ESO YEAR 3 - READING: Going for Gold

DUE THURSDAY 2ND FEBRUARY

CHAPTER 4 – FAMOUS OLYMPIC RECORD BREAKERS

Each Olympic Games produces new champions. They break the old records, going “faster, higher and stronger” to set new world records. Here are some special record breakers:

The Greatest Athlete of the 20^th Century

Jim Thorpe, a Native American, was a champion athlete from the Potowatomi tribe. His Native American name -Wa-tho-huck- means “Bright Path”. His mother came from the family of the legendary chief Black Hawk, a famous warrior and talented athlete.

As a teenager, Thorpe attended a Native American School in Pennsylvania. He was good at every sport and went on to compete in 17 different Olympic events – more than anyone in history! At the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, crowds celebrated as Thorpe became the first and only Competitor to win both the pentathlon and the decathlon. King Gustav V of Sweden told Thorpe that he was “the greatest athlete in the world”. However, in 1913 the international committee forced Thorpe to return his medals, because they discovered that in the past, he had received money for playing basketball. The Olympics were ony for amateur (non-professional) athletes, so this was against the rules.

Later, Thorpe played American football and baseball professionally. He was also a natural horse-rider and dancer. He even excelled at bowling, and his average was over 200 points a game.

In 1950, the US press elected Thorpe as the greatest athlete of the first half of the 20^th century. Thorpe died in 1953. Nearly 30 years later, the Olympic organisers finally returned his medals to his family. In 2001, ABC's Wide World of Sports named him “Athlete of the Century”.

African-American Triumphs in Nazi Germany

The National Socialist Party, also known as the Nazi party hosted the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Although we understand now that the Nazis were racist and fascist, many people in 1936 did not understand this. The Nazis wanted to prove that the Aryan race was superior to Jews, black people and other minorities. Unfortunately for the Nazis, an African-American – Jesse Owens – won fours gold medals in Berlin in the 100 and 200 metres, the long jump and the 4x100 metres. He was clearly superior to all other athletes there!

Jesse Owens' father worked on a farm and his grandfather was a slave. As a teenager, Owens broke records in the high jump and long jump. Owens won many championships with grace and speed before he arrived at the Olympics. His triumphant performance as a black man embarrassed the fascists. At their Games, he became the greatest modern Olympic champion!

When Owens died in 1980, President Jimmy Carter said, “Perhaps no athlete better symbolised the human struggle against tyranny, poverty and racial intolerance. His personal triumphs as a world-class athlete and record holder were the start of a career devoted to helping others. His work with young athletes, as an unofficial ambassador overseas and a supporter of freedom, is a rich legacy to the American people.”

Superstars and Heroes

There have been many great athletes in Olympic history. People have forgotten many of them today, but some are too special to forget. Here are a few examples:

In 1940, Emil Zátopek ran his first race at the request of a Czech shoe manufacturer. Though new to running, he achieved second place. Then, he trained hard for a few years and became a champion. He was the first person to run 10,000 metres in less than 29 minutes and the first person to run 20,000 metres in an hour. Zátopek's nickname was “The Locomotive”. In Helsinki in 1952, he stunned the world by winning the 5,000 metres, the 10,000 metres and the marathon within eight days!

In Munich, Germany, in 1972, Mark Spitz from the USA charmed the world as he won seven gold medals in swimming. Olga Korbut, a gymnast from the Soviet Union, thrilled audiences at the same Olympics. Korbut was young and small. She won gold medals in the balance beam and floor events and in the team competition

Four years later, at the Olympics in Montreal, Canada, in 1976, the crowds fell in love with 14-year-old Nadia Comaneci from Romania. In gymnastics, she won three gold medals, one silver and one bronze. She achieved the impossible – a perfect 10 on the asymmetric bars. During her life as an Olympic athlete, Comaneci achieved six more perfect 10s!