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The Olympics is all
about iconic imagery: some good, some not so good. Russia was recently criticised
for its use of “neo-Hitlerite” imagery to advertise the Sochi 2014
games.
Negatives aside, the dramatic photographs of the Olympic competitors in action; the artwork inspired by the games; the architecture designed to house them; and the symbolism that has come to represent them, all serve to ensure that the Olympics provide an ever-changing aesthetic wonder.
The five intersecting rings of the Olympic Games comprise one of the world’s
most instantly recognisable symbols.
Designed by the founder of the modern Olympics, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the five rings represent the five different parts of the world that took to “Olympism” when the games were reinstated in the 1896.
The other enduring icon of the Olympics is the torch, used to commemorate Prometheus’ theft of fire from the Greek god, Zeus. In ancient Greece, a fire was kept burning through the entire celebration of the ancient Olympics. Nowadays the torch itself is regarded as a piece of art and changes every two years. Previous torches have resembled everything from Star Wars-inspired light-sabres to “melted-down Argos jewellery”.
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Long after the games have moved on, some of the images captured by the thousands
of photographers documenting the Olympics continue to inspire both athletes
and non-athletes alike. More than four decades ago, the runners Tommie Smith
and John Carlos were captured in one of the many enduring photos taken during
the Olympics’ long and politically difficult history.
While standing on the victory podium after winning gold and bronze respectively in the 200 metres at the 1968 Olympics, both Smith and Carlos, who were black, bowed their heads during the national anthem and raised a clenched and black-gloved fist in a black power salute.
Other iconic photos that have come to define the games include that of sprinter, Jesse Owens, standing on the victory podium to receive his gold medal at Hitler’s 1936 Olympics. Hitler had intended to use the games as a way to demonstrate the racial superiority of the Aryan race.
For some, the Olympics mean little more than a wasted track that would be better
used for Ferrari
driving. For the artistically inclined however, the visual feast provided
by the Games is more of a rush than even extreme sports companies, such as http://www.exelement.co.uk/
can provide.
