In June, 894, the historic city of Athens won the right to host the first modern Olympic Games through the negotiation of the Paris International Sports Conference. Athens, the capital of Greece, is located on the west side of the Arctic Peninsula in southeastern Greece. It is surrounded by the sea on three sides and has a pleasant climate. The political, cultural and economic center of Greece today is one of the important arenas in ancient Greece. It pays special attention to cultural education, emphasizing intellectual education, moral education and physical education. The combination of aesthetic education and the four has cultivated talents and created splendid Athenian culture. If Greece is the cradle of ancient European civilization, then Athens is the center of this cradle, and Olympia, the birthplace of the ancient Olympic Games, which is famous in the world sports, is also about 300 kilometers away from here. Therefore, it is of great historical significance to hold the first Olympic Games in this ancient city. After the Paris International Sports Conference, Harvey Kailas, the first president of the International Olympic Committee, brought the good news of the Olympic Games back to Athens. As Kailas later wrote to Coubertin, "At that time, from Brindisi to Athens, my compatriots were talking happily about the Olympic Games". However, D Kailas is too optimistic. Not long after, when meeting with Greek Prime Minister Trikoupis, the Prime Minister suggested that the Olympic Games should be postponed due to financial problems. This is a blow to d' Kailas. When Coubertin learned the news, he was very anxious. At the end of 10, he arrived in Marseille by train from Paris and then went to Athens by boat. After arriving in Athens, he exchanged a few pleasantries with D Kailas and went to the ruins of the ancient sports ground in Athens. When he saw the ruins and desolate scenes everywhere, his heart cooled by half. It takes a lot of money to rebuild a sports ground on such ruins. Before leaving Paris, Coubertin received a letter from Kemeny, a Hungarian and a member of the International Olympic Committee. Kemeny also knows and understands what happened in Greece. In his letter, he suggested to Coubertin that if Greece can't host it, Hungary is willing to take over the competition as a commemoration of the 0/000th anniversary of the founding of Hungary. Holding in Greece is the goal of Coubertin's revival of the Olympic movement and the internationalization of the Olympic Games, while moving to Hungary is an activity unrelated to his ideal. Camini's suggestion was difficult for Coubertin to accept. However, if we stick to the original proposal and hold it in Greece, how can we raise funds? Prime Minister Trikoupis's attitude was criticized by the opposition and aroused the dissatisfaction of Athenian citizens. When he learned that Coubertin had arrived in Athens, he immediately went to the hotel where Coubertin stayed, but the conversation between them ended in discord. Trikoupis said that it is impossible for a country to hold a sports meeting at a high price when it is heavily in debt. The charge d 'affaires of the French Embassy in Athens also exerted invisible pressure on Coubertin. The agent said that his arrival caused a political crisis in Athens and provided an excuse for the opposition party to oppose Trikoupis, because the opposition party was in favor of holding the sports meeting as scheduled. Coubertin was almost at a loss. However, he is a strong-willed man, not discouraged and pessimistic. He wrote to a newspaper that the word "can't" didn't exist in the French dictionary. At that time, King George I of Greece did not return from his visit to Petersburg, Russia, so he turned to the Crown Prince of Greece with a glimmer of hope. The Greek Crown Prince Constanyine is a handsome young man of 26 years old. He is strong and loves sports. When he didn't express his position immediately after listening to Coubertin's story, the learned Coubertin went on to talk to the Crown Prince about the Greek uprising against Turkish rule in 182 1 year; It is said that Byron, an English poet, crossed the ocean with his sick body for the freedom of the Greek people, went to Greece to participate in the just war, and finally gave his young life. It is said that in that cruel war, 300,000 Greeks shed their last drop of blood without hesitation, so that the surviving 600,000 compatriots could control their own destiny. Finally, Coubertin said passionately, "Therefore, I am full of confidence in such Greece." The Crown Prince was obviously defeated by Coubertin's emotional contagion. He said excitedly, "On the other hand, I am full of confidence in the Olympic Games". The Crown Prince was convinced that Coubertin's trip to Athens in glad you came. The crown prince took over all the preparations for the Olympic Games, which caused strong dissatisfaction from the Prime Minister. After King George I returned home, he publicly supported the Crown Prince and forced Trikoupis to resign as Prime Minister. It is the first time in the history of the Olympic Games that a senior official of a country resigned because of hosting the Olympic Games. Obstacles in the preparatory work have been removed. In order to raise funds, fundraising activities have been carried out all over Greece, raising 332,756 drams, but this is only a drop in the bucket. In order to make up for the lack of funds, the Greek government allocated 400,000 plays, and the postal department used the money to issue a set of stamps with the theme of the history of the ancient Olympic Games, which was sold above the face value. This is the first batch of Olympic stamps in the world. 1906 When Athens held the Games to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the founding of the modern Olympic Games, Greece once again adopted the above fundraising method. Greece originally issued Olympic stamps only for economic benefits, but it made such stamps popular all over the world and had a positive impact. 1920 At the Antwerp Olympic Games, Belgium followed Greece for the first time. Since then, not only the host country of the Olympic Games, but also other countries have issued such commemorative stamps. Winter Olympics stamps are issued from 1932. During the period of 1982, philatelists of the World Olympic Games also set up a philatelic association and elected Samaranch as the chairman of this association. Although the Greeks raised a lot of money by collecting donations and issuing stamps, the Olympic Games were held successfully. Finally, I would like to thank George Avibanfu (18 14- 1899), a wealthy Greek businessman, for donating a huge sum of one million drams to rebuild the marble stadium on the ruins of the ancient stadium. To commemorate Avirov's contribution to the Games, Greece built a statue for him in Athens Square, and held an unveiling ceremony the day before the opening of the Games. The first Olympic Games overcame many difficulties and finally opened on April 6th. 1896. This is the earliest time in all previous Olympic Games. The host chose the opening ceremony on this day to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Greece's uprising against Turkish rule. At 3 pm on April 6, King George I of Greece announced the opening of the conference. IOC officials including Kailas and Coubertin attended the opening ceremony. In the opening ceremony, solemn classical strings were played, and 1958 was designated as the Olympic anthem by the International Olympic Committee. The composer of this song is Greek samaras and the lyricist is palamas. The Greeks showed great enthusiasm for the conference, and the audience attending the opening ceremony reached 80 thousand, which was not broken until 1932 Los Angeles Olympic Games. The number of athletes from Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Britain, Hungary, Germany, Denmark, the United States, France, Chile, Switzerland, Sweden and host Greece is 365,438+065,438+0, with the largest team, accounting for two thirds of the total. Germany and France each 19; The United States 14 people ranked fourth. After the election, the United States mostly came from Harvard and Princeton University. They organize themselves and raise funds by themselves, but the purpose of participating is to visit Europe. They thought that the conference would open on April 18, but they didn't know that the opening date was April 6 until April 1 arrived in Italy, so they had to give up all their sightseeing plans and arrive in Athens before the opening. The host of the first Olympic Games followed the old system of the ancient Olympic Games, and no women participated. Unlike today, there is a rule that non-IOC members are not allowed to participate in the qualification of participating countries. Greece has sent invitations to countries all over the world, including China, but most countries didn't send teams because they didn't know much about the Olympic Games or for other reasons, and China is one of them. Italy, a neighboring country of Greece, once sent a Milan player, which is the only player sent by Italy. The organizing committee thought he was a professional athlete, so he was not allowed to participate. There are 9 events in this competition: track and field, swimming, weightlifting, shooting, cycling, greco-Roman wrestling, gymnastics, fencing and tennis. Rowing was originally planned, but it was not held later. There are two different reasons for cancellation. One is that the weather is bad and the sea is windy, so it can't be carried out. Another way of saying it is that no one signed up and had to change the plan. The curtain of the war should be opened at the opening ceremony on April 6. James connolly of the United States won the triple jump championship with a score of 13.438+0 m, becoming the first champion of the modern Olympic Games. After his victory, the stars and stripes were played in the stadium and the American flag was raised. This has become the traditional awarding ceremony of the Olympic Games. Connolly, a freshman at Harvard University in the United States, failed to get permission from the school when he came to Athens, but this young man who loves classical literature and sports was attracted by Greece and sports clubs in the mythical country and made up his mind to drop out of school. When he returned to his alma mater with his first Olympic medal, he was warmly welcomed. The school thinks this is not only the glory of Connolly, but also the glory of Harvard University. Connolly later became a famous journalist and writer. thank you