Modern Olympic Movement
Throughout 1892 to 2002, many events happened that helped shape the modern Olympic movement. There were new problems and new improvements that affected the Olympics. WIth the documents we’re given, we are able to analyze the factors that created these new problems and improvements. Through these years, we can see that the world has become more acceptable to women, people being pressured because of pride, people trying to work harder to earn more money, and people working harder for world peace.
Within the many years of Olympics, women was able to gain acceptance and respect from others. From this gain, women were beginning to attend the Olympic games. In document 2, a picture taken in 1908 was given a caption, “2 percent of the athletes were women”. On one hand, this caption showed how women was starting to participate in the Olympics. On the other hand, the caption also showed how little women participated. Although 2 percent of the athletes were women, many of them were still judged and criticized by others. A woman athlete, Hassiba Boulmerka, who attended the Olympics in 1992 when “29 percent of the athletes were women,” was interviewed in 1995. “My victories give me confidence, and they give confidence to my country. I represent my country and all the women in my country who aspire to be athletes... They have to become stronger in the mind, not just in the body,” (cite doc #8), what Hassiba Boulmerka meant by that was she’s very proud of herself for being able to attend and represent her country as a woman at the Olympics. She probably believed this because in the 29 percent, she’s able to be one of them and since 29 percent is such a small number, she must have worked her hardest to become physically and mentally stronger so she can be apart of that percentage. With both documents, we can see how women’s participation increased in just 80 years and how some people made women feel as if they weren’t good enough to be in the Olympics. Though the number of
Within the many years of Olympics, women was able to gain acceptance and respect from others. From this gain, women were beginning to attend the Olympic games. In document 2, a picture taken in 1908 was given a caption, “2 percent of the athletes were women”. On one hand, this caption showed how women was starting to participate in the Olympics. On the other hand, the caption also showed how little women participated. Although 2 percent of the athletes were women, many of them were still judged and criticized by others. A woman athlete, Hassiba Boulmerka, who attended the Olympics in 1992 when “29 percent of the athletes were women,” was interviewed in 1995. “My victories give me confidence, and they give confidence to my country. I represent my country and all the women in my country who aspire to be athletes... They have to become stronger in the mind, not just in the body,” (cite doc #8), what Hassiba Boulmerka meant by that was she’s very proud of herself for being able to attend and represent her country as a woman at the Olympics. She probably believed this because in the 29 percent, she’s able to be one of them and since 29 percent is such a small number, she must have worked her hardest to become physically and mentally stronger so she can be apart of that percentage. With both documents, we can see how women’s participation increased in just 80 years and how some people made women feel as if they weren’t good enough to be in the Olympics. Though the number of