, and four of them
include bringing together the world's best young athletes, offering an introduction into
Olympism, innovating in educating and debating Olympic values. The city of Singapore was
announced as the host of the inaugural Summer Youth Olympics on 21 February 2008. On 12
December 2008 the IOC announced that Innsbruck, host of the 1964 and 1976 Winter
Olympics, would be the host of the inaugural Winter Youth Olympics in 2012.
THE PARALYMPIC GAMES

The Paralympic Games is a major international multi-sport event involving athletes with a range of
disabilities, including impaired muscle power (e.g. paraplegia and quadriplegia, muscular dystrophy,
post-polio syndrome, spina bifida), impaired passive range of movement, limb deficiency (e.g.
amputation or dysmelia), leg length difference, short stature, hypertonia, ataxia, athetosis, vision
impairment and intellectual impairment. There are winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which
since the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul, South Korea, are held almost immediately following the
respective Olympic Games. All Paralympic Games are governed by the International Paralympic
Committee (IPC).

The Paralympics has 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 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.

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 ten eligible impairment
types. The categories are impaired muscle power, impaired passive range of movement, limb
deficiency, leg length difference, short stature, hypertonia, ataxia, athetosis, vision impairment and
intellectual impairment. 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

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, which 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 Lis Hartel, a Danish equestrian athlete
who had contracted polio in 1943 and won a silver medal in the dressage event.

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. Jewish-
German born Dr. Ludwig Guttmann of Stoke Mandeville Hospital, who had been helped to flee Nazi
Germany by the Council for Assisting Refugee Academics (CARA) in 1939, 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. Dr. Guttman's aim was to create an elite sports competition for people with disabilities that
would be equivalent to the Olympic Games. The games were held again at the same location in 1952,
and Dutch and Israeli 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
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. 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.

SOCGA-SWAZILAND OLYMPIC & COMMONWEALTH GAMES

ASSOCIATION

Vision: To be the Model NOC that is recognized for quality, innovation and success. This efficiently
and effectively meets the expectations of its stakeholders and inspires Swazis through sport and the
Olympic Ideals

Mission: To protect and promote Olympic Movement and Commonwealth Games Federation and
contribute to national development in Swaziland by supporting and developing elite sport and Sports
for All programmes

Values:

Respect We believe in respect for all human beings and for the environment.

We believe in fairness on and off the field of play, as characterized by equality, integrity and
Fairness
trust.

We stand by the view that the integrity of our individual and collective behaviours is the
Integrity
cornerstone of who and what we are.

Excellenc We aspire to and measure ourselves against defined expectations of excellence in all areas of
e our activities and relationships. Encourage new ideas and willingness to take risks.

We believe that enjoyment and fun have to be an integral part of our behaviour in order to
Fun
achieve our vision and mission

History of EOCGA

Early beginnings- present

For Swaziland, it all started after post-Independence (1968) when King Sobhuza II
commissioned Ian Hodgkinson to set up the Commonwealth Games Association. In 1972 it
was recognised as the Eswatini Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association (EOCGA)
after becoming a member of the International Olympic Committee and was headed by David
Sibandze. Two athletes, namely Richard Mabuza and Phil Sergeant, competed in the 1972
Munich Summer Olympic Games, and the country has attended nine Summer Olympic
Games to date, missing out only on the Games of Montreal 1976 and Moscow 1980.
Swaziland has also competed once in the Winter Olympic Games in 1992 in Albertville,
France, and was represented by alpine skier Keith Fraser. Since 1972, EOCGA has developed
into a multifaceted sports organization pursuing its primary goal of promoting the Olympic
Movement and Olympism throughout the Kingdom of Swaziland and leading Swazi Athletes
to Olympic Games every quadrennial. It is EOCGA’s belief that it will be able to blend sport
with culture and education to promote Olympism, cultivate ethical and moral values, foster
friendship and contribute to nation building. The role of the Olympic movement is to promote
the development of those physical and moral values forming the basis of sport.

EOCGA Officer and Employed Staff

CEO/Secretary General

ADMINISTRATION PROJECT MANAGER

OAC coordinator

Admin Manager Finance Officer Project Officer

COMMUNICATION

Project Assistance

Communication Officer
 Intern CGC
Programme

Office Assistance

Changing Lives through Sport

Promoting the Olympic Values of Friendship Respect Excellence

GOALS OF EOGA:

 TAKE ATHLETES TO GAMES AND ADD VALUE TO AN ATHLEETES

PERFORMANHCE AT THE OYMPIC GAMES
 STRENGTHEN AND SUPPORT OUR NATIONAL FEDERATIONS
 GROW OUR FINANICAL STRENGTH AND BRAND VALUE
 PROMOTE THE HISTORY AND PHIOSOPHY OF THE GAME AND OLYMPIC
MOVEMENT
The Eswatini Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association (SOCGA) is the franchise holder for
the Olympic and Commonwealth movement in Swaziland.

Located: 147 Sheffield Road,

Industrial Sites,
Mbabane

Kwik-fit Building, Opposite Times of Swaziland

Follow us Social media: Facebook- Eswatini Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association

Twitter- Eswatini Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association

Instagram-SOCGA5
EOCGA: TO PROMOTE THE OLYMPIC MOVEMENT THROUGH:

Hosting Olympic day run in June every year

Education Programmes- Sport Values 4 life, Olympic Academy, Olympafrica centre TRRFCC
Programme, teaching basic fundamental skills through Physical education.

Participating in Olympic Games every four years