In ancient Greece, sports were seen as having educational benefits in Athens but were used for military training in Sparta. Sports in Minoan civilization from 3000-1500 BC were often part of religious rituals or spectacles. In Homer's works, athletic ability demonstrated a hero's virtue. Sports systems in Greek city-states from 800-400 BC helped develop physical and mental balance but were limited to noble families. The Olympics emerged as a religious celebration that excluded slaves, foreigners, and women. Romans saw sports as spectacles using slaves and gladiators, while their elite class disdained public participation. The 1936 Berlin Olympics aimed to prove Aryan racial superiority but an American athlete's wins undermined this goal. The Paralympic movement

1. Sports and Social Diversification
2nd LTTA, FIGHT AGAINST DISCRIMINATION AND
RACISM, Pilsen, 25-29/09/207, GENIKO LYKEIO VAMOU

2. Ancient Greece
 In ancient Greece and especially in Athens sports were
considered to be a social and cultural activity which
had an educational character, whereas in Sparta sports
were used for military training.

3. Minoan Civilization (3000-1500 B.C)
 The Minoans were engaged in
boxing, wrestling, bullfighting
and acrobatics. They
attributed a religious
character to their sport
activities.
 It seems that these were either
part of the formal ritual
process of young noblemen, or
a kind of religious spectacle
organized by the palace.

4. Homeric Era (8th B.C)
 In the works of Homer
(Iliad and Odyssey),
sporting ability is the
hero's means to show
his virtue and gain
social recognition. In
other words the
athlete’s spirit is
equivalent to the hero’s
spirit.

5. Sports in city-states (8-4 B.C.)
 Various sports systems were developed in each city-
state, which included gymnastic exercises that helped
to achieve a harmonious balance of body and mind, but
this was only aimed at emerging young members of
noble families.

6. The Olympic Games
 The emergence of city-states in the
Greek world was accompanied by
the spread of organized sporting
activities. One of these activities
were the Olympic Games.
 The Olympiad was a religious
celebration.
 The participation of slaves and
foreigners “barbarians" was
strictly forbidden as well as the
participation of women.

7. Roman Period
 For the Romans sports were
spectacles, performances
(ludi).
 Usually the athletes were
slaves or gladiators. The
Romans of the highest order
were reluctant to present
themselves publicly, which
reveals a negative attitude
towards sport.

8. 1936 Berlin Olympics
 The purpose of the Olympics in Berlin
in 1936, according to the Nazis, was
to prove the superiority of the Aryan
Race. When the US athlete, Jace
Owens, swept the gold medals, Hitler
left the stadium early so that he
wouldn’t have to congratulate him.
 But even in his own country, nobody
offered him the sponsorships he was
entitled to after his four gold medals.

9. Paralympic Games
• On the day of the opening
ceremony of the Olympic
Games in 1948 in London,
the Stoke Maneville Games
in England began, where the
first athletic event for
wheelchair athletes was
held.

10. Paralympic movement
 In 1952, athletes with disabilities from the
Netherlands participated in the Olympic Games and
thus the international movement, now known as the
Paralympic Movement, was born.
 The first officially organized Olympic Games for
disabled athletes took place in Rome in 1960, just
after the Olympic Games.