The International Olympic Committee.

Convinced that the downfall of the ancient Olympic Games had been caused by outside influences that undermined the spirit of the Games, Coubertin felt that the revived Games would go the same way unless they were in the hands of people whose concern was to keep the spirit of amateur sport alive and who were responsible in no way to any outside influences. Thus IOC members are regarded as ambassadors from the IOC to their national sports organizations. They are in no sense delegates to the committee and may not accept from the government of their country, or from any organization or individual, any instructions that in any way affect their independence.

The IOC is a permanent organization that elects its own members. Each member--the present membership is about 70--must speak French or English and be a citizen of or reside in a country that has a National Olympic Committee. With a very few exceptions, there is only one member from any one country. Members were originally elected for life, but anyone elected after 1965 must retire at 75.

The IOC elects its president for a period of eight years, at the end of which he is eligible for reelection for further periods of four years each. Juan António Samaranch (Spain) was elected in 1980. Previous presidents were Dimítrios Vikélas (1894-96, Greece), Baron Pierre de Coubertin (1896-1925, France), Count Henri de Baillet-Latour (1925-42, Belgium), J. Sigfrid Edström (1946-52, Sweden), Avery Brundage (1952-72, United States), and Michael Morris, Lord Killanin (1972-80, Ireland).

Click Here The executive board of 11 members holds periodic meetings with the international federations and National Olympic Committees. The IOC as a whole meets annually, and a meeting can be convened at any time that one-third of the members so request.

National Olympic Committees.

A National Olympic Committee is composed of at least five national sporting federations, each affiliated to an appropriate international federation. The ostensible purpose of these National Olympic Committees is the development and promotion of the Olympic movement and of amateur sport. National Olympic Committees arrange to equip, transport, and house their country's representatives at the Olympic Games. According to the rules of the committee, they must be not-for-profit organizations; must not associate themselves with affairs of a political or commercial nature; and must be completely independent and autonomous and in a position to resist all political, religious, or commercial pressure.

A person who has ever competed in sports as a professional, who has ever coached sports competitors for payment, or who is engaged in or connected with sport for personal profit is not eligible to serve on a national committee. The rules provide that exceptions to these categories may be made by the Executive Board of the I.O.C. on the recommendation of the National Olympic Committee concerned.

National Olympic Committees that do not conform to IOC rules and regulations forfeit their recognition and their right to send participants to the Olympic Games.

IOC awards.

The IOC presents two noncompetitive awards, the Olympic Cup and the Olympic Order. The former was instituted by Baron de Coubertin in 1906. It is awarded to an association or institution that has a general reputation for merit and integrity, that has eminently served the cause of amateur sport, and that has made a substantial contribution to the Olympic movement. The first recipient of the Olympic Cup was the Touring Club de France.

The Olympic Order, created in 1974, is intended for living persons, excluding active members of the IOC. There are two degrees of award--gold and silver--to be made "to any person who has illustrated the Olympic ideal through his action, has achieved remarkable merit in the sporting world, or has rendered outstanding services to the Olympic cause, either through his own personal achievement or his contribution to the development of sport." The first gold medal was awarded posthumously to Avery Brundage, for 20 years president of the IOC. Among the silver awards that have been made were those to Jesse Owens, winner of four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics, and to Dan Ferris, for more than 50 years a prominent administrator in U.S. and world track and field. Bronze medals had also been awarded but were discontinued in 1981.

Five previous awards were suspended in 1974: the Olympic Diploma of Merit, first awarded in 1905; the Sir Thomas Fearnley Cup and the Mohammed Taher Trophy, first awarded in 1951; the Count Alberto Bonacossa Trophy, established in 1955; and the Tokyo Trophy, first awarded in 1967.

The Games and participants.

The Olympic Games celebrate an Olympiad, or period of four successive years. The first Olympiad of modern times was celebrated in 1896, and subsequent Olympiads are numbered consecutively, even though no Games take place (as was the case in 1916, 1940, and 1944).

In 1986 the IOC voted to alternate the Summer and Winter Games every two years, beginning in 1994. The Winter Games would be held in 1992 and again in 1994 and thereafter would be held every four years; the Summer Games would maintain their original four-year cycle.

The maximum number of entries permitted for individual events is three per nation. The number is fixed (but can be varied) by the IOC in consultation with the international federation concerned. In team events, only one team per country is allowed. In general, a National Olympic Committee may only enter a citizen of the country concerned.

Problems of eligibility.

In recent years there has been a tendency away from the strict definition of amateur status. In 1971 the IOC decided to eliminate the term amateur from the Olympic Charter. Subsequently the eligibility rules were amended to permit "broken-time" payments to compensate athletes for time spent away from work during training and competition. The IOC also legitimized the sponsorship of athletes by National Olympic Committees, sports organizations, and private businesses. In some sports, including track and field, figure skating, and skiing, athletes must place income from commercial endorsements and sponsorships in a restricted trust fund, which is controlled by their national federation.

In 1986 the IOC adopted rules that permit the international federation governing each Olympic sport to decide whether to permit professional athletes in Olympic competition. Professionals in ice hockey, tennis, soccer, and equestrian sports were permitted to compete in the 1988 Olympics, although their eligibility was subject to some restrictions, and professionals from sports other than track and field were eligible for Olympic track and field events.

It now appears to some of those who have been closely associated with the Games that they have become too vast, too nationalistic, too expensive, and too commercial. It is felt that no longer is the important thing "to take part" but that winning a gold medal is the only thing that matters. The primary consideration appears no longer to be the competitors, more than 95 percent of whom cannot win gold medals, but the public. Entertainment now seems to supersede the enjoyment of competition, and the demand for entertainment may well be the death of amateur sport.

Programs and events.

The particular events included in the different sports are a matter for agreement between the IOC and the international federations. For many years there were 24 events for men in track and field. In 1976, however, the men's 50,000-metre walk was excluded (on the grounds that the total number of competitors in the Games must be reduced), while women's rowing events were included for the first time. It appears that although the IOC feels that in some way there must be a limit placed upon the total number of competitors, it is unwilling to take the severe action of excluding certain sports.

The Olympic Village.

Ceremonies.

The opening ceremony.

When the head of state has reached his place in the tribune, he is greeted with the national anthem of his country, and the parade of competitors begins. The Greek team is always the first to enter the stadium, and, except for the host team, which is always last, the other nations follow in alphabetical order as determined by the language of the organizing country. Each contingent, dressed in its official uniform, is preceded by a shield with the name of its country, while an athlete carries its national flag. At the 1980 games, some of the countries protesting the Soviet Union's involvement in Afghanistan carried the Olympic flag in place of their national flag. The competitors march around the stadium and then form up in the centre of the ground facing the tribune.

The president of the organizing committee then delivers a brief speech of welcome, followed by another brief speech from the president of the IOC, who asks the chief of state to proclaim the Games open.

A fanfare of trumpets is sounded as the Olympic flag is slowly raised; pigeons are released, symbolically to fly to the countries of the world with the news that the Games are open.

The Olympic flame is then carried into the stadium by the last of the runners who have brought it from Olympia, Greece. The runner circles the track, mounts the steps, and lights the Olympic fire that burns night and day during the Games. In 1968 a woman carried the flame into the stadium, and in 1976 the flame was borne jointly by a male and a female athlete. In 1984, at the Games in Los Angeles, a female runner brought the flame into the stadium but passed it to a male, who ran up the steps to light the Olympic fire.

Victory ceremony.

Closing ceremony.

The ceremonies include a parade of athletes, six from each nation, marching eight or 10 abreast without distinction of nationality, and signifying the friendly bonds of Olympic sport. The president of the IOC calls the youth of the world to assemble in four years to celebrate the Games of the next Olympiad. A fanfare is sounded, the Olympic fire is extinguished, and to the strains of the Olympic anthem the Olympic flag is lowered and the Games are over.

The awarding of the Olympic Games.

Applications must state that no political meetings or demonstrations will be held in the stadium or other sports grounds or in the Olympic Village, and it must be promised that every competitor shall be given free entry without any discrimination on grounds of religion, colour, or political affiliation. This involves the assurance that the national government will not refuse visas to any of the competitors. At the Montreal Olympics in 1976, however, the Canadian government refused visas to the representatives of Taiwan because they were unwilling to forgo the title of the Republic of China, under which their National Olympic Committee was admitted to the IOC. This Canadian decision, in the opinion of the IOC, did great damage to the Olympic Games, and it was later resolved that any country in which the Games are organized must undertake strictly to observe the rules. Enforcement would be difficult and even the use of severe penalties by the IOC might not guarantee elimination of infractions.