Thread: Olympic Opening Ceremony entry order ...

Oh I thought the official language of the Olympics was French, not Greek as some would expect, which is why South Africa was one of the 1st in, as it is Afrique Du Sud in French IIRC.

An interesting background. Greek you would expect based on the history of the Ancient Olympics, however it was 1500 years between the Emperor banning the Olympic pagan festival and the Modern Olympics. Fortunately the site of the first Olympics still exists on the side of a hill in Greece, it’s quite a walk up and you can still use the original starting grooves for a run, or sit on the bank as a spectator! If there ever was a race there you would probably break an ankle but it is still all grassy.

The Modern Olympics were revived by a Frenchman in 1896 I think, at a time where French was the language used by diplomats. Because of this the Olympic official language is French and it has been retained in the Olympic rules as a mark of respect. Actually there are 3 official languages which are French, English and the language of the hosting country, so Japanese this year. The first modern Olympics, despite being organised by the French, was held in Athens in Greece at the Panathenaic stadium. This is a masterpiece that you can still use, with a sandstone stadium and tunnel. The 400 track surface looked to me to be super modern and was perfect enough to race on. It definitely worth a visit to see, read the boards, sit in the grandstand, walk the tunnel, do a lap and stand on the Dias!

Originally Posted by RANDLOVER

Oh I thought the official language of the Olympics was French, not Greek as some would expect, which is why South Africa was one of the 1st in, as it is Afrique Du Sud in French IIRC.

Official languages are English and French, and South Africa entered in the "M" section because in Japanese it's Minami (i.e., South) Africa:

南アフリカ
Minamiafurika

Wikipedia article explaining it all:


2020 Summer Olympics Parade of Nations - Wikipedia

Out of interest, not that anybody asked... So this is the site of the first Ancient Olympics at Olympia as it is now. The stone strip across the the field is the running starting block and it was 192m to the finish line. If you jump the start it was corporal punishment and everybody competed naked, so there was no differentiation between those at the top of the bottom of the heirarchy - on the field everyone were all the same. There was no stone seating except for the judges who were about half way down the field where you can see the sandstone ruins. It's amazing that after 2800 years that this is still here!

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