Talk:Wenlock Olympian Games

Biased View Presented by the Wenlock Olympian Society
Be aware that the Wenlock Olympian Society presents a biased opinion and view on the history of the revival of the Olympic Games that is based on selected facts.

The Wenlock Olympian Society claims that Dr William Penny Brookes was THE founder of the modern Olympic Games and that Much Wenlock is THE birthplace of the modern Olympic Games.

In 2002 they still claimed that Much Wenlock was THE birthplace of the Olympic Games despite the fact that the Olympic Games originated in ancient Greece.

Unfortunately, their claim is not based on fact. Backing up those claims with quotations from former Presidents of the International Olympic Committee does not make their claims any more factual. It's just a manipulative way of backing up their biased version of history.

The Wenlock Olympian Society has chosen to ignore the fact that the first modern international Olympic Games was held in Athens in 1859. It has also chosen to ignore the fact that the first modern international Olympic Games to be held in a stadium was held in Athens in the Panathenian stadium in 1870.

A much more realistic claim is that Dr Brookes was THE founder of the Modern Olympic Movement since the first worthy Olympic Games to be held outside of Greece was the national Olympic Games held at Crystal Palace in London in 1866. The IOC's revival adopted the strategy of moving the Olympic Games around the world from country to country and Baron Pierre de Coubertin adopted many of Dr Brookes' ideas in the organisation of the Olympic Games. Founder of the Modern Olympic Movement is a reasonable title to give to Dr Brookes.

To claim that Dr Brookes' founded the modern Olympic Games and to ignore the fact that Evangelos Zappas made the first international Olympic Games happen in 1859 just makes it obvious that they are selective with the historical truth.

Similarly, to claim that the revival in Greece was anything less than the Wenlock Olympian Games is ridiculous. The Wenlock Olympian Society needs to formally recognise the achievements of Evangelos Zappas and the revival in Greece. Nipsonanomhmata 22:37, 1 July 2007 (UTC)


 * The above comments pre-date publication (2011) of Catherine Beale's book, "Born out of Wenlock; William Penny Brookes and the British origins of the modern Olympics", which examine the claims more closely, give a wider context to the development of the Wenlock Games, and acknowledge that Brookes himself, inspired by the ancient Greek experience, gave moral support to the revival in Greece as well as to Coubertin. I have added it to the 'Further Reading' list in this article.  It is not a publication of the Wenlock Olympian Society although the author drew greatly on its archives, among other sources.Cloptonson (talk) 18:45, 12 June 2012 (UTC)

2014 journal article "William Penny Brookes – the Founding Father of the Modern Pentathlon?"
Might this add something?

Abstract

For a long time William Penny Brookes' influence on the re-establishment of the Olympic Games has been neglected thanks to a focus on Pierre de Coubertin's creative force. Meanwhile Brookes' general work for the Olympic movement has been officially acknowledged by the IOC. However, the British origins have not been proved yet for the modern pentathlon, which is – just like the Olympics – widely presented to be Coubertin's child. The two sport officials had been in touch since the 1890s and while the Olympic Games did not include the modern pentathlon before 1912, a pentathlon was organised as early as 1868 on the occasion of the Wenlock Games. This combined event did not have the same shape as the later modern pentathlon, but the ideological similarities are as obvious as Brookes' general impact on Coubertin. By analysing historical documents located in the IOC Archives in Lausanne, Switzerland, the Archives of the Wenlock Olympian Society in Much Wenlock, UK, and the National Archives of Sweden in Stockholm, this study aims to trace to what extent Brookes and the Much Wenlock Games impacted upon the birth of the modern pentathlon. Thus, the study reinterprets the genesis of a 100-year-old Olympic sport that has, until today, been exclusively dedicated to Coubertin.

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17460263.2013.873074

Sentence withdrawn from page
I have decided to withdraw this sentence from the page as its accuracy needs checking:

The 1861 Games the following year was a great success and Rifle Shooting was added to the programme.

The sentence immediately followed that describing the separation of the Wenlock Olympian Society from the Wenlock Reading Rooms Society in late 1860. I have been consulting Catherine Beale's book Born out of Wenlock but in the close printed text it is difficult find corroborating evidence supporting the sentence as it is. In 1861 the boroughs of Shropshire combined to stage a Shropshire Olympian Games (held at Wellington) without a separate games for Wenlock in the same year. The sentence can be reinstated later if evidence can be found of when rifle shooting first became part of the games in the Wenlock context.Cloptonson (talk) 06:01, 4 January 2022 (UTC)