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Transcript
00:00 [Music]
00:22 Two thousand seven hundred and sixteen years ago, within the shadow of beautiful Mount Olympus, in the land of ancient Greece,
00:31 was born an institution known as the Olympic Games.
00:36 Emblematic of these glorious athletic festivals is the torchbearer,
00:41 who down through the ages has carried aloft the precious flame to the far corners of the earth.
00:47 Rome, Egypt, India, China,
00:55 through forests and trackless ways, over mountains and sea,
01:02 down to the present day.
01:06 The ritual of the Olympiads demands that this heroic flame shall not become extinguished,
01:12 but shall be kept burning at all costs, serving as a beacon whose unfailing light
01:18 shall guide all athletes in fair play and clean sportsmanship.
01:23 To give them courage and forever remind them of the brave and the strong,
01:28 whose nerves of steel and cool heads shall keep alive and preserve at any sacrifice this precious spark for posterity,
01:37 that all mankind shall benefit by the light that never fails.
01:43 [Music]
01:46 The first Olympic event was foot racing.
01:50 Therefore, let us briefly analyze the fundamental strides.
01:55 First, the splinter.
01:57 Note the powerful piston-like action of the legs as compared to the long distance or space-devouring stride of the miler.
02:05 [Music]
02:08 And then that of the marathon runner, whose effortless, untiring stride carries him for amazing distance.
02:15 And last but not least, the walk.
02:18 Perhaps one of the most graceful of all, exacting the perfect coordination of all the muscles of the body.
02:24 Note the similarity of the walk to a dance.
02:27 One, two, three, four.
02:29 One, two, three, four.
02:31 [Music]
02:43 Uh-oh.
02:44 Hey, wait a shake.
02:45 We're off the track.
02:47 Uh, track.
02:49 Oh, yes, track.
02:51 One of the most spectacular of all track events is the hurdles.
02:56 Ready, set, go.
02:59 Nothing can compare to the ease and grace of the hurdles for sheer beauty of motion.
03:06 [Music]
03:20 The pole vault.
03:23 Beginning with a short run, the pole is planted in the pit.
03:27 The swing up.
03:29 Hold it.
03:30 We are now at the apex of the vertical lift.
03:32 Notice the position of the legs just coming into the jackknife.
03:36 Observe the swing of the hips and the knee flexation as the legs progress into their arc,
03:41 propertary to crossing the bar.
03:44 Crossing the...
03:45 You know, that reminds me of a poem by Tennyson, "Crossing the Bar."
03:49 Sunset and evening star, and one clear call for me.
03:55 And may there be no moaning of the bar when I put out to sea.
04:00 Don't you think that's a lovely thought?
04:03 I do.
04:04 All right, jump.
04:06 [Music]
04:09 Oh, yes.
04:10 From this position, the body arches itself in a graceful glide,
04:15 clearing the crossbar and settling it gently into the sawdust below.
04:20 [Music]
04:45 Hammer throwing, more than any other event, calls for terrific muscular development,
04:51 plus height, weight, and mental alertness.
04:55 The hammer must be swung in a circle until terrific speed is attained.
05:00 [Music]
05:17 [Music]
05:36 And last, but far from least, the decathlon.
05:40 A group of ten events arrange the track's triathlete's stamina and power.
05:47 [Music]
06:09 [Music]
06:32 [Music]
06:48 To the victor belong the spires.
06:53 [Music]
07:02 [BLANK_AUDIO]