Sunday, August 11, 2019

The Amazing Olympics- Down the Centuries



The Amazing Olympics Down the Centuries
(Times Group Books, 2016)

The Olympic Games are considered to be the world's foremost sports competition that originated in ancient Greece around 3,000 years ago. These games were held every four years since 776 BC in Olympia in honor of God Zeus. Inspired by the ancient Greek tradition, Frenchman Pierre de Coubertin decided to pursue his project to revive these Games and devoted his life to build a peaceful and better world by educating young people through sports. With his initiatives the first Olympic Games of the modern era held in 1896 in Athens, featuring 241 participants from the 14 nations. In fact, the year 2016 is the 120th anniversary of the modern Olympic Games. 

This book traces the history and myths associated with the ancient Games to the modern day events and captures some amazing, weird and wildly hilarious facts in an interesting visual format. Topped with colorful cartoons and caricatures of greatest ever Olympics sporting icons, it is an attempt to bring back many forgotten heroes from the past. 

I am grateful to International Olympic Committee (IOC), Lausanne, Switzerland and International Paralympic Committee (IPC), Cologne, Germany for supporting my project by sharing some of the rare photographs, emblems and official mascot pictures from their archive to use in this book. My travel to these historic places gave me the opportunity to explore many  lesser known facts which were added to this massive collection of trivia 'The Amazing Olympics- Down the Centuries'.

Did you know
  • Competitors of the ancient Olympics in Greece participated in the nude 
  • Art and literature competitions were once part of the Olympics 
  • Even the Olympic Games experienced deadly terrorist attack 
  • The Olympic flame was taken underwater during Sydney Games  
  • Winners of the 1st Olympic Games in 1896 received Silver. Gold introduced from 1904 Games
  • The Gold medal awarded today is actually gold-plated silver 
Lesser known facts from the history of the Olympic Games
(written & illustrated by Author)

The Amazing Olympics: Down the Centuries tracks the games from its inception in 776 BC to its reinvention in Athens in 1896 to the present day. Resplendent with cartoons, caricatures and photographs, this fun-book brings alive the greatest sporting spectacle on earth.


 CHASING THE HISTORY

My visits the most historic past Olympic Stadiums in Athens (1896), Amsterdam (1928), Berlin (1936), Munich (1972) and Barcelona (1992)

Panathenaic Stadium in Athens was the home of 1st Modern Olympic Games in 1896. This is the only stadium in the world entirely made of marble and hairpin shaped track
The Running Track of the 1st Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens
Museum inside the Panathenaic Stadium, Athens
The Bronze Replica medal from the 1896 Olympic Games
The venue of 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam
Amsterdam Olympic Stadium of 1928 Games
Cauldron in Olympic Stadium used for the 1st time
during the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam 
Montjuic Stadium was the venue of 1992 Olympics in Barcelona
Berlin Olympic Stadion was made for 1936 Games
Adolf Hitler watching the 1936 Olympic Games from his box
The Majestic Berlin Olympic Stadion was build for 1936 Games
Olympic Park of 1972 Olympic Games in Munich
Aerial view of the 1972 Olympic Stadium, Munich
The View from the Olympic Tower, Munich
The Munich massacre was an attack during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, by eight members of the Palestinian terrorist group Black September, who took nine members of the Israeli Olympic team hostage, and killing them along with a West German police officer.
Memorial to the 1972 Munich Massacre at Olympic Park

THE HOME OF OLYMPIC GAMES

A Visit to the Olympic Museum, Lausanne, Switzerland

The Olympic Museum (French: Le Musée olympique) in Lausanne, Switzerland houses permanent and temporary exhibits relating to sport and the Olympic movement. With more than 10,000 artifacts, the museum is the largest archive of Olympic Games in the world and one of Lausanne's prime tourist site draws attracting more than 250,000 visitors each year

The Olympic Museum, Lausanne
At the entrance of the Museum
The Torches of the previous Games
The Eternal Olympic Flame
 
Welcomed by Museum Manager Oscar Bercht


OLYMPIC SHORT STORIES PUBLISHED IN THE TIMES OF INDIA


Published daily in the sports pages of The Times of India during the Rio Olympics 2016



ACCOLADE

Appreciation from the Ajit Ninan, the renowned Cartoonist of  The Times of India 
The book, the medal and the medalist.
Message from Hazel McLeaod (UK), the silver medalist in triathlon at Rio Paralympics 2016
 


Original cartoons from the book were on display in an exhibition hosted by prestigious Indian Cartoon Gallery, inaugurated by Mr. Chiranjiv Singh, President, Alliance Française de Bangalore, former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Karnataka and Ambassador of India to UNESCO  (Watch the video)




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