The Olympic Games: the emblem, mascots, motto, and the hymn

The Olympic Games date back to the time before the birth of Christ. They were the most ancient and the most popular religious festivals and competitions in Ancient Greece. Now no other sports event attracts so much attention. The Olympic Games bring together thousands of the world’s finest athletes to compete against one another.

The modern Olympic Games have their special attributes – the emblem, motto, mascots and the hymn.

The emblem (or the Olympic symbol, the “Olympic rings”) of every edition of the Olympic Games usually combines the Olympic Rings with some elements representing the host city or country and its culture. It consists of five interlocking rings that represent the continents of Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and North and South America. The rings are black, blue, green, red, and yellow. The flag of every nation competing in the games has at least one of these colours. The emblem is depicted on the Olympic flag.

The Olympic mascots are fictional characters, usually an animal native to the area or human figures, who represent the cultural heritage of the place where the Olympic and Paralympic Games are taking place. The mascots are often used to help market the Olympic Games to children, particularly infants.

Since the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France the Olympic Games have had a mascot. The first major mascot in the Summer Olympic Games was Misha in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. Starting with the 2010 Vancouver mascots, the Olympic and Paralympic mascots have been presented together. The 2014 Winter Olympics mascots are the the Polar Bear, the Hare and the Leopard.

The Olympic motto is "Citius, Altius, Fortius." These three Latin words mean "Faster, Higher, Stronger." The motto was proposed by Pierre de Coubertin on the creation of the International Olympic Committee in 1894. De Coubertin borrowed it from his friend Henri Didon, a Dominican priest who, amongst other things, was an athletics enthusiast. Coubertin said "These three words represent a programme of moral beauty. The aesthetics of sport are intangible. " The motto was introduced in 1924 at the Olympic Games in Paris. A more informal but well known motto, also introduced by De Coubertin, is "The most important thing is not to win but to take part!" De Coubertin got this motto from a sermon by the Bishop of Pennsylvania during the 1908 London Games.

The Olympic Hymn, officially known as the Olympic Anthem, is played when the Olympic Flag is raised. It is a musical piece composed by Spyridon Samaras with words written from a poem of the Greek poet and writer Kostis Palamas. Both the poet and the composer were the choice of Demetrius Vikelas, a Greek Pro-European and the first President of the IOC. The anthem was performed for the first time for the ceremony of opening of the 1896 Athens Olympic Games but wasn't declared the official hymn by the IOC until 1957. In the following years, every hosting nation commissioned the composition of a specific Olympic hymn for their own edition of the Games until the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. Several other composers have contributed Olympic music during the years, including Henry Mancini, Francis Lai, Marvin Hamlisch,Philip Glass, David Foster, Mikis Theodorakis, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Vangelis, Basil Poledouris, Michael Kamen, and Mark Watters.

Vocabulary

to date back to	датироваться, относиться ко времени
to bring together	собирать вместе, объединять
interlocking (rings)	взаимосвязанные, связанные друг с другом
at least	по крайней мере, во всяком случае
to be depicted	быть изображенным
heritage	наследство, наследие
to borrow	заимствовать, перенимать
aesthetics	Эстетика
intangible	непостижимый, неуловимый, нематериальный
a musical piece	музыкальное произведение
to commission	поручать, делать заказ (зд. создавать)
to contribute	вносить вклад, содействовать, способствовать, сотрудничать, обогатить ценным достижением

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