Significant influence that the 1900,1904,1908,1912 and 1916 Olympic games had in the world - Research Paper Example

At a political level, the games bring together people from many nations, with different religious, cultural and economic backgrounds. This makes the Games a mosaic of the entire gamut of human civilization. (Wallechinsky, 2004) This essay will pertain itself those episodes of the Olympic Games that took place in the early decades of the twentieth century. These episodes are quite significant in that they played an influential role in shaping social and political developments to follow. The rest of this essay will further elaborate on this thesis.

The 1900 Summer Olympic Games was a very colorful event, given that it took place in the cultural capital of Europe – Paris. In the Olympic events of this period, there were no awarding of Gold, Silver and Bronze medals. Hence, medals were awarded to the top three athletes retrospectively. It then emerged that France, the host nation won most of the Gold, Silver and Bronze medals, followed by the United States and Great Britain. Competitions were held for a total of 20 disciplines. These disciplines included Archery, Tennis, Rugby, Swimming, Athletics, Sailing, Equestrian, Polo, Golf, among many others.

(Kamper & Mallon, 1992) But most importantly, it included events for women athletes and in this respect can be viewed as a path-breaking event. . (Wallechinsky, 2004) The next edition of the Games was held in the United States, which was at the time an emerging global power. Hosted by St. Louis, Missouri, this event cemented United States' status as an important imperial power in global politics. New sports such as Dumbbells, Freestyle wrestling, Decathlon and Boxing were introduced in this event.

The host nation won a majority of the medals, followed by Germany and Cuba. Since many of the athletes were amateurs at this time, their long naval voyage across the Atlantic had sapped them of energy and fitness. This made the competition skewed in favor of host nation's athletes, who easily won on many occasions. Yet, Germany managed to upstage other European nations in the medals tally – a sign of its growing stature in Europe. The political relations between America and European countries was amicable at this stage.

But it would turn uncertain in a few years time, as the United States and Germany would be facing off on opposing sides during the First World War. (Crowther, 2007) The following edition of Summer Olympics saw the Games' return to Europe, with London being the host city. It is interesting to note that all the nations that played host to the Games during the early decades of the twentieth century were imperialist powers with global political ambitions. So the Olympics were not merely an exhibition of sporting talent, as there was also national pride and political prestige at stake.

The number of participant teams increased in this edition. As expected Great Britain, the host nation, topped the medals tally, with 56 Golds, 51 Silvers and 39 Bronzes. It was followed by the United States, Sweden and France. The historical diplomatic relations between Great Britain and the United States, which