Homework in Physical Education I

Submitted by: Twinkle Pauline R. Liboon

Submitted to: Mrs. Lava

Dating back to the Ancient Greeks, athletics was the only competition to be held in the first Olympic
Games which took place in Athens in 776 BC. At that time, the single athletic event was known as the
‘stade,’ a foot race which covered the length of the Athenian Olympic stadium.

The Olympic Games continued to take place in Athens every four years, with all wars suspended for the
duration of the games. Over time, more events were added to the ancient games including longer
running distances, the discus, javelin, jumping and wrestling. The Roman Games also incorporated a
form of athletics although the events favoured by the Romans were chariot racing, wrestling and most
importantly gladiatorial combat and similarly the Celts, Teutons and Goths also took part in forms of
athletic combat.

Athletics became more diverse during the Middle Ages when the sons of noblemen were trained in
running, jumping and wrestling and there were often athletics contests between rival nobility. In the
nineteenth century, the modern events that are familiar in athletics today began to emerge, initially as
part of an official physical education programme in schools.

Schools began to organise competitive meets, the earliest of which took place in Exeter College, Oxford
in 1850. The first modern Olympic Games took place in 1896 and athletics were the key element of the
games, with the competition being divided into track and field events. In 1928 further progressions were
made when women were allowed to partake in athletics competitions for the first time.

An international governing body of athletics, the International Association of Athletics Federations

Gymanstics, as an activity sport, has been around for over 2000 years but as an competitive sport it is a
little more than 100 years old. Mass and individual exhibitions were conducted by various clubs and
ethnic groups such as the Turvereins and Sok ols.

While it was slow-growing in the club area, it was fast-growing sport in the Turvereins and Sokols. In
1830s, the sport of gymnastics was introduced to United States and its school systems by such
immigrants as Charles Beck, Charles Follen and Franci s Lieber.

In 1881 the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) was formed, later was renamed to Bureau of the
European Gymnastics Federation. This organization pioneered the international competition. The
Amature Athletic Union (AAU) was formed in United Sta tes in 1883. Along with other amature spotts in
United States, this organization took over the control of the gymnastics in U.S. Various "championships"
started to develop by various clubs and organizations at about the same time during 1880s.

The first large-scale competition was the 1896 Olympics in Athens, Greece. There Germany have been
the dominant team by almost sweeping every medal. Five countries have participapted in this event.
Men's competitions included horizontal bar, parall el bars, pommel horse, rings, and vault.

The first international event following 1896 Olympics was hel in 1903 in Antwerp, Belgium. There
competed gymnasts from such places as Belgium, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. This event
is now considered the first World Championship. The f irst men's team competition was added and held
in 1904 Olympics at St. Louis.

By ninth World Championship in 1930 at Luxembourg, the gymnastic competition included track and
field events such as pole vault, broad jump, shot put, rope climb, and 100-meter dash. Following that,
track and field events started to disappear from gy mnastics events, such as World Championships. They
fully disappeared from the sport of gymnastics by 1954 World Championships.

During 1924 Olympics in France marked the begining of what they are today. In gymnastics, men started
to compete for individual Olympic titles in each gymnastic event. The first women's gymnastic team
debuted during the 1928 Olympics. The first wom en's event during 1928 Olympics was the team
combined exercise, where it was dominated by Netherlands. The first U.S. women's gymnastic team
competed in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany.

In 1962, rhythmic gymnastics were recognized as a sport by the International Gymnastics Federation
(FIG). In 1963 in Budapest, Hungary, the first Rhythmic World Championship took place. It included 28
athlets from 10 countries. In 1973, the United States joined the sport of rhythmic gymnastics during the
Rhythmic World Championships. During the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, the rhythmic individual all-
around competition was held for the first time. At the Centenial Olympics this year in Atlanta, the
rhythmic group event will be a medal-sport for the first time.

In 1970, the United States Gymnastics Federartion, now formally known as USA Gymnastics, was
organized and became the govering body on this sport in the U.S. It is still exist today.
History of Swimming

The history of swimming goes way back to that of prehistoric times. Books written from 2000 to 1500 BC
including the Bible have references to swimming. It was mostly used in these times as a means of
cleansing. Any form of competitive swimming wasn’t formed until the 1800’s in Europe. It was included
in the first Olympics in 1896 in Athens, Greece.

It was noted that Ancient Egypt had cave drawings of humans swimming in the nearby sea. They often
depicted a form of the breaststroke as the first type of swimming or something they used to call the
front crawl. Ancient Egyptian, Grecian and Roman palaces were often equipped with swimming pools or
baths. Often reserved for the elite that used them as relaxation pools and cleaning tubs.

It is noted by historians that swimming was also often used in battle. The Greeks were often regarded as
solid swimmers and at the Battle of Salamis after a number of both Greek and Persian boats were
destroyed it was said that all of the Persians drowned due to their inability to swim while the Greek
prevailed.

The history of swimming is much easier to understand than other sports. Without any equipment to
speak of an individual can take to the waters. Obviously those countries that had the most access to
water were the first to adapt to swimming. History did not have the spreading of the sport as many
other sports had encountered because it was basically already available. You either adopted swimming
as a means of life or you just chose not to swim.

The evolution of swimming history expanded during the middle ages. A number of individuals took it
upon themselves to write books about swimming. They were often focused on the ability to not drown
rather than a perfect backstroke as you would imagine. Life saving concepts and techniques began to
form throughout the next few hundred years and around the 18th and 19th century the sport began to
evolve into more of a competition than just life safety. Swimming Associations and Clubs popped up all
over the world. Some of the first in swimming history were in China, Sweden and Germany.

Schools began to believe that swimming was a natural part of any life education. Therefore, they began
to teach swimming in schools not just as a life safety course but as an extracurricular activity. Schools
and Universities began to adopt these practices and set up clubs and swim teams. Competitions began
to arise around the mid 1800’s. England was the first to modernize the sport and incorporate an indoor
swimming pool with a swim team. They began to formulate new swimming styles including the
sidestroke. Shortly after this, variations of the freestyle began to form and credit can’t really be given to
one person as so many were responsible for developing this technique.

The Olympic Games of 1896 in Athens was the first real platform for the sport. There only men
competed in a number of events. Throughout the 1900’s the sport evolved and saw a number of stars
arise. Johnny Weissmuller, the original Tarzan completed his ten year career by never losing a race and
winning five Olympic medals.
Science and technology began to play a part in the sport throughout the 1900’s as well. When scientist
and coaches began studying swimmers and there underwater techniques to improve times. The
swimsuits began to change as well as any form of resistance was under scrutiny from all competitors.
Goggles, swim caps and different variations of training have all evolved as well. The US has seen its share
of great Olympians going back to Mark Spitz who won seven gold medals in the 1972 Olympics.

The sport has evolved to a very competitive and fun sport for anyone. That has always been the great
appeal that anyone can swim and we have been for the past 3000 years…So goes the history of
swimming.
History of Archery

The first stone arrowheads were discovered in Africa and date back as early as 50,000 BC! Humans have
used bows and arrows for thousands of years, both for hunting and in wars, and Greek mythology is
filled with tales of archers, including Hercules, Artemis, and Apollo. Archery is one of the most ancient of
sports. It could have started when some skilled ancient hunter was challenged to a contest by some
other competitive hunter!

In the U.S., Archery was a sport played almost entirely by Native Americans until 1828, when the United
Bowmen of Philadelphia was founded. In 1878, the book “The Witchery of Archery” was said to have
inspired the formation of more than twenty archery clubs in less than a year. Archery was on the
program of the second modern Olympic Games in 1900, 1904, 1908 and 1920. Women were allowed to
compete in the Archery event in 1904 and 1908. The sport was dropped from the Olympics after 1920
because rules varied so much from one country to another.

By 1972, the great popularity of this sport brought target archery back into the Olympic program. In the
1992 Olympic Games, the Spanish Paralympic star, Antonio Rebollo, ignited the Olympic Torch by with a
flaming arrow at the opening ceremony. That year, the Spanish Men’s team won the gold medal!