The Olympic Games, which originated in ancient Greece, is the most distinguished sporting event in the world. Once every four years, the utmost athletes from all around are lured to gather together and spare no efforts to compete against each other and try to win a medal for the country that they represent. Frankly speaking, that was virtually all I knew about the world-famous Olympic Games before I had read a book entitled The Olympics published by Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. However, I found even more philosophy beyond just winning medals from reading the book, which was beyond my imagination and considerably inspiring.
Someone once said, “Were everybody on earth involved in some kind of sport, our world would be free of war for long.” Starting from three thousand years ago, the ancient Olympic Games has long been an event not only for competition but also for peace. In ancient times, no war was allowed between the cities during the Games, which was rather surprising to me since I could hardly imagine warriors actally putting down their weapons and give a break for peace. The precious tradition of peace continued: I would never fail to recall the scene of the opening ceremonies when North and South Korean athletes entering the stadium with their hands held together. The two neighboring countries that used to be enemies are no longer enemies during the Games. Instead they became friends. Speaking of the 2004 Athens Olympics, perhaps most people would have the same opinion that the most noable part of the opening ceremony arrived when Iraqi and Afghan representatives showed up. These two unfortunate nations, the people of which have undergone innumerable wars, are coming back again to take their own responsibility in world sports after recent invasions by America. The fearless people of Iraq and Afghanistan are once more sharing the spirit of the Games with people from the rest of the world.
There is another story in this book that makes me deep in thoughts. There is no doubt that the most unusual Olympic Games ever in history is the 1936 Olympics held in Germany, which was then ruled by the Nazi Party. Led by Adolf Hitler, the Nazi believed that the so-called Aryan people were superior to all others in all aspects. They looked down upon Jews and blacks, the latter of which was a major constitution of the United States Olympic team. Despite the barrier that faced him, the African American Jesse Owens, who was a most outstanding runner and jumper, did all that he could and finally won gold medals for his country and went home a hero. This reveals another fact that no power on earth is able to hinder the sacred Olympic Games. For all participants, no matter what their gender, race, nationalities and backgrounds are, equality is distributed among every one who observes the Game’s rules.
At the 2004 Athens Olympics, our Chinese team did extraordinarily well. We ranked second on the medal lists for the first time in history. In my opinion, however, we should not only concentrate on the figure of medals; instead the strength and perseverance of those who failed to get any medals ought to be highly cherished. Whether ever success or failure, whether ever cheer or tear, whether ever medal or not, the never-gave-up spirits of athletes are always motivating us. I believe in the year 2008, the world will focus all their attention to Beijing, China, where the glory of the Games will continue to thrive forever!
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