Монарші особи та олімпійський рух

Abstract

The Olympic Games of Ancient Greece had occupied a special place in the life of the Hellenes. The holding of the Olympics had a wide public resonance. The rulers of various polices actively supported these events and many of them were the participants and some the winners of the Games. Famous philosophers, writers and poets, architects and sculptors had the honor to present their works to spectators and judges at that athletic forum. During the heyday of the Roman Empire, which conquered ancient Greece, Roman emperors not only supported the holding of the Olympic Games, but also participated in Olympic competitions organized at four-year intervals and other Pan-Helenian Games. The process of the revival of the Olympic Games had been closely related to the activities of prominent thinkers, artists, actors, and musicians of the Renaissance, New Age, and Enlightenment. It is worth noting that the royalty did not stand aside from this process: the first Olympic Games of the Modern Era were held with the active involvement of the King of Greece George I, whereas Crown Prince Constantine assumed the presidency of the organizing committee of the Games. Since that time, many royalties from different countries have participated in the Olympic Games. For more than 120-year history of the Olympic Games, revived at the end of the XIX century, 31 representatives of royal families took part in Olympic competitions and won 11 Olympic medals: four gold, one silver and six bronze medals. Their interest in the Olympic movement is not limited to participation in the Olympics Games and the Winter Olympics. The history of the modern Olympic movement includes the names of 14 representatives of the Royalty who were given the honor to declare the Olympic Games open; 34 ones in different years were the members of the International Olympic Committee; five monarchs with special merits in the development of the International Olympic Movement and promoting Olympic values are among the honorary members of the IOC. The article describes briefly this interesting story of the Olympic Games of antiquity and modernity, in which royalty took part. Keywords: Olympic Games, royalty