Sochi 2014 Paralympics - Ceremonies, Medals, Torch Relay Read more...about Results following the link © • IPC The Russian Federation team enter the stadium during the Opening Ceremony of the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games at Fisht Olympic Stadium on March 7, 2014 in Sochi, Russia © Getty Images Roman Petushkov of Russia has been dominant at the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games. © Getty Images The Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games were record-breaking in terms of athlete performances, ticket sales and media coverage, and according to Russia’s Deputy Prime Minster Dmitry Kozak, “they showed what people from different countries and nationalities different cultures and traditions are capable of when they are united by a single goal and an inspired dream.” By hosting the Paralympics for the first time ever, the Games became a catalyst for the country to create a barrier-free society. SPORTS The Games featured five sports across Sochi’s Coastal and Mountain Clusters, including alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country skiing, ice sledge hockey and wheelchair curling.

Snowboard made its Paralympic Winter Games debut as a discipline under IPC Alpine Skiing. Para alpine skiing Para biathlon Para cross-country skiing Para ice hockey Wheelchair curling TORCH RELAY The Paralympic Torch Relay passed through all eight of Russia's Federal Districts. From 26 February – 7 March 2013, more than 1,000 torchbearers carried the Paralympic Torch through at least 50 Russian regions. The inaugural Heritage Flame was lit at Stoke Mandeville Stadium in Aylesbury, Great Britain as part of the celebrations, which was the very first time there has been an international leg of the Paralympic Torch Relay. In a ceremony that will now take place before every future summer and winter Paralympic Games, the event celebrated the history of the Paralympic Games and Buckinghamshire's position as the birthplace of the Paralympic Movement. Every day, the Paralympic Flame was lit simultaneously in several Russian cities, so that at the end of the relay, thanks to the Paralympic Flame Unification Ceremony, it reached the Opening Ceremony of the Paralympic Games in Sochi.

OPENING CEREMONY A stunning Opening Ceremony at Fisht Stadium included a volunteer cast of more than 2,500 people from the Krasnodar region of Russia taking centre stage. Two-time Paralympic champion swimmer Olesya Vladykina and six-time Paralympic champion cross-country skier Sergey Shilov lit the Paralympic cauldron. With a theme of “Breaking The Ice,” the Opening Ceremony evoked the spirit of Russia and the importance of breaking down barriers and stereotypes faced by people around the world every day. IPC Honorary Board member and opera singer Maria Guleghina performed on a giant icebreaker ship as it passed through the stadium, signifying breaking down barriers and tracing new paths for mankind. MEDALS Russia topped the medals table, winning 30 golds and 80 total medals thanks to several top performances in Nordic skiing. Germany finished second with nine golds and 15 total medals and were followed by Canada with seven golds and 16 total medals. Nineteen of the 45 countries competing won at least one medal.

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCES Russia’s Roman Petushkov was the most decorated individual, wining six golds in seven events in biathlon and cross-country skiing. German alpine skier Anna Schaffelhuber, just 21, won gold in all five of her events in the women’s sitting class to match Lauren Woolstencroft’s record of five golds for a female athlete at the Winter Games. By taking the title in three cross-country skiing events – the men’s 1km sprint, 10km and 20km visually impaired races – Canada’s Brian McKeever increased his career Paralympic golds to In the 1im sprint, he overcame a fall at the start of the race to dramatically win gold. The USA became the first ice sledge hockey team to win back-to-back Paralympic golds, while Canada won their third straight Paralympic gold in wheelchair curling.

ATTENDANCE AND COVERAGE Sochi 2014 was record-breaking in terms of ticket sales and media coverage for a Paralympic Winter Games, with 316,200 tickets sold, which was 86,200 more than Vancouver 2010. The Games were broadcast to a cumulative global TV audience of nearly 2.1 billion people in more than 55 countries and territories, with broadcasters showing more hours of coverage than previous editions of the Games. In the host country of the Games, broadcasters VGTRK, RBC TV and ANO Sports Broadcasting showed 180 hours of coverage. NBC showcased Paralympic coverage for the first time in the USA, while Channel 4 (Great Britain), EBU (Europe) and NHK (Japan) also had unprecedented coverage for a Winter Games. The Games were also shown on Attitude Pictures (New Zealand), KBS (South Korea), CCTV (China) and American Movil in the Americas. Through working with the National Paralympic Committees of Australia, Brazil, Canada and South Africa, they were also shown on ABC, Globo’s Sportv, and CBC/Radio Canada and SuperSport, respectively.

The Samsung Paralympic Bloggers project was carried out for the second time by the IPC and Samsung, with 30 of the world’s leading winter athletes providing over 100 behind-the-scenes video blogs that received more than 50,000 views. The IPC’s online channels experienced tremendous growth, as showed more than 300 hours of live coverage and tripled its average monthly traffic. On its YouTube channel, the IPC recorded nearly 2.5 million views, and its Facebook and Twitter pages both increased their following by about 13 per cent. Take a look at some of the Sochi videos here. During Sochi 2014, there were over 73,000 tweets using the #Paralympics hashtag and 92,000 mentioning the word “Paralympics.” CLOSING CEREMONY Through the theme of “Reaching the Impossible,” the Closing Ceremony illuminated how dreams can be achieved through strength and passion to change the perception of “impossible” to “I’m possible.” Abstract artwork was brought to life by 462 performers dressed in bright colours who formed geometric shapes to display different images, including illustrations of various winter sports.

A man in a wheelchair then appeared on the scene, faced with the challenge of climbing a 15-metre rope. When he accepted the challenge and reached the top of the rope, he became a flying apostrophe between the letters ‘I’ and ‘M’ in ‘IMPOSSIBLE’ to create ‘I’M POSSIBLE,’ with a spectacular fireworks display celebration the transformation. The 8,000 Sochi 2014 Paralympic volunteers were recognised as heros of the Games, and performers in red, blue and green transformed the Paralympic Agitos into a giant heart, embracing 51 volunteers at its centre. Also during the Ceremony, the Whang Young Dai Award was presented to Australian alpine skier Toby Kane and Dutch snowboarder Bibian Mentel-Spee for not only achieving sporting excellence, but also for exemplifying the spirit of the Games by inspiring and exciting the world. An enchanting cast filled the stage for the finale, putting on a huge dance sequence that included four international voices – Jose Carreras –Nafset Chenib, Diana Gurtskaya and Valeriy Kozlovsky – and ended with a large fireworks display across the entire Olympic Park.

2014 U.S. Paralympic Nordic Skiing Team Nominated 2014 U.S. Paralympic Nordic Skiing Team Nominated 2014 U.S. Paralympic Nordic Skiing Team Nominated By U.S. Paralympics | Jan. 29, 2014, 1 p.m. (ET) Tatyana McFadden and Jeremy Wagner are among the nominees for the 2014 U.S. Paralympic Nordic Skiing Team. Beth Requist (Winter Park, Colo.) Men Jake Adicoff (Sun Valley, Idaho) Omar Bermejo (Grand Rapids, Mich.) Kevin Burton (Boulder, Colo.) Lt. Cmdr.

Dan Cnossen (Topeka, Kan.) Travis Dodson (Deming, N.M.) John Oman (Rice Lake, Wis.) Augusto Perez (East Syracuse, N.Y.) Aaron Pike (Park Rapids, Minn.) Bryan Price (Belton, Mo.) Andy Soule (San Antonio, Texas) Jeremy Wagner (Nanakuli, Hawaii) David Chamberlain (Wilton, Maine) Reid Pletcher (Ketchum, Idaho) COLORADO SPRINGS – U.S. Paralympics, a division of the United States Olympic Committee, announced today that 16 Nordic skiing athletes and two guides have been nominated to the 2014 U.S. Paralympic Team to compete in biathlon and cross-country skiing at the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, March 7-16. The nominations are subject to approval of the USOC. After sending six athletes to the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games, Team USA’s Nordic roster will nearly triple in size with 12 men, four women and two guides for visually impaired athletes.

“We are thrilled to bring such a large team of athletes and professional staff to Sochi,” said John Farra, high performance director for U.S. Paralympics Nordic skiing. “We have made a concerted effort to introduce more athletes to the sports of cross-country skiing and biathlon over the past two-and-a-half seasons, and this growth is a sign of our success in keeping many of them excited about our Nordic sports and working toward becoming internationally competitive. “In addition to building the numbers with new developing athletes, we have also focused many resources to help our top athletes get close to hitting the podium. Great focus was given towards equipment design for sit skiers, race ski selection and preparation in partnership with the U.S. Biathlon Association, and access to the best training camps and competitions around the world.” Three athletes return from the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games, including Andy Soule (San Antonio, Texas) who won the first-ever U.S. medal in the Olympic or Paralympic Winter Games in the biathlon with his bronze in the men’s 2.4-kilometer race.

Soule will be joined by his 2010 teammates Sean Halsted (Spokane, Wash.) and Monica Bascio (Evergreen, Colo.). Bascio boasts the most Winter Games experience, with Sochi marking her third Winter Games and fourth Games overall. Having just recently retired from cycling, Bascio is one of three athletes who medaled at the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Other cross-over athletes include Tatyana McFadden (Clarksville, Md.) and Oksana Masters (Louisville, Ky.). McFadden is a 10-time Paralympic medalist in track and field, while Masters partnered with Rob Jones to become the first Americans to win a Paralympic rowing medal in the trunk and arms mixed double sculls event with their third place finish.

More than half of the athletes nominated to the men’s team are military veterans: Omar Bermejo (Marines/Grand Rapids, Mich.), Kevin Burton (Navy/Boulder, Colo.), Travis Dodson (Marines/Deming, N.M.), Halsted (Air Force/Spokane, Wash.), Bryan Price (Army/ Belton, Mo.), Soule (Army) and Jeremy Wagner (Army Reserves/Nanakuli, Hawaii). Lieutenant Commander Dan Cnossen (Topeka, Kan.) is the only active duty member of the team as he currently serves with the United States Navy. Competition for Nordic skiing will take place March 8-16 with March 13 scheduled as an off-day. Nordic skiing includes both biathlon and cross-country skiing, both of which have three events contested at the Games, in addition to two cross-country relays. The majority of the U.S. Paralympic Nordic Skiing Team will compete in both sports. A list of events entered by each athlete will be available in February. The USOC and NBC Olympics have partnered to provide an unprecedented level of coverage to the Paralympic Winter Games.

NBC and NBC Sports Network will combine to air 50 hours of television, starting on March 7 with the Opening Ceremony. It will be followed by daily coverage of all five Paralympic sports in the Sochi program, before the Games' Closing Ceremony is broadcast on March 16. In addition to the unprecedented U.S. television coverage, the USOC and streaming sponsors BMW, BP, Citi, Liberty Mutual Insurance, Procter & Gamble and The Hartford will provide live online coverage at TeamUSA.org . U.S. Paralympic Team nominees for alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country skiing, sled hockey, snowboarding and wheelchair curling will be finalized by the USOC no later than Feb. 21, the deadline to submit Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games delegation rosters to the International Paralympic Committee. Selection procedures and dates can be found at TeamUSA.org/ParalympicGames/ . Sochi Winter Paralympics: Guide to the sports - BBC Sport BBC Sport Sochi Winter Paralympics: Guide to the sports 18 Feb 2014 From the section Disability Sport Share this page Read more about sharing.

The Winter Paralympics started in 1976 in Ornskoldsvik, Sweden featuring 198 athletes from 16 countries. The Games featured alpine and Nordic skiing for amputee and visually impaired athletes and a demonstration event in sledge racing. The 2014 Winter Paralympics run from 7-16 March in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi - the first time that a Paralympic Games has been held in Russia and is expected to feature over 600 athletes from 44 countries. The Games will include events in five winter sports - alpine skiing (including snowboarding), biathlon, cross-country skiing, ice sledge hockey and wheelchair curling with 72 gold medals on offer. BBC Sport gives you the details of the sports. Alpine skiing There are five disciplines in alpine skiing - downhill, super-G, giant slalom, slalom and super combined and there are three categories of racer - visually impaired, standing and sitting.

Visually impaired skiers use a guide who skis ahead of the competitor and gives instructions on the course via a headset, standing skiers with upper limb impairments use the same equipment as able-bodied skiers while those with a lower limb amputation can use one or two skis and a stabiliser that rests on the snow to aid balance instead of ski poles, while sit-skiers use a specially adapted mono-ski. Downhill has a vertical drop distance of between 450 and 800m with competitors required to pass through a series of red gates which are used as checkpoints during the descent. Super-G is a event between downhill and giant slalom with the course marked with a minimum of 30 alternating blue and red gates. Giant slalom gates are closer than those in the speed events and the competition is contested over two rounds using the same slope but different courses. Slalom is competed over two heats on the same slope but different courses. The number of gates varies and the event requires agility and dexterity. Super combined consists of two runs - a downhill and a slalom with the winner clocking the lowest aggregate time.

Snowboard cross is making its Paralympic debut in Sochi with men's and women's events for athletes with lower limb impairments. Each athlete completes three runs down the course with their finish time of their best two runs determining the final order based on ascending time. There is only one rider on the course at a time. The event takes place on a man-made course constructed from a variety of terrain features like bank turns, various types of jumps and rollers etc. Did you know? A total of 191 athletes from 37 countries took part in the alpine skiing events at the Vancouver Winter Paralympics in 2010. Richard Burt won a silver and three bronzes for GB in visually impaired skiing events at the 1992 and 1994 Games while Matthew Stockford won four bronzes across both Games. Biathlon The biathlon combines cross-country skiing and target shooting. Athletes ski three 2.0 or 2.5km legs three or five times in the free technique for a total race distance between 6-15 km and must also fire at two targets located at a distance of 10m.

Each miss is penalised by an increase in the overall route time. The women's races in Sochi are over distances of 6, 10 and 12.5km while the men race over 7.5, 12.5 and 15km. Athletes with visual impairment are assisted by acoustic signals, which depending on signal intensity, indicate when the athlete is on target. Did you know? The first biathlon medals were awarded in Lillehammer in 1994. Russia won 16 medals in the sport in Vancouver in 2010, including five golds. Cross-country skiing Cross-country skiers compete in individual events over short, middle and long distances ranging from 1km to 20km and can also compete in team relays using classical or free techniques. Visually impaired skiers compete with a guide, while athletes with a physical disability compete using either a sit-ski or standing using one or two skis and/or poles. Did you know? Cross-country skiing made its Winter Paralympic debut in 1976 in Sweden.

Peter Young won two bronze medals for GB in cross country skiing in Innsbruck in 1984 and Lillehammer in 1994. Sledge hockey Sledge hockey, which made its debut at the Lillehammer Winter Paralympics in 1994, is a version of ice hockey for athletes with a lower limb disability. Many of the rules are the same as ice hockey - the main difference is that athletes use specially designed sledges fitted with two blades to propel themselves across the ice and which allow the puck to pass underneath while they also have two playing sticks which are used to push around the court and also to control and shoot the puck. The game is comprised of three periods, each 15 minutes in length and six players are allowed on the court at any time with a total of 15 players making up a team. Did you know? Two Swedish national teams played an exhibition match at the inaugural Paralympic Winter Games in 1976 in Sweden.

The USA are the defending Paralympic champions while Canada are the current world champions Wheelchair curling Wheelchair curling made its Winter Paralympic debut in Turin in 2006 and is a mixed team sport made up of four players. The sport is similar to its able-bodied equivalent but there is no sweeping. The object of the game is to slide stones with handles across the ice, aiming for them to come to a stop on a target, called the house. The lead delivers the first stone and play continues with each athlete delivering two stones alternating with the opposing team. Placing the stone inside the house means earning a possible point and the team that places the most stones closest to the centre of the house wins the point. The stones can be delivered conventionally or by the use of an extender cue. Did you know? Ten teams will compete in the sport in Sochi. Great Britain won silver in Turin - Angie Malone and Tom Killin were part of that GB team and are hoping for more success this time around.

Share this page Sochi 2014 Paralympic tickets go on sale Sochi 2014 Paralympic tickets go on sale 28.09.2013 The Sochi 2014 Games will be held from 7-16 March, with 72 medals being contested across five sports. Russia's ice sledge hockey team hope to make the podium at Sochi 2014 after taking bronze at the 2013 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships A-Pool. © • Sochi 2014 By Sochi 2014 The minimum ticket price for Paralympic events will be 350 rubles, and the maximum 1,500 rubles. On average, tickets will be sold for 400-500 rubles. The Sochi 2014 Organising Committee has opened ticket sales for Russia’s first Paralympic Winter Games. The Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi will be an unrivalled opportunity to see the world’s best elite Paralympic athletes compete.

A total of 1,650 Paralympic athletes and their accompanying team members from 45 different countries will take part in the Games. The Sochi 2014 Games will be held from 7-16 March, with 72 sets of medals being awarded in five sports – biathlon , cross-country skiing , ice sledge hockey , wheelchair curling and alpine skiing . Para-snowboard will make its Paralympic Games debut as a discipline under alpine skiing . The minimum ticket price for Paralympic events will be 350 rubles, and the maximum 1,500 rubles. On average, tickets will be sold for 400-500 rubles. Tickets for the Opening Ceremony of the Paralympic Games will range from 700-5,000 rubles, and for the Closing Ceremony from 400 to 2,000 rubles. Ticket prices are inclusive, including all taxes and the right for spectators to travel on public transport during the Games on the competition day specified on the ticket.

Russian citizens and official resident foreign nationals will be able to purchase tickets via The Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee and via officially appointed Authorized Ticket Resellers. The full list of these Resellers is available on the official Sochi 2014 website . Through 1 November, Russia-based fans will be able to purchase tickets with delivery – in this case, buyers will receive a souvenir ticket with a unique design. In addition, everyone will be able to pick up tickets purchased online at the main ticket offices in Moscow and Sochi and during the Games at the ticket office in the facilities. In other countries, the authorized ticket resellers, appointed by the National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) will represent the primary contact for Paralympic tickets. International sports fans will also be able to access tickets through the Sochi website and the IPC Ticketing Agent eVentureZone in a selected number of countries. A complete list of authorized ticket resellers appointed by the NPC of each country and the official reseller of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), through which foreign nationals can buy tickets, has been published on the Sochi 2014 website.

In recognition of the Visa company's long-time support of the Paralympic Games , only Visa cards will be accepted for payment. In order to attend the Paralympic Games , all spectators will need to obtain a spectator pass. A spectator pass is a prerequisite for gaining access to the competitions and the Olympic Park, along with a ticket. It is not just a binding document for all spectators of the Games – it will be a memorable souvenir of the Games in Sochi. After buying a ticket, every spectator is advised to register on the website to obtain a spectator pass as soon as possible. Once the Games have started, this will help avoid queues at the entrance to the sports venues and save time. The spectator pass will be valid for the Olympic and Paralympic Games . Details of the procedure for obtaining a Spectator Pass is available at: pass.sochi2014.com. Rio 2016 Paralympic Games Rio2016.com With the Opening Ceremony to be held Sept. 7, 2016, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, will become the first South American city to host a Paralympic Games.

More than 4,350 athletes from 160 nations are expected to compete in 22 sports, including para-canoe and paratriathlon, both which debut on the Paralympic program in 2016. The 2016 Paralympic Games, Sept. 7-18, follow the 2016 Olympic Games, Aug. 5-21, in the same venues. QUALIFICATION AND SELECTION An overview of qualification and selection procedures and key dates for each sport are available by clicking here . STORYLINES With less than 500 days to go, Team USA is preparing for an exciting Games with new sports and new ways to watch. Swimmer Jessica Long of Baltimore, Maryland, is aiming for her fourth consecutive Paralympic Games. She won her first of 12 Paralympic titles in 2004 at age 12. Paralympic inclusion: Two sports, para-canoe and paratriathlon, will debut on the Paralympic program at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio.

With three medal events in both men’s and women’s para-canoe, a total of 60 athletes are expected to compete in the debut of the sport, which is almost identical to canoeing for able-bodied athletes. The inaugural Paralympic Games paratriathlon event will feature a 750-meter swim, 20-kilometer bike and 5-kilometer run, and three of the five classification divisions will be contested. Men’s PT1 (wheelchair/handcycle) and men’s PT4 (limb deficiencies, impaired muscle power or range of movement) have been added, as well as women’s PT4. The remaining three medal events will be announced later this year. Increased coverage: U.S. media rights holders NBCUniversal and the USOC will build on its unprecedented coverage of the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games, March 7-16, with more coverage of the Games than ever before in 2016.

The networks will air 66 hours of coverage of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, an increase of 60.5 hours from the coverage of the London 2012 Paralympic Games, while TeamUSA.org and USParalympics.org will provide comprehensive online coverage. Sports and service: At the London 2012 Paralympic Games, 20 active duty and veteran athletes competed for the 2012 U.S. Paralympic Team. Several of the athletes are making a run for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, including retired U.S. Navy Lt. Brad Snyder (Baltimore, Maryland), a swimmer who won a gold medal on Sept. 7, 2012, the exact one-year anniversary of the improvised explosive device explosion in Afghanistan that cost him his vision. He returned to international competition in August, winning six gold medals and one bronze medal at the 2014 Pan Pacific Para-Swimming Championships. Another military athlete in the mix is swimmer turned paratriathlete Melissa Stockwell (Chicago, Illinois), retired, U.S. Army.

Stockwell, who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom, was the first U.S. female solider injured in combat when a roadside bomb hit her Humvee in April 2004, resulting in the amputation of her left leg above the knee. Jessica Long-evity: While she will only be 24 years old at the 2016 Paralympic Games, Jessica Long of Baltimore, Maryland, is looking to make her fourth consecutive Paralympic appearance in 2016. Since her Paralympic debut as a 12 year old at the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games, where she won three gold medals, Long has gone on to become one of the most decorated Paralympic swimmers of all-time with a total of 17 medals. In 2014, Long continues to make strides. She held an on-camera role for NBC Olympics’ coverage of the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games in March then returned to the pool days later, winning multiple events at the Spring CanAm in Miami.

Most recently, she set a world record at the Jimi Flowers Classic on June 21, swimming a 2:36.50 in the women’s 200-meter butterfly S8. She now holds 10 world records. Closing the gap: The U.S. Women’s National Sitting Volleyball Team, ranked second in the world, has met top-ranked China in the past two Paralympic Games (2008, 2012) and world championships (2010, 2014) in the gold-medal matches. Each time, the Chinese came away with the title. However, the U.S. won its first match over China in the 2013 Moscow Cup gold-medal match, and in March 2014, the U.S. defeated China twice in the Denver Sitting Volleyball Challenge. At the 2014 World ParaVolley Sitting Volleyball World Championships, Team USA held two title match points over China before falling 17-15 in the fifth set.

China has won all three Paralympic Games women’s sitting volleyball titles (2004, 2008, 2012), but Team USA is ready to top the leaderboard in Rio. U.S. Paralympics Olympic Games | Olympics Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Main article: Summer Olympic Games After the initial success, the Olympics struggled. The celebrations in Paris (1900) and St. Louis (1904) were overshadowed by the World's Fair exhibitions in which they were included. The 1906 Intercalated Games (so-called because of their off-year status, as 1906 is not divisible by four) were held in Athens, as the first of an alternating series of Athens-held Olympics. Although originally the IOC recognised and supported these games, they are currently not recognised by the IOC as Olympic Games, which has given rise to the explanation that they were intended to mark the 10th anniversary of the modern Olympics.

The 1906 Games again attracted a broad international field of participants—in 1904, 80% had been American—and great public interest, thereby marking the beginning of a rise in popularity and size of the Games. From the 241 participants from 14 nations in 1896, the Games grew to nearly 11,100 competitors from 202 countries at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens . The number of competitors at the Winter Olympics is much smaller than at the Summer Games; at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin Italy, 2,633 athletes from 80 countries competed in 84 events. The Olympics are one of the largest media events. In Sydney in 2000, there were over 16,000 broadcasters and journalists, and an estimated 3.8 billion viewers watched the games on television. The growth of the Olympics is one of the largest problems the Olympics face today.

Although allowing professional athletes and attracting sponsorships from major international companies solved financial problems in the 1980s, the large number of athletes, media and spectators makes it difficult and expensive for host cities to organize the Olympics. For example, the 2012 Olympics (which were held in London), is based on an updated budget of over £9bn—one of the biggest budgets for an Olympics to date. Even if sponsorships do lighten the load in terms of the debt that these countries take on, one of the biggest problems faced is how their economies will cope with the extra financial burdens put on them. Despite the Olympics usually being associated with one host city, most of the Olympics have had events held in other cities, especially the football and sailing events. There were two Olympics where some events were held in a different country: during the 1920 Antwerp Olympics two sailing races were held in the Netherlands; and during the Melbourne Olympics equestrian events were held in Sweden.

The 2008 Beijing Olympics marked the third time that Olympic events have been held in the territories of two different NOC 's: at the 2008 Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong (which competes separately from mainland China.) 203 countries currently participate in the Olympics. This is a noticeably higher number than the number of countries belonging to the United Nations, which is only 193. The International Olympic Committee allows nations to compete which do not meet the strict requirements for political sovereignty that many other international organizations demand. As a result, many colonies and dependencies are permitted to host their own Olympic teams and athletes even if such competitors hold the same citizenship as another member nation. 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. Also, since 1980, Taiwan has competed under the name " Chinese Taipei ", and under a flag specially prepared by the IOC. Prior to that year the People's Republic of China refused to participate in the Games because Taiwan had been competing under the name "Republic of China".

The Republic of the Marshall Islands was recognised as a nation by the IOC on February 9, 2006, and competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing . [9] Youth Olympic Games Main article: Youth Olympic Games The Youth Olympic Games (YOG) [10] are planned to be a "junior" version of the Games, complementing the current "senior" Games, [11] and will feature athletes between the ages of 14 and 18. [12] The idea for such an event was envisioned in 2001 by IOC president Jacques Rogge , [13] and at the 119th IOC session in Guatemala City in July 2007, the IOC approved the Games. [14] The Youth Games versions will be shorter: the summer version will last at most twelve days; the winter version will last a maximum of nine days. [15] [16] The IOC will allow a maximum of 3,500 athletes and 875 officials to participate at the summer games, while 970 athletes and 580 officials are expected at the winter games.

[14] Each participating country would send at least four athletes. The sports contested at these games will be the same as those scheduled for the traditional Games, [13] but with a limited number of disciplines and events, and including some with special appeal to youth. Education and culture are also key components for this Youth edition. Estimated cost for the game are currently $30 million for the summer and $15–$20 million for winter games. [17] It has been stated the IOC will "foot the bill" for the Youth Games. The first host city will be Singapore in 2010; the first Winter Olympics is in 2012 in Innsbruk . Olympic problems Edit The 1956 Melbourne Olympics were the first Olympics to be boycotted. The Netherlands , Spain , and Switzerland refused to attend because of the repression of the Hungarian Uprising by the Soviet Union ; additionally, Cambodia , Egypt , Iraq , and Lebanon , boycotted the games due to the Suez Crisis.

[18] In 1972 and 1976 , a large number of African countries threatened the IOC with a boycott, to force them to ban South Africa , Rhodesia , and New Zealand . The IOC conceded in the first two cases, but refused in 1976 because the boycott was prompted by a New Zealand rugby union tour of South Africa, and rugby was not an Olympic sport. The countries withdrew their teams after the games had started; some African athletes had already competed. A lot of sympathy was felt for the athletes forced by their governments to leave the Olympic Village; there was little sympathy outside Africa for the governments' attitude. Twenty-two countries ( Guyana was the only non-African nation) boycotted the Montreal Olympics because New Zealand was not banned. [19] Also in 1976, due to pressure from the People's Republic of China ( PRC ), Canada told the team from the Republic of China ( Taiwan ) that it could not compete at the Montreal Summer Olympics under the name "Republic of China" despite a compromise that would have allowed Taiwan to use the ROC flag and anthem .

The Republic of China refused and as a result did not participate again until 1984, when it returned under the name " Chinese Taipei " and used a special flag. [20] 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, but 16 nations from Western Europe did compete at the Moscow Olympics. The boycott reduced the number of nations participating to only 81, the lowest number of nations to compete since 1956. The Soviet Union and 14 of its Eastern Bloc partners (except Romania ) countered by skipping the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984 , arguing the safety of their athletes could not be guaranteed there and "chauvinistic sentiments and an anti-Soviet hysteria are being whipped up in the United States". [21] The 1984 boycotters staged their own Friendship Games in July-August.

[22] [23] There have been growing calls for boycotts of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing in protest of China's poor human rights record and response to the recent disturbances in Tibet, Darfur, and Taiwan. There are also campaigns calling for Chinese goods to be boycotted. [24] [25] [26] Olympic Problems Edit One of the main problems facing the Olympics (and international sports in general) is doping , or performance enhancing drugs. In the early 20th century, many Olympic athletes began using drugs to enhance their performance. For example, the winner of the marathon at the 1904 Games , Thomas J. Hicks , was given strychnine and brandy by his coach, even during the race. As these methods became more extreme, gradually the awareness grew that this was no longer a matter of health through sports. In the mid-1960s, sports federations put a ban on doping, and the IOC followed suit in 1967. The first and so far only Olympic death caused by doping occurred in 1960.

At the cycling road race in Rome the Danish rider Knud Enemark Jensen fell from his bicycle and later died. A coroner's inquiry found that he was under the influence of amphetamines. The first Olympic athlete to test positive for doping use was Hans-Gunnar Liljenwall , a Swedish pentathlete at the 1968 Summer Olympics , who lost his bronze medal for alcohol use. Seventy-three athletes followed him over the next 38 years, several medal winners among them. The most publicised doping-related disqualification was that of Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson , who won the 100m at the 1988 Seoul Olympics , but tested positive for stanozolol. Despite the testing, many athletes continued to use doping without getting caught. In 1990, documents were revealed that showed many East German female athletes had been unknowingly administered anabolic steroids and other drugs by their coaches and trainers as a government policy. In the late 1990s, the IOC took initiative in a more organised battle against doping, leading to the formation of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in 1999.

The recent 2000 Summer Olympics and 2002 Winter Olympics have shown that this battle is not nearly over, as several medalists in weightlifting and cross-country skiing were disqualified due to doping offences. One innocent victim of the anti-doping movement at the Olympics was the Romanian gymnast Andreea Răducan who was stripped of her gold medal-winning performance in the All-Around Competition of the 2000 Sydney games. Test results indicated the presence of the banned-stimulant pseudophedrine which had been prescribed to her by an Olympic doctor. Raducan had been unaware of the presence of the illegal substance in the medicine that had been prescribed to her for a cold she had during the games. During the 2006 Winter Olympics , only one athlete failed a drug test and had a medal revoked. The only other case involved 12 members with high levels of haemoglobin and their punishment was a five day suspension for health reasons. The International Olympic Committee introduced blood testing for the first time during these games.

Politics Main article: Politics in the Olympics Politics interfered with the Olympics on several occasions, the most well-known of which was the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin , where the games were used as propaganda by the German Nazis. At this Olympics, a true Olympic spirit was shown by Luz Long , who helped Jesse Owens (a black athlete) to win the long jump, at the expense of his own silver medal. [27] The Soviet Union did not participate in the Olympic Games until the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki . Instead, the Soviets organized an international sports event called Spartakiads, from 1928 onward. Many athletes from Communist organizations or close to them chose not to participate or were even barred from participating in Olympic Games, and instead participated in Spartakiads. [28] A political incident on a smaller scale occurred at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City . Two American track-and-field athletes, Tommie Smith and John Carlos , performed the Black Power salute on the victory stand of the 200-meter track and field race.

In response, the IOC's autocratic president Avery Brundage told the USOC to either send the two athletes home, or withdraw the complete track and field team. The USOC opted for the former. [29] The government of the Islamic Republic of Iran specifically orders its athletes not to compete in any olympic heat, semi-final, or finals that includes athletes from Israel . At the 2004 Olympics, an Iranian judoka who had otherwise earned his place, did not compete in a heat against an Israeli judoka. [30] Violence Edit Despite what Coubertin had hoped for, the Olympics did not bring total peace to the world. In fact, three Olympiads had to pass without Olympics because of war: due to World War I the 1916 Games were cancelled, and the summer and winter games of 1940 and 1944 were cancelled because of World War II. During the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, a massacre of 11 members from the Israeli Olympic team occurred. The team members were taken hostage and eventually killed, along with a German police officer, by the Palestinian group Black September.

During the Summer Olympics in 1996 in Atlanta , a bombing at the Centennial Olympic Park killed two and injured 111 others. The bomb was set by Eric Robert Rudolph, an conservative American domestic terrorist, who is currently serving a life sentence. [31] The 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City were the first Olympic Games since the September 11, 2001 attacks. Olympic Games since then have required an extremely high degree of security due to the fear of possible terrorist activities. [32] There have been pro-Tibet / pro-human rights protests during the Beijing Olympic Games Torch Relay, some of which included violent incidents Olympic Movement Edit A number of organizations are involved in organizing the Olympic Games. Together they form the Olympic Movement. The rules and guidelines by which these organizations operate are outlined in the Olympic Charter . At the heart of the Olympic Movement is the International Olympic Committee (IOC), currently headed by Jacques Rogge . It can be seen as the government of the Olympics, as it takes care of the daily problems and makes all important decisions, such as choosing the host city of the Games, and the programme of the Olympics.

Three groups of organisations operate on a more specialised level: International Federations (IFs), the governing bodies of a sport (e.g. FIFA , the IF for football (soccer) , and the FIVB , the international governing body for volleyball .) National Olympic Committees (NOCs), which regulate the Olympic Movement within each country (eg. USOC , the NOC of the United States ) Organizing Committees for the Olympic Games (OCOGs), which take care of the organisation of a specific celebration of the Olympics. At present, 202 NOCs and 35 IFs are part of the Olympic Movement. OCOGs are dissolved after the celebration of each Games, once all subsequent paperwork has been completed. More broadly speaking, the term Olympic Movement is sometimes also meant to include everybody and everything involved in the Olympics, such as national sport governing bodies, athletes, media, and sponsors of the Olympic Games. Criticism Edit Most Olympic Games have been held in European and North American cities; only a few games have been held in other places, and all bids by countries in South America and Africa have failed. Many believe the games should expand to include locations in poorer regions.

Economists point out that the massive infrastructure investments could springboard cities into earning higher GDP after the games. However, many host cities regret the high costs associated with hosting the games as a poor investment [33] . In the past, the IOC has often been criticised for being a monolithic organisation, with several members remaining a member at old age, or even until their deaths. The leadership of IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch especially has been strongly criticised. Under his presidency, the Olympic Movement made great progress, but has been seen as autocratic and corrupt. Samaranch's ties with the Franco's regime in Spain and his long term as a president (21 years, until he was 81 years old) have also been points of critique. In 1998, it became known that several IOC members had taken bribes from the organising committee for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City , Utah , in exchange for a vote on the city at the election of the host city. The IOC started an investigation, which led to four members resigning and six being expelled. The scandal set off further reforms, changing the way in which host cities are elected to avoid further bribes.

Also, more active and former athletes were allowed in the IOC, and the membership terms have been limited. The same year (1998), four European groups organized the International Network Against Olympic Games and Commercial Sports to oppose their cities' bids for future Olympic Games. Also, an Anti-Olympic Alliance had formed in Sydney to protest the hosting of the 2000 Games. Later, a similar movement in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia organized to protest the hosting of the 2010 Winter Games. These movements were particularly concerned about adverse local economic impact and dislocation of people to accommodate the hosting of the Olympics. A BBC documentary aired in August 2004, entitled Panorama: "Buying the Games", investigated the taking of bribes in the bidding process for the 2012 Summer Olympics . The documentary claimed it is possible to bribe IOC members into voting for a particular candidate city. In an airborne television interview on the way home, the Mayor of Paris Bertrand Delanoë , specifically accused the British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the London Bid Committee (headed by former Olympic athlete Sebastian Coe ) of breaking the bid rules with flagrant financial and sexual bribes.

He cited French President Jacques Chirac as a witness but President Chirac gave rather more guarded interviews. In particular, Bulgaria 's member Ivan Slavkov, and Muttaleb Ahmad from the Olympic Council of Asia, were implicated. They have denied the allegations. Mayor Delanoë never mentioned the matter again. Others have alleged that the 2006 Winter Olympics were held in Turin because officials bribed the IOC and so Turin got the games and Sion, Switzerland (which was the favorite) did not. The Olympic Movement has been accused of being overprotective of its symbolism (in particular, it claims an exclusive and monopolistic copyright over any arrangement of five rings and the term "olympics"), and have taken action against things unrelated to sport, such as the role-playing game Legend of the Five Rings. It was accused of homophobia in 1982 when it successfully sued the Gay Olympics, an event now known as the Gay Games, to ban it from using the term "olympics" in its name. [34] Olympic symbols Main article: Olympic symbols The Olympic movement uses many symbols, most of them representing Coubertin's ideas and ideals.

The Olympic Rings are the most widely used symbol. The five colored rings on a white field form the Olympic Flag . The colors, white, red, blue, green, yellow, and black, were chosen such that each nation has at least one of these colors in its national flag. The flag was adopted in 1914, but the first Games at which it was flown were Antwerp, 1920 . It is hoisted at each celebration of the Games. The Olympic Motto is "Citius, Altius, Fortius", a Latin phrase meaning "Swifter, Higher, Stronger". Coubertin's ideals are probably best illustrated by 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." Prior to each Games, the Olympic Flame is lit in Olympia, Greece and brought to the host city by runners carrying the torch in relay. There it plays an important role in the opening ceremonies.

Though the torch fire has been around since 1928 , the relay was introduced in 1936 as part of the then German government's attempt to promote their National Socialist ideology. 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 of the games since 1980 with the debut of Misha , a Russian bear. French and English are the official languages of the Olympic movement. Olympic ceremonies Edit Apart from the traditional elements, the host nation ordinarily presents artistic displays of dance and theatre representative of that country. [35] Various traditional elements frame the opening ceremonies of a celebration of the Olympic Games. The ceremonies typically start with the hoisting of the host country's flag and the performing of its national anthem.{{ safesubst:ifsubst |{{subst:Unsubst|Citation needed| name|¬|reason|¬| date|October 2007 }}| Template:Fix The traditional part of the ceremonies starts with a "parade of nations" (or of athletes), during which most participating athletes march into the stadium, country by country.

One honoured athlete, typically a top competitor, from each country carries the flag of his or her nation, leading the entourage of other athletes from that country. Traditionally (starting at the 1928 Summer Olympics ) Greece marches first, because of its historical status as the origin of the Olympics, while the host nation marches last. (In 2004, when the Games were held in Athens, Greece marched last as host nation rather than first, although the flag of Greece was carried in first.) Between these two nations, all other participating nations march in alphabetical order of the dominant language of the host country,{{ safesubst:ifsubst |{{subst:Unsubst|Citation needed| name|¬|reason|¬| date|November 2007 }}| Template:Fix or in French or English alphabetical order if the host country does not write its dominant language in an alphabet which has a set order. In the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona , both Spanish and Catalan were official languages of the games, but due to politics surrounding the use of Catalan, the nations entered in French alphabetical order.

The XVIII Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, Japan saw nations entering in English alphabetical order since the Japanese language grouped both China and Chinese Taipei together in the Parade of Nations. After all nations have entered, the president of the host country's Olympic Organising Committee makes a speech, followed by the IOC president who, at the end of his speech introduces the representative of the host country who declares the Games open by reciting the formula: «I declare open the Games of ... (name of the host city) celebrating the ... (number of the Olympiad) Olympiad of the modern era.» [36] (There is a similar recital for the Winter Games.) Before 1936, the Opener often used to make a short Speech of Welcome before declaring the Games open. However, since 1936 when Adolf Hitler opened both the Garmisch Partenkirchen Winter Olympics and the Berlin Summer Olympics, the Openers have unswervingly stuck to that formula. The only exception was in 1984, when U.S. President Ronald Reagan opened the Summer Olympics that year in Los Angeles when he said: Celebrating the XXIII Olympiad of the modern era, I declare open the Olympic Games of Los Angeles.

[37] Despite the Games having been awarded to a particular city and not to the country in general, the Olympic Charter presently requires the Opener to be the host country's head of state . [36] However, there have been many cases where someone other than the host country's head of state opened the Games. The first example was at the Games of the II Olympiad in Paris in 1900, when there wasn't even an Opening Ceremony. There are five examples from the United States alone where the Games were not opened by the head of state. [38] Next, the Olympic Flag is carried horizontally (since the 1960 Summer Olympics ) into the stadium and hoisted as the Olympic Anthem is played. The flag bearers of all countries circle a rostrum , where one athlete (since the 1920 Summer Olympics ) and one judge (since the 1972 Summer Olympics ) speak the Olympic Oath , declaring they will compete and judge according to the rules.

[36] Finally, the Torch is brought into the stadium, passed from athlete to athlete, until it reaches the last carrier of the Torch, often a well-known athlete from the host nation, who lights the fire in the stadium's cauldron. [36] The Olympic Flame has been lit since the 1928 Summer Olympics , but the torch relay did not start until the 1936 Summer Olympics . Beginning at the post- World War I 1920 Summer Olympics , the lighting of the Olympic Flame was for 68 years followed by the release of doves , symbolizing peace. [36] This gesture was discontinued after several doves were burned alive in the Olympic Flame during the opening ceremony of the 1988 Summer Olympics . [39] However, some Opening Ceremonies have continued to include doves in other forms; for example, the 2002 Winter Olympics featured skaters holding kite-like cloth dove puppets. Opening ceremonies have been held outdoors, usually on the main athletics stadium, but those for the 2010 Winter Olympics will be the first to be held indoors, at the BC Place Stadium .

[40] Closing Edit After medals are awarded and presented for a particular event, the flags of the nations of the three medalists are raised. The flag of the gold medalist's country is in the center and always raised the highest while the flag of the silver medalist's country is on the left facing the flags and the flag of the bronze medalist's country is on the right, both at lower elevations to the gold medalist's country's flag. The flags are all raised while the national anthem of the gold medalist's country plays. This format of medal presentation is also seen in other multi-sporting events such as the Southeast Asian Games , the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games , as well as some motor racing events including Formula 1 and MotoGP Olympic sports Main article: Olympic sports Currently, the Olympic program consists of 35 different sports, 53 disciplines and more than 400 events. The Summer Olympics includes 28 sports with 38 disciplines and the Winter Olympics includes 7 sports with 15 disciplines.

[43] Nine sports were on the original Olympic programme in 1896: athletics , cycling , fencing , gymnastics , weightlifting , shooting , swimming , tennis , and wrestling . If the 1896 rowing events had not been cancelled due to bad weather, they would have been included in this list as well. [44] At the most recent Winter Olympics, 15 disciplines in seven sports were featured. Of these, cross country skiing , figure skating , ice hockey , Nordic combined , ski jumping , and speed skating have been featured on the programme at all Winter Olympics. In addition, figure skating and ice hockey also have been contested as part of the Summer Games before the introduction of separate Winter Olympics. In recent years, the IOC has added several new sports to the programme to attract attention from young spectators. Examples of such sports include snowboarding and beach volleyball . The growth of the Olympics also means that some less popular ( modern pentathlon ) or expensive (white water canoeing ) sports may lose their place on the Olympic programme. The IOC decided to discontinue baseball and softball beginning in 2012.

Cricket and Rugby union used to be in the Olympic Games but were discontinued; a revival is now seen as possible. Rule 48.1 of the Olympic Charter requires that there be a minimum of 15 Olympic sports at each Summer Games. Following its 114th Session (Mexico 2002), the IOC also decided to limit the programme of the Summer Games to a maximum of 28 sports, 301 events, and 10,500 athletes. The Olympic sports are defined as those governed by the International Federations listed in Rule 46 of the Olympic Charter. A two-thirds vote of the IOC is required to amend the Charter to promote a Recognised Federation to Olympic status and therefore make the sports it governs eligible for inclusion on the Olympic programme. Rule 47 of the Charter requires that only Olympic sports may be included in the programme. The IOC reviews the Olympic programme at the first Session following each Olympiad. A simple majority is required for an Olympic sport to be included in the Olympic programme. Under the current rules, an Olympic sport not selected for inclusion in a particular Games remains an Olympic sport and may be included again later with a simple majority.

At the 117th IOC Session , 26 sports were included in the programme for London 2012. Until 1992, the Olympics also often featured demonstration sports . The objective was for these sports to reach a larger audience; the winners of these events are not official Olympic champions. These sports were sometimes sports popular only in the host nation, but internationally known sports have also been demonstrated. Some demonstration sports eventually were included as full-medal events. Amateurism and professionalism Edit Template:See The ethos of English public schools greatly influenced Pierre de Coubertin. The public schools had a deep involvement in the development of many team sports including all British codes of football as well as cricket and hockey . The English public schools of the second half of the 19th century had a major influence on many sports. The schools contributed to the rules and influenced the governing bodies of those sports out of all proportion to their size. They subscribed to the Ancient Greek and Roman 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 healthy body.

In this ethos, taking part has more importance than winning, because society expected gentlemen to become all-rounders and not the best at everything. Class prejudice against "trade" reinforced this attitude. The house of the parents of a typical public schoolboy would have a tradesman 's entrance, because tradesmen did not rank as the social equals of gentlemen. Apart from class considerations there was the typically English concept of "fairness," in which practicing or training was considered as tantamount to cheating; it meant that you considered it more important to win than to take part. Those who practiced a sport professionally were considered to have an unfair advantage over those who practiced it merely as a "hobby." In Coubertin's vision, athletes should be gentlemen. Initially, only amateurs were considered such; professional athletes were not allowed to compete in the Olympic Games. A short-lived exception was made for professional fencing instructors. [45] This exclusion of professionals has caused several controversies throughout the history of the modern Olympics. 1912 Olympic pentathlon and decathlon champion, Jim Thorpe , was disqualified when it was discovered that he played semi-professional baseball prior to winning his medals. He was restored as champion on compassionate grounds by the IOC in 1983.

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 considered professionals. It gradually became clear to many that the amateurism rules had become outdated, not least because the self-financed amateurs of Western countries often were no match for the state-sponsored "full-time amateurs" of Eastern bloc countries. Nevertheless, the IOC, led by President Avery Brundage , held to the traditional rules regarding amateurism. In the 1970s, after Brundage left, amateurism requirements were dropped from the Olympic Charter, leaving decisions on professional participation to the international federation for each sport. This switch was perhaps best exemplified by the American Dream Team , composed of well-paid NBA stars, which won the Olympic gold medal in basketball in 1992.

As of 2004 , the only sport in which no professionals compete is boxing (though 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); in men's football (soccer) , the number of players over 23 years of age is limited to three per team. Advertisement regulations are still very strict, at least on the actual playing field, although "Official Olympic Sponsors" are common. Athletes are only allowed to have the names of clothing and equipment manufacturers on their outfits. The sizes of these markings are limited. Olympic champions and medalists See also: 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". (Though they were solid gold until 1912, they are now made of gilded silver.) The runners-up receive silver medals, and the third-place athletes bronze medals. In some events contested by a single-elimination tournament (most notably boxing ), third place might not be determined, in which case both semi-final losers receive bronze medals.

The practice of awarding medals to the top three competitors was introduced in 1904; at the 1896 Olympics only the first two received a medal, silver and bronze, while various prizes were awarded in 1900 . However, the 1904 Olympics also awarded silver trophies for first place, which makes Athens 1906 the first games that awarded the three medals only. In addition, from 1948 onward athletes placing fourth, fifth and sixth have received certificates which became officially known as "victory diplomas;" since 1976 the medal winners have received these also, and in 1984 victory diplomas for seventh- and eighth-place finishers were added, presumably to ensure that all losing quarter-finalists in events using single-elimination formats would receive diplomas, thus obviating the need for consolation (or officially, "classification") matches to determine fifth through eighth places (though interestingly these latter are still contested in many elimination events anyway). Certificates were awarded also at the 1896 Olympics, but there they were awarded in addition to the medals to first and second place.

Commemorative medals and diplomas — which differ in design from those referred to above — are also made available to participants finishing lower than third and eighth respectively. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, the first three were given wreaths as well as their medals. Because the Olympics are held only once every four years, the public and athletes often consider them as more important and valuable than world championships and other international tournaments, which are often held annually. Many athletes have become celebrities or heroes in their own country, or even world-wide, after becoming Olympic champions. The diversity of the sports, and the great differences between the Olympic Games in 1896 and today make it difficult to decide which athlete is the most successful Olympic athlete of all time. This is further complicated since the IOC no longer recognises the Intercalated Games which it originally organised. When measuring by the number of titles won at the Modern Olympic Games, the following athletes may be considered the most successful. Athlete Edit The IOC does not publish lists of medals per country, but the media often does.

A comparison between countries would be unfair to countries with fewer inhabitants, so some have made calculations of medals per number of inhabitants, such as [1] for the 2004 Olympics and [2] for a few more. A problem here is that for a very small country, gaining just one medal could mean the difference between the very top and the very bottom of the list (a point illustrated by the Bahamas ' per capita number one position in 2004). On the other hand, a large country may not be able to send a number of athletes that is proportional to its size because a limit is set for the number of participants per country for a specific sport. A comparison of the total number of medals over time is further complicated by the fact that the number of times that countries have participated is not equal, and that many countries have gained and lost territories where medal-winning athletes come from. A case in point is the USSR , which not only participated relatively rarely (18 times, versus 45 times for the UK ), but also ceased to exist in 1991. The resulting Russian Federation is largely, but not entirely equal to the former USSR. Also, one would have to use population statistics at the time.

The IOC medal tally chart is based on the number of gold medals for country. Where states are equal, the number of silver medals (and then bronze medals) are counted to determine rankings. Since 1996, the only countries that have appeared in the top 10 medal tallies for summer Olympics have been the Russian Federation , United States , China , France , Germany , Australia and Italy . Since 1994, the only countries that have appeared in the top 10 medal tallies for winter Olympics have been Norway , the Russian Federation , the United States , Canada , Germany , Austria , South Korea , Switzerland , France and Italy . Olympic Games host cities Main article: List of Olympic host cities By 2014, the Olympic Games were hosted by 42 cities in 22 countries. The upcoming 2012 Summer Olympic Games will be held in London, and the 2014 Winter Olympic Games will be held in Soshi. The number in parentheses following the city/country denotes how many times that city/country had then hosted the games, with said exclusions.

This table does not include the "Olympic Games" organized by Evangelos Zappas prior to the IOC's creation in 1894. It does list the "Intercalated Games" of 1906 , but it is not included in the counts as the IOC no longer considers them to be official Olympic Games. Olympic Games host cities 1 Originally awarded to Chicago , but moved to St. Louis to coincide with the World's Fair 2 Cancelled due to World War I 3 Cancelled due to World War II 4 Equestrian events were held in Stockholm , Sweden . Stockholm had to bid for the equestrian competition separately; it received its own Olympic flame and had its own formal invitations and opening & closing ceremonies, just like the regular Summer Olympics. [46] 5 Equestrian events to be held in China's Hong Kong SAR . Although Hong Kong's separate NOC is conducting the equestrian competition, it is an integral part of the Beijing Games; it is not being conducted under a separate bid, flame, etc., as was the 1956 Stockholm equestrian competition. The IOC website lists only Beijing as the host city [47] .

See also Ukrainians stage symbolic protest at opening of Sochi Winter Paralympics | Sport | The Guardian Ukrainians stage symbolic protest at opening of Sochi Winter Paralympics Only one of 31 Ukrainian Paralympians attends opening ceremony parade in protest at Russia's incursion into Crimea The Ukrainian athlete Mykailo Tkachenko represents his country alone at the Winter Paralympics opening ceremony. Photograph: Dmitry Lovetsky/AP Friday 7 March 2014 13.42 EST First published on Friday 7 March 2014 13.42 EST Close This article is 2 years old Ukrainian Winter Paralympians have staged a symbolic protest at the opening ceremony of the Sochi Games, with all but one athlete boycotting the athletes' parade in protest at Russia's incursion into Crimea . The Games opened with a spectacular ceremony and a full complement of 45 competing nations after Ukraine decided its athletes would remain in Sochi despite the ongoing standoff with Russia. But the Ukrainians made their point by sending just one athlete around the Fisht Stadium to represent their 31-strong team.

The solitary flagbearer, the Nordic skier Mykailo Tkachenko, was greeted with large cheers. The head of the Ukrainian Paralympic committee, Valeriy Sushkevich, warned that his team would immediately boycott the Games if Russia invaded eastern Ukraine. "If there is an escalation of the conflict, intervention on the territory of our country, God forbid the worst, we would not be able to stay here. We would go," said Sushkevich, hours before an opening ceremony that welcomed 547 athletes under the gaze of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. Since the closing ceremony of the Sochi Winter Olympics in the same stadium, hailed as a triumph by the International Olympic Committee and the organisers, Russian forces have entered Ukraine 300 miles to the west and sparked an international crisis. Many countries, including Britain and the US, have scrapped plans to send official delegations to the Winter Paralympics in response to events in Ukraine. Two of the themes of the ceremony, named Breaking the Ice and featuring more than 500 ballerinas and teams of wheelchair dancers, were "togetherness" and "fragility".

Putin, who toured the now-barrier-free Olympic Park with the Bolton-born International Paralympic Committee (IPC) president Sir Philip Craven before declaring the Games open, had said a Ukrainian boycott would be the "height of cynicism". At the welcoming ceremony for their team in the Olympic Village, the Ukrainian athletes had chanted for peace in unison. Sushkevich said he had spoken to Putin before announcing the decision to stay. "I repeated my one request, the one and most important request, that before and during [the Games] there will be peace," he said. The IPC has been desperately trying to separate the sporting event, which it hopes will capitalise on the leap in profile made by Paralympic sport in London, from the politics of the ongoing situation in Crimea. It has trumpeted the fact that 55 countries will screen action from Sochi, including the US and Brazil for the first time. Despite widespread fears that stands would be sparsely populated, the IPC said the Games were a virtual sellout with 283,000 tickets sold.

Craven said Sochi had become Russia's first accessible city and claimed the Paralympics would leave a lasting legacy in terms of improving facilities and changing attitudes towards the disabled. "The plan and the commitment to the Russian government is for this to be spread out over time in legacy format to each of the 80 regions in Russia and that's a fantastic dream of ours to be able to influence and transform the biggest nation in the world," he said. In his speech at the opening ceremony, he referenced the progress that had been made since Russia refused to host the Paralympics in 1980 when the Olympics came to Moscow, but said the biggest change was yet to come. "In the same way that the city of Sochi has built a barrier-free environment for athletes and officials to enjoy, I call upon all those who experience these Games to have barrier-free minds too," he said. Where London's volunteers were known as "games makers", he said Sochi's would come to be seen as "change makers". Dmitry Chernyshenko, the chief executive of the organising committee, said the Paralympics represented "the power of sport to unite and inspire the world".

The French Alpine skier Marie Bochet and Canadian visually impaired cross-country skier Brian McKeever are expected to be among the international stars of the Games. ParalympicsGB sent a squad of 15 to the Winter Paralympics – seven Alpine skiers plus three guides and a five-strong wheelchair curling team. They were led into the stadium by the 15-year-old visually impaired skier Millie Knight, the youngest athlete to represent ParalympicsGB at the Games. The British Paralympic Association chief executive, Tim Hollingsworth, said he believed the exposure afforded the Winter Paralympics, historically smaller than its summer sibling, would lead to a "step change" both for the event and for ParalympicsGB athletes. "We have a Games of opportunity here for the Paralympic movement. We are only competing in two sports, but we have alpine skiers and the wheelchair curling team who are starting out with real medal opportunities," said Hollingsworth. Just as London 2012 opened the eyes of fans to a raft of new sports, Hollingsworth said he believed the spectacle of Winter Paralympic sport would also be a hit with viewers.

"With the alpine skiers, whether it's a visually impaired skier with a guide coming down a mountain at 80km/h or the sit skiers who are so close to the snow and travelling even faster – it's a remarkable sight," he said. "Sledge hockey – best described as wheelchair rugby on ice – is a fearsome game, no holds barred and a fully contact sport."

Question: As at 2014 how many sports are contested in the Winter Paralympics?
Answer: 5