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    16 views47 pages

    Oliympics

    Uploaded by

    Sami Arınç

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
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    of 47
    American Olympic Gold Medal Teams Voices ees cuts Introduction For many peaple, the Olympic Games are the world's supreme sports spectacle, Historians believe the Olympics originated in Olympia, Greece, in 776 sc. In the beginning, there were several days of religious ceremonies honoring the Greek gods, These were follawed by a single sports event, a dash of about 200 yards, Eventually other running events, javelin and discus throws, Chariot races, boxing and wrestling, and the pankration, a brutal no-holds-barred form of fighting, were added, The Olympics were held every four years until 393 an. By then, Greece was a part of the Roman Empire, which had adopted Christianity several decades earlier. Because the Olympics honored pagan. gods, the Roman emperor Theodosius abolished them. They were revived in 1896 by a group of Furopean aristocrats led by Baron Pierre de Coubertin. The site was Athens, Greece It took several Olympics before the Games gained widespread acceptance. Their development was briefly halted by the bloody carnage of World War |. The games expanded significantly in 1924 with the introduction of the Winter Olympics. That wasn't the only significant change from the original Olympics, All the events had been for individuals. While the modern Games stil feature many individual sports, team sports have become important parts of the schedule. ‘The United States has captured gold medals in eleven of these team sports: men's and women's hockey in the Winter Games; baseball, mens and women's basketball, women's gymnastics, men’s and women's eight-oared rowing, women's soccer and softball, and men's volleyball in the Summer Olympics, It's likely that the gifted! male and female athletes who have: competed on these teams share several things: outstanding athletic ability, years of disciplined practice, and a dream of success of which their gold medals are the culmination. After World War Il, a new element became part of the Olympics. During the war, the United States and the Soviet Union faught on the same side ta defeat Germany. When it ended, their economic and political differences led to the Cold War; The two countries didnt settle their differences on the battlefield. Instead, they used other ways of Competing with each other. Athletic competition was one of those ways. At that time, Olympic athletes had to be amateurs. Many athletes, especially in the United States and other Western nations, held jobs to earn a living, That cut into their training time. In the Soviet Blac (the Soviet Union and several Eastern European countries), the governments took care of living expenses for elite athletes. This, ‘was especially hel ful in team sports. Soviet Bloc athletes trained together year-round, Most American teams were put together just before the start of each Olympics, In 1980, President Jimmy Carter suggested an American boycott of the Summer Olympics in Moscow to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Many countries supported the US. decision and stayed away. The Soviet Bloc did the same thing in 1984, when the Olympics were held in Los Angeles. A number of people believe that some medals in those twe Games are less valuable because the boycotts sidelined many top athletes, Four small nations—North Korea, Ethiopia, Nicaragua, and Cuba-boycotted the 1988 Games in Seoul, Korea. But virtually everyone else was there, Two years later, the collapse of the Soviet Union ended the Cold War. While disputes over ather issues continue, Cokt War polities are ne lenger a part af the Olympics. ‘Chapter 1: Men’s Hockey As the final seconds ticked away on the U.S. hockey team’s improbable run to a gold medal in the 1960 Winter Olympics, two men with a particular interest in the outcome were among the millions of American TV viewers. They were Herb Brooks and his father. Brooks had been selected for the U.S. team, had practiced for more than a month, ancl had played in the exhibition games. At tthe last minute, coach Jack Riley added Bill and Bob Cleary to the roster. That meant he had to cut two players. Brooks was one of them, ‘The Clearys played vital roles in the U.S. gold medal triumph, As the game ended, Brooks's father turned to him and said, “Looks like they cut the right guy, didn’t they?” ‘At that point, no ane would have blamed Brooks if he ended his Olympic dream and gotten on with his life. Brooks decided otherwise. He competed on both the 1964 and 1968 teams. His persistence and determination would give him another chance at gold in the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, New York. He became the coach and guiding force behind the most memorable U.S. Olympic team triumph in any sport. Many people {go even further. They say that it was the greatest US. sports triumph of all time. Even today, millions of people can instantly recall the score of the game: United States 4, Soviet Union 3. It can be summed up in three words: Miracle on Ice, In many ways, the decade before the 1980 Winter Olympics had been discouraging for the United States. The Wietnam War bitterly divided the country, and the wounds still hadn't healed. ‘Other factors were President Richard Nixon's forced resignation, high inflation, and a costly energy crisis. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan rekindled the Cold War, the long-standing hostility between the Soviet Union and the United States. All the: of the American Embassy in Tehran, Iran, late in 1979, As the Olympies began, the 52 hostages were still in captivity, The United States seemed powerless to do anything about the situation. Americans’ pride was at a very low level. After their stunning loss in the 1960 Olympics, the Soviets had ‘won the gold medal in every Olympics since then. They didn't just win. They steamrollered the opposition. One reason was their conditioning. They trained seriously year-round. Their legendary goalie, Vladislav ‘Tretiak, said that he hadn't taken a single day off from eraining in twenty-one yearsnot even his wedding day. were capped by the ugly spectacle of the capture ‘They practiced endlessly, weaving together intricate series of formations and pinpoint passes. ‘Many observers ranked the Soviet hockey team that came to Lake Placid as the greatest amateur hockey team of the era, perhaps of all time. Their average age was nearly 28, and all were veterans of international competition. In 1979, they trounced a team of professional all-stars from the National Hockey League by a score of 6-0, For good measure, they demolished the American ‘team 10-3 in an exhibition game just before the Olympies began The American team was composed primarily of collegiate players. Their average age was just over 21. While many would go ‘on to play professional hockey, at that time they had almost no international experience. But they had Brooks. He had played on the 1964 and 1968 Olympic hockey teams, but neither had done well. Then he turned to coaching. His teams at the University of Minnesota won three NCAA championships. US, coach Herb Brooks Brooks had watched endless hours of film of Soviet games. He talked with Soviet coaches. He filled huge notebooks with his ideas about every aspect of the sport, from the tape the players used on their sticks to the best methods of training, After selecting the team in the summer of 1979, Brooks insisted ‘on pushing them to the limit of their physical abilities so that they ‘would equal the Soviets in their conditioning, One of his favorite drills was “Herbies” These consisted of full-speed skates to each of the lines on the rink in succession, followed by skating the length of the ice and back. Above all, the players had to be mentally tough. At the beginning, Brooks told them, “I'm not here to be your friend. I'm here to be your coach.” He was far more apt to

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