The Olympic Spirit

Tonight is the Kickstart

of the XXX Summer Olympics in London, England. The first Olympic Games were thought to have taken place in 776 BC in Olympia,

Greece. They were originally

held in honor of Zeus, the Greek god of the sky and thunder. Zeus is also known as the “father of gods and men” and rules over the Olympians on Mount Olympus.

Ancient Greece was composed of city-states, such as Sparta, that competed in various athletic events.  The original games included events such as running, wrestling, long jump, Javelin throw, and discus throw.

The modern Olympic Games include many more events that we are looking forward to watching such as Archery and Badminton.

Everyone has a favorite sport to watch, for some it’s the aquatic sports like the Highdivewhere the athletes spring off the Divingboard and flip and spin before hitting the water.

The swim races are highly anticipated events because the world is waiting to see if Michael Phelps is still the fastest Swimmer. Soccer is another exciting event, watching players from around the world try to score between the Goalposts.

Other favorite competitions to watch are the track and field events because it gets so intense and the athletes do such seemingly inhuman feats.

The Polevault really shows the athletes’ strength and speed. My favorite is Gymnastics. It’s amazing to watch the athletes Cartwheel across the beam,

 

Springboard over the Vault,

 

 

and perform perfect Handstands on the Uneven

 

 

Bars and Highbar.

 

Others in our office can’t wait to cheer on Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh in the beach volleyballevent as they trying to Spikethe ball and score.

In the end we want to see the United States athletes win Medals,

stand up on the podium and watch the Flag

 

 

raised up while The Star Spangled Banner plays.