2012 Summer Olympics(a)|2012年伦敦夏季奥运

by Owain Mckimm

London is this year's host to the world's biggest sporting event.

The Olympic Games are one of history's oldest sporting traditions. Legend has it that they were founded by the demigod Hercules in honor of his father Zeus. What is certain, though, is that the origin of the Games goes back to 776 BC. Held in the ancient Greek city of Olympia, the Games brought the various and often warring cities of ancient Greece together once every four years for athletic competition. The first ever Olympic champion was a cook from Elis named Coroebus, who won the inaugural Olympics' only event, a roughly 200-meter sprint. The ancient Olympics grew in scope and fame, incorporating events like boxing, javelin throwing, and chariot racing, until the final ancient Games died out sometime around 400 AD.

The Olympics as we celebrate them today were revived through the efforts of many passionate men, especially Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who championed the first modern Games held in Athens in 1896. Since then, the honor of which city gets to host the Olympics has been decided by the International Olympic Committee, which makes detailed inspections of each candidate city before taking a vote.

The 2012 Summer Olympics will be held in London between July 27 and August 12 and will kick off with an opening ceremony watched live by 80,000 audience members and billions of spectators worldwide via television. The ceremony, entitled The Isles of Wonder, is being overseen by Danny Boyle, director of the Oscar-winning movie Slumdog Millionaire, who hopes to capture the creativity and character of the British Isles during the three-hour show. Athletes from over 200 nations will compete in hundreds of different sporting events. With the whole world watching, London, the only city to host the Olympics three times, hopes once again to be a worthy vessel for the ancient Olympic spirit.

2012年伦敦夏季奥运

伦敦是今年全球最盛大运动赛事的主办城市。

奥林匹克运动会（简称奥运）是历史最悠久的运动传统之一。根据传说，奥运是由半神赫尔克里士所创，以纪念他的父亲──宙斯。然而，我们能确定的是，奥运的起源可追溯至公元前 776 年。奥运在古希腊城市奥林匹亚举行，每 4年集结许多经常交战的古希腊城邦，进行体育竞赛。有史以来第一位赢得奥运冠军的人是来自伊利斯名叫科罗巴斯的厨师，他赢得首届奥运唯一举办的项目──约 200 公尺的短跑比赛。古代奥运的比赛项目增加，也竖立了名声，赛事中纳入了拳击、标枪和双轮战车竞赛等项目，直到最后一届的古代奥运于公元 400 年的某个时候划下句点。

我们今日所举办的奥运得以复兴，全赖许多热心之士的努力，尤其是古伯丁男爵先生，他支持 1896 年在雅典举行的首届现代奥运。从此，有幸主办奥运的城市皆由国际奥林匹克委员会决定，委员会在投票前都会先对每个奥运候选城市进行缜密的审查。

2012年夏季奥运将在 7 月 27 日到 8 月 12 日期间于伦敦举行，届时有 8 万名观众在现场，以及全球数十亿名观众透过电视实况转播，收看比赛的开幕式。本次命名为《三岛奇观》的开幕式，是由奥斯卡得奖影片《贫民百万富翁》的导演丹尼  " 鲍伊监制，他希望在历时 3 小时的节目中，捕捉不列颠群岛的创造力和特色。来自 200多个国家的运动员将在数百个运动项目中一较高下，在全球的注视下，伦敦这个唯一主办过三届奥运的城市，希望能再次成为承载古代奥运精神的角色。