Olympics The nation first sent a team to the Summer Olympic Games in 1920 and has participated in every Summer Games since then. India has also competed at several Winter Olympic Games beginning in 1964.
Indian athletes have won 35 medals, all at the Summer Games. For a period of time, the Indian Men's Field Hockey Team was dominant in Olympic competition, winning eleven medals in twelve Olympics between 1928 and 1980. The run included eight gold medals of which six were won consecutively from 1928 to 1956 The nation first sent a team to the Summer Olympic Games in 1920 and has participated in every Summer Games since then. India has also competed at several Winter Olympic Games beginning in 1964.
Indian athletes have won 35 medals, all at the Summer Games. For a period of time, the Indian Men's Field Hockey Team was dominant in Olympic competition, winning eleven medals in twelve Olympics between 1928 and 1980. The run included eight gold medals of which six were won consecutively from 1928 to 1956Despite being under British rule until 1947, India participated in the Olympic Games separately from the British Olympic Team. India sent its first athlete to the Summer Olympics for the 1900 Games, but an Indian national team did not compete at the Summer Olympics until 1920. Ahead of the 1920 Games, Sir Dorabji Tata and Governor of Bombay George Lloyd helped India secure representation at the International Olympic Committee, enabling it to participate in the Games (see India at the 1920 Olympic Games). India then sent a team to the 1920 Olympics, comprising three athletes, two wrestlers, and managers Sohrab Bhoot and A. H. A. Fyzee. The Indian Olympic movement was then established during the 1920s: some founders of this movement were Dorabji Tata, A.G. Noehren (Madras College of Physical Education), H.C. Buck (Madras College of Physical Education), Moinul Haq (Bihar sports associations), S. Bhoot (Bombay Olympic Association), A.S. Bhagwat (Deccan Gymkhana), and Guru Dutt Sondhi (Punjab Olympic Association); Lt. Col H.L.O. Garrett (from the Government College Lahore and Punjab Olympic Association) and Sagnik Poddar (of St. Stephen's School) helped organise some early national games; and prominent patrons included Maharajas and royal princes such as Bhupinder Singh of Patiala, Ranjitsinhji of Nawanagar, the Maharaja of Kapurthala, and the Maharaja of Burdwan.In 1923, a provisional All India Olympic Committee was formed, and in February 1924, the All India Olympic Games (that later became the National Games of India) were held to select a team for the 1924 Summer Olympics. The Indian delegation at the Paris Olympics comprised seven athletes, seven tennis players and team manager Harry Buck.In 1923, a provisional All India Olympic Committee was formed, and in February 1924, the All India Olympic Games (that later became the National Games of India) were held to select a team for the 1924 Summer Olympics.
2. Context for establishment
of first modern Olympics
6-15 April 1896: first modern Olympics
Pierre de Coubertin
19th-century nation-states and national self-
definitions
Late 19th-century international contests: forums
where nations competed for international rank
Lingua franca of Hellenism: shared ideology that
framed modern Olympics
3. Pierre de Coubertin (1863-
1937)
Conceived the idea of reviving Olympic Games
Created International Olympic Committee (IOC)
Congress held in Paris on 23 June 1894 chose
Athens to stage inaugural modern Olympic
Games
Coubertin was inspired by the Olympics
organized by Ev. Zappas in 1859, 1870, 1875,
and 1888
Zappas was inspired by Al. Soutsos’s poem
‘Dialogue of the Dead’
5. 1896 Olympic Games
Panathenaic Stadium was main venue
Crown Prince Constantine, president of the 1896
organising committee after D. Vikelas, opened the
Games
‘Olympic Hymn’ music was composed by Spyridon
Samaras and lyrics were written by Kostis Palamas
14 national teams in 1896 Olympics
Greece won 10 gold, 17 silver and 19 bronze medals
(total 46); second national team after the US team (11
gold medals)
8. Christian undertones
in 1896 Games
Blend of classical Hellenism and Christian
Orthodoxy in 1896 Games
Greek athletes prayed to God and Virgin Mary
before participating in the Games
Resurrection of Jesus Christ was seen as
resurrection of modern Greek nation
9. Spyridon Louis (1873-1940)
Louis won the marathon; during the last part of the race
Prince Constantine and George joined Louis for his last lap
Ancient Athenian Phidippides run from Marathon to Athens
to announce to his fellow Athenian citizens Greek victory
over Persians in Battle of Marathon in 490 BCE
Louis was compared to ancient Greek Athenian runner who
run the distance from Marathon to Athens
Louis’s father was compared to Diagoras, the ancient
Greek father who witnessed victory of both his sons before
he died
Louis was a guest of honor in 1936 Olympics held in Berlin;
he was received by Adolf Hitler and offered him an olive
branch from Olympia as symbol of peace
11. The 1896 Games
from the Greek perspective
1893: Greek state bankruptcy
Total cost of 1896 Olympics was 3,730,000 gold
drachmas
Greek benefactor George Averoff donated
920,000 drachmas to restoration of Panathenaic
Stadium
Despite recent bankruptcy, Greece displayed its
modernity and claimed a position in the family of
civilized nations
12. Americans in 1896 Games
American team in 1896 Games consisted of 13
athletes only, yet they won 11 gold medals
American athletes came from Boston Athletic
Association, Princeton University et al.
Prospect of American athletes travelling to Greece
was met with concerns in the US due to living
conditions in Greece, fears about safety etc.
Aim of American athletes as conveyors of American
spirit was to prove to the Old World the strength of
the New
Americans joined the Greek celebration over the
Greek victory in the marathon
13. Sports in America (late 19th c.)
Up until 1870s sports were a privilege of upper
classes
Between 1870s-1880s popular sports developed
alongside upper class sports
Athletics would soon become a national mark of
distinction in international competitions
14. America and the Classics
Americans inherited classical tradition (Greek and
Roman) from Europeans and applied it to their
education, statecraft, literature and arts
First half of 19th century: Greek classical tradition took
precedence over Roman
19th century: middle class Americans travel to Europe
as part of Grand Tour
19th-century American Philhellenism
19th century: Americans study classics in Germany
15. Modern Greece
and American investing
Speculative and opportunistic tendencies
Americans viewed Greek antiquities as
commodities
Investing plans for development of tourism
industry in Greece
16. Modern Greece seen
through classicist lenses
Articles appeared in American periodicals on
ancient Olympic Games
For American travelers ancient Greek sites were
more liteary topoi than geographical realities
Modern Greek landscape was interpreted
through knowledge of classical past
17. The ‘religion’ of Hellenism
Coubertin’s interpretation of Hellenism as ‘religion of
humanity’
Western travelers to Greece educated in classics
constructed Greece as a sacred ground – idealistic
interpretation
Travel to Greece was seen as modern ‘pilgrimage’
Sacred undertones were also attributed to 1896
Games
‘Missionaries’ of religion of Hellenism would not allow
sacred spirit of Games to be polluted by money and
professionalization of athletics
