The Olympics is an important sporting event with an interesting centuries-old history. Recently, this event has become popular throughout the world, affecting various spheres of human activity - cultural, health, educational, political and, of course, sports.
The Olympic movement and our homeland were not spared. In the Russian Federation, much attention is paid not only to the beauty and health of the population, but also to its physical culture, as well as international and multinational relations and relations.
When did the Olympic movements first appear in Russia? What is the history of their origin and development? What does the modern Olympic movement in Russia do today? These issues will be devoted to this article. We will also get acquainted with the Russian Olympic champions and their achievements.
A brief history of the Olympics
The Olympic Games originated in ancient Greece. It was in this country, at the foot of the famous Mount Kronos, that the Hellenes competed for the right to be considered the strongest and most enduring. Until now, the Olympic flame has traditionally been ignited in this place as a symbol of international competition.
The first Olympic Games were held back in 776 BC. e., over the years they became less popular and less visited, until they were finally abolished in 394 A.D. e.
After almost sixteen centuries, tradition was revived by the French leader de Coubertin. Thanks to his assistance, in 1896 the first International Olympic Games were held, which the world community liked so much that they became regular and systematic.
Since then, every four years, different countries of the world are honored to host the Olympics and Olympic guests. Throughout history, only three times this cycle was interrupted, and then because of world wars.
How did the development of the international Olympic movement affect Russia? Let's find out.
The period before the October Revolution
How did this period of time affect the Olympic movement in Russia? At a time when the whole world community was fired up with the idea of a new sports competition, the Russian Empire was going through difficult times. Serfdom was abolished, and the factory and factory industry only began to gain momentum. The population as a whole paid little attention to sports and exercise.
However, this did not mean that the state lagged behind the international community. According to the history of the Olympic movement in Russia, there were progressive people in the country who were striving for an international sports community.
One of these people was Army General Aleksey Butovsky. He was one of the co-founders of the International Olympic Committee, created under the leadership of de Coubertin. Thanks to the efforts of Butovsky, already in 1908, our country had its representatives at the Olympics, held in London. Moreover, Russian athletes not only attended the new competition for them, but also won prizes.
The first Russian Olympic champions were skater Panin-Kolomenkin (gold), lightweight wrestler Orlov Nikolai and heavyweight wrestler Petrov Andrei (both silver medalists of the competition). Thus, the Russian Empire forced the attention of the world sports community and loudly declared itself as a strong competitor.
Thanks to the first triumph, the Olympic movement in Russia reached the state level. A domestic Olympic committee was created, which was led by Vyacheslav Sreznevsky. The emperor himself patronized the athletes.
However, the games of 1912 were not as successful for the Russian Empire as the previous ones. Our athletes won only two silver and two bronze medals. From that moment, it was decided to prepare more thoroughly for the competitions, attracting new athletes and holding state competitions.
However, these plans were not destined to materialize in the coming decades.
Soviet era
Due to revolutionary events, the development of the Olympic movement in Russia was suspended. For political reasons, the newly formed USSR also did not take part in international sports.
Only in 1951, it was decided to take part in the next Olympics in Helsinki. For this, the Soviet Olympic Committee was established. That Olympics became gold-bearing for the USSR. Soviet athletes won 22 gold, thirty silver medals and nineteen bronze awards.
Among the strongest athletes of that competition, one should definitely mention discus thrower Nina Ponomareva, gymnast Maria Gorokhovskaya and gymnast Viktor Chukarin. This person should be told a little more.
Athlete contrary
Viktor Chukarin participated in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Olympic Games, having won gold medals seven times, three times silver and one time bronze. And this is despite the fact that at the time of the Helsinki Olympics the athlete was already over thirty and he went through seventeen concentration camps, having survived Buchenwald, physical and emotional bullying.
At the 1952 Olympics, Chukarin showed the best results in all-around, vault, rings and horse.
Melbourne and Winter Olympics
This competition, held in Australia in 1956, also brought incredible popularity to the USSR. The Soviet Union took first place in the number of prize awards won. How many Olympic medals did Russia win in this Olympics? Almost forty gold, about thirty silver and 32 bronze!
Among the outstanding athletes of that competition, mention should be made of the ten-time Olympic champion Larisa Latynina (gymnastics) and world champion Vladimir Kuts (athletics).
The first Winter Olympic Games, held in the same year, also did not pass without a trace for the international authority of the USSR. Soviet athletes won sixteen prizes. Grishin Evgeny (skater), Baranova Lyubov (skier), Bobrov Vsevolod (hockey, national team) were especially distinguished.
Olympics in Russia
In the framework of this article, we will not analyze all the victories of our country at international competitions. However, it is necessary to mention such an important political, economic and cultural event as the Olympics in Russia.
This event was held in Moscow in 1980. And although some countries refused to participate in the Russian Olympics (due to the introduction of the Soviet military into Afghanistan), athletes from eighty states were still present at the Moscow Games. Our team has won almost two hundred prize awards!
Among the most striking performances, gymnast Dityatin Alexander (eight medals) and record swimmer Vladimir Salnikov (three golds) were especially distinguished.
Sports Russian Federation
As you can see, there are three main stages of the Olympic movement in Russia. Starting from the earliest, these are the pre-revolutionary and Soviet periods, as well as the era after the so-called perestroika.
Since 1994, Russian athletes have been flying the flag of the Russian Federation, which in no way affected their victories. In January of this year, the Winter Olympic Games were held, which brought eleven prizes. Athletes Egorova Lyubov (skier) and figure skaters Gordeeva and Grinko (pair skating), Grischuk and Platov (dancing) and Urmanov (single skating) were especially prominent.
Olympics in Rio de Janeiro
The 2016 Olympics also pleased the Russians. Our athletes (286 people in total) took part in 23 of the accepted 28 sports and brought 55 prize awards (nineteen gold and bronze medals, seventeen silver medals). Our volleyball player Sergei Tetyukhin became the standard bearer at the event in honor of the opening of the Olympics, and swimmers Ishchenko and Romashin were honored to close the sports event with a banner in their hands.
Athletes of such disciplines as wrestling and fencing (four first prizes each), as well as judo, synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics (two silver awards) were especially distinguished at the Rio Olympics.
2018 Winter Olympics
It is planned that these competitions will be held from February 9 to February 25, 2018 in the Republic of Korea (Pyeongchang). There will be 84 participating countries. 98 medals will be played in seven sports.
Presumably, 220 Russian athletes will go to Korea.
Based on the qualification results, the Russian Federation received eleven quotas for participation in biathlon and figure skating.
Athletes have not yet been selected for some disciplines. The decision will be made after the December finals. However, it is already known that, most likely, Anna Sidorova, Margarita Fomina, Alexandra Raeva (women's team) and Alexander Krushelnitsky, Anastasia Bryzgalova, Vasily Gudin (mixed pairs) will represent Russia in curling competitions.
Also, the women's and men's Russian hockey teams will compete for first place.
However, with the participation of the Russian Federation in the 2018 Winter Olympics, things are not so simple.
Will Russia go to Pyeongchang?
On October 20, 2017, in an official interview in Sochi, the President of the Russian Federation said that Russia would not be allowed to compete in the Republic of Korea. The fact is that the International Olympic Committee is under tremendous pressure to prohibit Russian athletes from speaking at the Olympics. According to Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, not only the political forces of Western countries insist on this, but also important sponsors, international television channels and popular advertisers.
According to the President, they want to impose performance on domestic athletes not under their own flag, but under the banner of the IOC. Such categorization is fundamentally impossible for a strong and prosperous state.
According to Putin, this state of affairs will not harm Russia, but, on the contrary, will strengthen its sovereignty.
As for the Olympic Committee, it is very unfortunate that it is influenced by international political organizations, since sports (including the Olympics, too) should be far from social and political conflicts.
A few words in conclusion
From the history and current state of affairs it is clear that the Russian Olympic movement occupies an important place in the sports life of not only the state, but also individual citizens. For more than a hundred years, Russia has been participating in the Olympic Games, and its victories are simply legendary and historic.