DISCIPLINES

Archery: Like so many other sports Archery is a game of Egyption origin. It originated probably in the pre-historic period through primitive men, who used it either for self - defence or for food by killing animals. In the later centuries men used bows. Ancient Hindu Epics, tell of the heroic wars where Lord Rama and Arjuna, to quote a few, played important roles in the field of Archer which gradually turned into a discipline in the Modern Olympics.

Although Archery featured in the Modern Olympics in 1900 at Paris, 1904 at St. Luis, 1908 at London and 1920 Antwerp Olympic Games, it was discontinued till the 1972 Munich Olympic Games.

Basketball: Modern basketball is a game of American origin (1891). The rules, for the uniformity of the game all over the world, were framed only in 1934. Since its inception in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, the US has been a super power in this game till the 1976 Montreal Olympics, with exceptions in 1972 when they lost to the USSR by a fag-end point and in 1980 Moscow Games where the USA did not participated.

Boxing: Boxing was started for self-confidence long before the ancient Olympics, probably even before the origin of language when actions and drawings were the only medium for understanding purposes. There are abundant differences between the primitive boxing and the boxing in modern Olympics and professional competitions.

No gloves on the fists were necessary in those days. There was no system of rounds, rest period and classification of body weights. The end of contest in those days was inability to stand up for continued fighting by either of the contestants due to severe blows received from the opponent.

When foul play and brutality in boxing reached at its peak, Roman Emperor ordered the elimination of boxing from other sports in the Roman territory.

Boxing was restarted in the 1908 London Olympics with five-body weight categories-Bantam, Feather, Light, Middle and Heavy-weight, and continued till the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games with the exception of 1912 Stockholm Olympics.

Cycling: Bicycle was invented by a French man, named M De-Sivre, around the end of the 17th Century. At that time it had no pedaling system. Later a Scottish blacksmith added pedals with a connecting belt on the rear axle and a handle bar on the front without any brake system. France and England have done a lot towards the development of bicycle to the present form. Earlier, bicycles were mainly used for transportation purpose, but later these were also used for racing competitions.

Professional and amateur cycling competitions were prominent in England, the USA and France around the end of the 18th century. Inclusion of this sport in the first modern Olympics at Athens in 1986 increased its popularity world -wide. Italy, France and the USSR are the masters in the world arena.

Equestrain Events: Horses were used by Assyrians, for pulling chariots on the warfront around 4000 BC They were also used in the ancient Olympics for competitions. The first entrance of complete Equestrian event in Modern Olympics was at the Stockholm Olympics in 1912.

1 2 3