The Olympic Athlete                  I always have respected Olympic athletes, for they spend all their time training. Victorious athletes were professionals in the sense that they lived off the glory of their achievement ever afterwards. Their hometowns might reward them with: free meals for the rest of their lives, honorary appointments, or leadership positions in the community. The victors were memorialized in statues and also in victory songs, and commissioned from famous poets.         Today, the Olympic …showed first 75 words of 531 total…

…showed last 75 words of 531 total…very important, so athletes often exercised to flute music.         The sports have changed dramatically, but the pride of being an Olympic competitor has remained as strong as ever! The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph, but the struggle. 'The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well' (Pierre de Coubertin).