History of sport and its political role

Sport's history stretches thousands of years back in time. Probably the Chinese were performing sporting activities as early as 4000 years BC. Gymnastics appears to have been popular in ancient China. Statues and monuments of the pharaohs testify that even the ancient Egyptians were involved in sports like swimming and fishing.  The Egyptian sports included javelin, also probably throwing, high jump and wrestling. Ancient Persian Empire were involved in the traditional Iranian martial art called Zourkhaneh. Sports with origins in Persia include polo.

In the traditional european comunities, sport have been an activity for men and only recently began women to take part in sporting at equal side with men. But at the oldest times, it was different. There are many artistic works from the classical societies depicting women nd girls taking part in sport activities.

Sport has allways been performed for the sake of pure leasure, partly for the leasure of using own body, partly for the company of other sportmates and partly for the excitement of competing with others.

Sport has allways been to some extend associated with hunting and warcraft activities and were to some extend a means of increasing the skill of men and also women in these activities.


Sport has allways also had a strong tie to commercial activities, and sport itself has allways been comercialized to some extend. Professional legues owned by welthy interests is no new fenomenon.

Sport has also allways been intimitly connected with political activities, both locally and in a greater international context. It has been a way to show rivalling comunities who was the strongest, but also a way of makeing friendship and solving conflicts in a symbolic way instead of going to war.

Sport has also been and still is a way of promoting individuels to higher positions in the society. In many societies it is difficult for a person to make career without having paticipated successfully in some kind of sport. to some extend other skillful activities like music can play the same role.

776 f.Kr - Ancient Olympic Games

Although many sports were already established before ancient Greece, it was the Greek military culture that took hold on the development of sports and competitions. Sport was at the core of Greek culture when the Olympic Games had been established, and held every four years in the small town of Peloponnesus called Olympia. From the year 776 BC the activities were closely linked to religious rituals and more people parties. Key competitive drills were run, jump and throw, but also boxing, wrestling, and competitions on horseback.

The development of sport through the from 1800 to 1900

The first use of the term sports came to the description of the British upper class leisure activities. Activity for pleasure was a result of the ruling class need for diversion.

Gymnastics was introduced as a term for activities where systematic exercises were intended to strengthen the muscles for health gain. This stood in contrast to sports competitions and performance measurement of achievement. The distinction between gymnastics and sports disappeared again by the competition aspect through gymnastics, body gymnastics and rhythmic gymnastics removed originality. Gymnastics original basic idea was maintained through military exercises, body body exercise in schools and in exercise sports.

Different ball games were established more firmely during this period, standardized rules for coordinating all the different local variations were written. This meant that schools could compete against each other. Organized clubs and societies where practitioners could gather, build your own team and meet others in the competition in various activities became common in the United Kingdom. The British model was spread to the rest of Europe and the USA. The activities took over the old concept of sport. The need to appoint masters came naturally, and local, regional, national and eventually international championship was established towards the turn of the century.

The British gentleman sport would not be associated with the raw competitive sport which arose among sportsmen. The distinction between amateur sport and professional sport was clearer. Boxers and rowers were often professionals, and many felt that this did not fit into the ideal of friendly rivalry in which one would win and lose with honor intact.

1896 - the modern Olympic Games

Based on the ancient Olympic ideas Baron Pierre de Coubertin got the idea of establishing modern toys. He came even from the upper class and amateur sport should be central in the games, and the ganes should be based on the gentlemanly ideal that the most important thing was to participate. The foundation of the modern international Olympic Committee occured in 1894, and the games re-emerged in Greece in 1896.

The modern development of sport

Formally there is till a distinction between amateur sport and professional sport in many branches of sport. The distinction is however of little meaning any more. Top sport performers are by now paid employees, bu with a great discrepancy between the economical conditions of those ranging highest an the others. Sportsmen are partly paid by the clubs that emnploy them and partly by sponsors that uses the sportlers to exhibit their products.

There is little emphacis on developing a healthy body and mind any more in the upper ranks of sport. At the lower ranks where young and old people still gather to get leisure, the idea of developing a sound, healthy and beautiful body together with a healthy mind still is important. But organized sport activities through schools and sport clubs have since long lost the good ideals of sport, and young people are often driven by ambitious authorities into activities and lifestyles that make a few winners but many loosers.