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With the start of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver this weekend, it is worth remembering Liverpool’s pivotal role in the Olympic movement. The two main protagonists were Charles Melly (an ancestor of George Melly), a wealthy philanthropist, and John Hulley. Charles Melly attended Rugby school at the same time as Thomas Hughes, author of Tom [...]
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Thanks. Very interesting!
Chris
There was Olympian Societies in other places. Chipping Camden in the Cotswolds, Much Wenlock in Shropshire, where games were held before Liverpool. They are villages. Liverpool was important, and probably the most important, however cannot be held as the sole precursor of the modern Olympics.Quote:
Originally Posted by Colin Wilkinson
But, the first ever National Olympian Association was founded in 1865 in Myrtle Street in Liverpool, with representatives from Liverpool, London and Berlin.
The International Olympic Committee was founded in 1890.
However, the Greeks had held Greek national Olympic Games in Athens in 1859, 1870 and 1875, in a refurbished ancient stadium - the Panathenian stadium, which I believe had held some ancient Olympic games. The first British national Olympics were in London in 1866 without a stadium. The first Much Wenlock games were before the first modern Greek games. The first Liverpool games were in 1862 and were basically moved to London in the form of the National Olympics in 1866. The first International Olympics were in Athens in 1896. Greece could not pay for the new stadium and international aid was needed.
William Penny Brookes of Much Wenlock did inspire the creation of the International Olympic Committee and can be identified as the founder of the Modern International Olympic Movement. He died a few months before the first International Olympics were held in Greece in 1896. The UK was the founder of the modern Olympics.
Liverpool played an important role in the events leading to the modern Olympics and did have crowds of over 10,000 at the Liverpool games in Mount Vernon.
Interesting those facts... thanks Waterways.. Watching the couples figure skating as I type.. very beautiful and incredibily awesome.
Thanks Colin. Here's some related links on Yo! Liverpool
Liverpool's Sport and Recreation Heritage
Liverpool 'first seaside resort'