Olympic Sports Technical Performance Rules and Glossary of Techniques
United States Olympic Committee (USOC) (2000)

URL: http://www.usoc.org/home/top.html (scroll to pull-down menu at top right)

SITE SUMMARY: Selected Olympic sports for the Summer and Winter Games are featured in this area of the Official Web site of the United States Olympic Committee. Click on the menu, choose a season, then select a sport from those listed alphabetically. Next, click the sport's name to go to a page of general information on the sport and to links that go to pages with technical rules, a glossary of performance techniques, history, and athletes related to this sport. Note the basic rules and requirements for athletes' performance in each sport. Via an athletes link, see current athletes to note and particular sports' athlete legends. Each sport's page also has a link that goes to a sport's official U.S. organization's Web site, with news, and a link to the site of the sport's official international organization. The rules follow the International Olympic Committee's recommendations, which state that a sport's national and international organizations are responsible for setting and maintaining rules.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS AND ACTIVITIES

1. For a list of Olympic sports, click the USOC Web site's menu. Choose a Winter Olympic sport and a Summer Olympic sport that you like. For each one identify and describe three to six technical performance rules that United States Olympic athletes must follow in these sports. If there are different requirements for women and men, state both. (Note: If a sport has more than one area, choose one such as figure skating singles, rhythmic gymnastics, or synchronized swimming.)
2. Find data on four United States Olympic athletes who are sports legends. Search for and choose four Olympic athletes of the past (e.g., two women and two men). State the accomplishment(s) in each athlete's Olympic participation, including which medal was won (if any), for which sport, when, and, if possible, which technical moves they did well in their sports or which they are remembered in connection with. Tell what they became after their Olympic career, if their post-Olympic occupations are connected somehow to their sports, the Olympics, or scientific aspects of these sports. (Note: In your answers include athletes' quotations, if found online.) Extra Activity: Choose a particular sport you like. Imagine, then explain, something you could do in that field, with a science connection, after your "Olympic accomplishment." (Tip: To answer the questions just above, find information by visiting the Official USOC Web Site—Main Page whose url and site summary are in the Related Internet Sites section below. There, click the Bios link, or do a search in the search box for Where Are They Now? and Hall of Fame [also found by checking the Programs area for the Hall of Fame icon link]. Look there too for athlete legends for a particular sport on the sport page. Find as noted in this chapter's featured site's Site Summary above, for this site's sports areas.)
3. Find data on two Olympic athletes who are sports legends in a nation other than the United States. Choose athletes of a nation from which your family claims its heritage or another foreign nation. Apply to this activity the three parts of Question/Activity no. 2 above, particularly the sentences that start with the words search, state, and tell. Find information on sports legends of nations other than the United States in the Athletes area of the International Olympic Committee Official Web site, via individual sports' Olympic committee Web sites or searches of Internet search directories. Their urls are cited in the Related Internet Sites section below or in this book's Appendix E.
4. Find an article's citation on a science-related Olympic sports topic. Think about the subject in the title, and write a two hundred word essay on the title's subject. Aim to include a fact on a recent and maybe well-known Olympic sport and athletes as applied to the subject. U.S. and other nations' athletes may be mentioned. (To find article citations, go to the Web pages for Proceedings—International Symposium for Olympic Research and Olympika: International Journal of Olympic Studies, both in the Publications area of the Ontario Canada's International Centre for Olympic Studies Web site. Also visit the ICOS related links page [noting especially its section on Research Sites and Documentation Centres with links leading to their sites, then each site's Publications Areas], see data at the IOC Medical Commission Web site, and search the Sport Science Meets the Olympics Web site. In addition, note the Official USOC Web site—Main Page, clicking the News link or doing a search for the News Archives or Sports Medicine, or choosing a sport from the menu, then, on that sport's page, choosing the History link. [Urls for all Web sites mentioned above are in the Related Internet Sites section below.])
5. Visit the Amateur Athletic Association of Los Angeles—Search Page and the Sport Science Meets the Olympics Web sites. (Their urls are cited in the Related Internet Sites section below.) Think of three science-related Olympic sports subjects. Find an article on each subject, one from each site. Read the articles or their summaries, then write one hundred word essays on the facts in each article. Aim to include a fact on a recent, maybe well-known, Olympic sport and athletes as applied to the subject, if possible. U.S. or other nations' athletes may be noted.
6. Animals have been chosen as Olympic mascots that serve as symbols representing Olympic athletes' characteristics and skills. Each mascot also has a connection to the host nation where an Olympics takes place. Visit the Web site areas including Mascots at the International Olympic Memorabilia Federation and Olympic Mascots in the AAFLA Olympic Primer. Also try a Mascots search in the Official USOC Web site—Main Page search box. Choose two wild animals that have been represented by mascots, one from the United States and one from another nation. Describe each animal and its natural features, including type of animal, particular kind of animal, distinguishing marks, behavior traits, habitat, and geographic area where it lives. Why do you think these animals were chosen as mascots or as bases for cartoon character mascots? (Tip: For help identifying the animals' features, see the All About Animals Web site.) (Each url for the Web sites or Web site areas suggested above is cited in the Related Internet Sites section below.)
7. Keeping Question/Activity no. 6 above in mind, and the Web sites cited in it, think of or pick two wild animals you would choose as mascots for two Olympics, one in the United States and one in another nation. Describe each chosen animal's particular features that are referred to in general terms in Question/Activity no. 6 above, and explain why you chose that animal. (Note: You may choose mascot animals for actual past or upcoming Olympics and host nations, but choose animals not yet chosen as mascots. You may also choose mascots for an Olympics in a nation and a nation's city [which includes that city's surrounding region] which have not yet been selected as a host nation or a host city.)
8. Go to the Web page on "The Environment—The Third Dimension of Olympism." Identify basic features of the guidelines that guide the Olympic movement where the environment is concerned. Identify one or two documents that have been selected as guides. Cite two examples of an Olympics where those guidelines and the guide document(s) have been followed, one example from a United States Olympics and the other example from another nation's Olympics. Include references to athletes where possible. Extra Activity: Think of, or find via the Olympic Studies Directory Search Page or by searching an Internet search directory, something else that may be done at an Olympics, or has been done, where the guidelines and guide documents regarding the environment have been followed. Cite guide documents and guidelines, and provide quotations when possible. This example may be from a U.S. or other nation's Olympics. (Urls for Web sites or Web pages referred to in this question/activity can be found in the Related Internet Sites section below. Find urls for Internet search directories in this book's Appendix E.)
9. Go to the Web page about the Olympic Prize in Sport Science. (Find via link on the IOC Medical Commission Web site whose url is cited in the Related Internet Sites section below.) Identify the goals that the commission aims for when deciding who should be awarded this prize. Do a search for a winner of the IOC Sport Sciences prize via an Internet search directory or search at these Web sites or Web pages whose urls are cited in the Related Internet Sites section below: the International Centre for Olympic Studies, the Olympic Studies International Directory, keyword search of the database at the Sport Wissenschaft im Internet, the Amateur Athletic Association of Los Angeles—Search Page, and the Official USOC Web site—Main Page. (Find urls for Internet search directories in this book's Appendix E.) Explain how the winner's work is a particular example of the basic goals the commission adheres to when awarding the prize.

RELATED INTERNET SITE(S)

Sport Science Meets the Olympics

http://whyfiles.news.wisc.edu/019olympic/index.html

At this site funded by the National Science Foundation featured articles include "How are science and technology changing the games?" and "Why your mind might help you jump higher." See also the Glossary and the Bibliography with links and the numbered links that lead to information on sports psychology, biomechanics, mechanics, and more.

"Athletes" at the International Olympic Committee Official Web Site

http://www.olympic.org/uk/athletes/index.uk.asp

Click a famous or medal winning athlete's photo link to read a biographical note on the athlete's Olympic accomplishment, click an alphabetic letter to find biographical notes for athletes whose names start with that letter, or, after clicking the link for Medal Winners Search, do a search by selecting all of the following: an individual or a team; women, men, or mixed; gold, silver, and bronze medals; continent; nation; Olympic sport; event (e.g., singles, team); Olympic Games edition (e.g., Winter Games, Summer Games, or a particular city and year). Next click Search.

International Centre for Olympic Studies, Ontario, Canada—Publications, Lectures, Links

http://www.uwo.ca/olympic

Links go to Proceedings—International Symposium for Olympic Research and The Olympika: International Journal of Olympic Studies, with menus leading to citations of proceeding speeches and journal articles. There is also a link to a Lecture Series with a biography of the current lecturer, and there are links to Related Sites including other Research and Documentation Centres and their publication areas.

Amateur Athletic Association of Los Angeles—Search Page

http://www.aafla.org/search/search.html

Click boxes next to listed online publications with Olympics, sports, or international in their titles (e.g., Olympic Official Reports, Olympic Review, Revue Olympique, Olympika, Olympic Research Symposia, the audio Olympic Oral Histories, and Journal of Olympic History, plus International Sports Studies, Sporting Traditions, and Journal of Sport History). Next, enter a key word or key phrase (e.g., sports science, physiology, medicine, psychology). Type a year or range of years (optional). Click Search Now. A list of article title links to articles on the keyword subject from these publications will appear.

Official United States Olympic Committee (USOC) Web Site—Main Page

http://www.usoc.org

See search box under menu, links to FAQs, News/Features, The Week in Review, and Quick Picks (e.g., For Kids, Bios). At page's bottom, see the link to Education (with links to data in PDF format, e.g., Supplemental Dietary Information 2001), and see a link to About the USOC, that goes to a page of links to Programs (e.g., a Hall of Fame icon link), plus Documents and Public Notices, What Is the USOC?, What We Do, and Mission.

All About Animals at the Friends of the National Zoo Web Site

http://fonz.org/animals.htm

See the Animal Index link and the Library of Animal Facts link.

Olympic Mascots at the International Olympic Memorabilia Federation

http://www.collectors.olympic.org/e/fimo/fimo_mascots_e.html

Click a Summer or Winter Olympic Game year and host city on the timeline to get to a colorful mascot picture, name, details or features, animal (or something else) it is based on, why it was chosen as mascot, its designer, and sometimes how a mascot was chosen.

Olympic Mascots in the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles Olympic Primer

http://www.aafla.org

Click the Olympic Information Center link, then the Olympic Primer link. Select Winter Olympic Mascots, Summer Olympics Mascots from the pull-down menu, then scroll to see a color picture and interesting tidbits of information on each mascot.

The Education Site for the 2002 Olympics and Paralympics

http://www.uen.org/2002

This prolific site has links to an educator's guide in PDF format (featuring menus that go to articles on many subjects, e.g., fitness and health; Olympic heroes; mascots; countries: Welcome the World, and Your Family Is from Where?), sports (with links to information that includes science concepts), and more.

2002 Olympics Education Site—Curriculum—Science

http://www.lightwithing.org/curriculum/content_areas/science/science.html

Scroll to links to lesson plans for older students (e.g., Earth—Our Greatest Resource, Chemistry and Sport, Biology: Ecosystems and the 2002 Games, Physics: Newton's Laws and Winter Sports). Note also younger students' lessons' subjects and think of how they may be adapted for older students (e.g., Geology and the Wasatch Mountains; Biodiversity of Plant and Animal Life in Northern Utah; Higher, Swifter, Stronger, Animals; and Heat and Insulation). In addition, at www.lightwithin.org/curriculum/content_areas/physed/physed.html, see links to scientific aspects of physical education, such as cardiovascular training and conditioning or pacing for particular sports.

International Sports Federations—Links Page

http://www.olympic.org/uk/organization/index_uk.asp

Two pull-down menus have links that go to Web sites for individual winter and summer sports' international federations that aim to keep their technical performance rules for athletes in agreement with Olympic Sport Performance Rules as outlined in the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Charter.

National Sport Organizations—Links, at Sport Wissenschaft im Internet

http://www.sponet.de (click British flag icon link for English version)

At this Germany-based sport science database, choose English Language, All Countries, and Basic Level from pull-down menus, then "Technical Sports" from the Topical Areas menu, and "Organisation Info" from the Type of Source" menu. Click Search. See links to Web sites for individual winter and summer sports' national organizations, including those that aim to keep their athletes' technical performance rules in agreement with sport performance rules as stated in the IOC Charter. (Note: for searches of other subjects, subject word(s) can be typed in a textstring box.)

National Olympic Committees—Links Page

http://directory.google.com/Top/Sports/Events/Olympics/National_Olympic_Committees

IOC Charter via the Olympic Documents Page

http://www.olympic.org/uk/utilities/reports/index_uk.asp

Click the "complete text" link under IOC Charter to go to a page about it, then click the link to it in PDF format.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) Medical Commission

http://http://www.olympic.org/uk/organization/commissions/medical/index_uk.asp

This area of the official Olympic Movement Web site features data on the commission's history and mission, nutritional supplements and the anti-doping stance the commission advocate. Featured links go to more information on nutrition and anti-doping, plus data on the IOC World Congresses on Sport Sciences, and the IOC Olympic Prize in Sport Science (e.g., in the medical, biological, psychological, and physiological sciences).

"The Environment—The Third Dimension of Olympism"

http://www.olympic.org/uk/organization/missions/environment_uk.asp

On this page of the Official IOC Web site, data on the protection and wise use of the environment with relation to the Olympics are featured, along with international organizations' and United Nations' environmental directives all Olympics must follow.

Olympic Studies International Directory

http://olympicstudies.uab.es/scripts/main.asp

On this search page, click the circle beside institutions; leave ALL in the country, subject, and index, menus; type the word Science in the "by name" box; then click Search. Links will appear to the Web sites for the Centre for Sports Science and History (with useful links), Library of Human Movement Sciences and Sports, and Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Science. The search page subject menu lists medicine, psychology, environment, information science, information technology, new technologies, and more.

Centre for Olympic Studies—University of New South Wales—Resources, Publications

http://www.arts.unsw.edu.au/olympic (click Resources link or Publications link)

On the Resources page, click the link for links to Olympic News sites, Yahoo Olympic sites, Great Olympians, and more sites on Olympic Studies. On the Publications page, title links go to abstracts of articles on Olympic studies subjects with relation to the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.