'Citius, Altius, Fortius
Nenikékamen’
Victorious
August 11, 2012
By: Gina Yoryet Román
Today I rushed to get an in
and out workout to sprint back home and watch the Mexican vs. Brazilian faceoff
for the gold medal. It’d been ages since soccer provoked any type of sentiment;
I had lost that loving feeling. Coming from a soccer loving family I used to
play in an indoor co-ed team and in an all women’s outdoor team when I was a
teenager but had to say farewell when I engaged in Track & Field and Cross
Country.
August 11, 2012 was a very
important day in the history of sports around the globe because our México
fought with all their might to reach the highly coveted gold attribute for the
first time ever. While watching the game, there was a mix of excitement,
stress, tension, pressure, concern, happiness and anxiety because I didn’t
think we’d win until I started praying. LOL!
I missed the first goal but
when Oribe Peralta scored the second one I felt very emotional that I was on
the verge of tears, not of sadness but of pride and contentment. I immediately
stuck my chest out and sang the Mexican Hymn along with the winners.
We proved the world that fate
was holding a reward sooner rather than later and that this eleventh day, of the
eight month of 2012 the world would witness our victory, our time to be the Citius, Altius,
Fortius in the world.
Citius,
Altius, Fortius (is Latin for Faster,
Higher, Braver, but is universally accepted to mean, Swifter, Higher, Stronger).
This motto became official in 1924; the best and most representative words to
describe the victory reached by the winners; the ‘fastest, highest and bravest
of all.’
And as the snoop that I am, I
couldn’t pass writing about the legend behind the name Olympics.
Olympics emerged when the very
first sports games took place in Olympia in 1896 in Southern
Greece a sacred region. The term ‘Olympiad,’ also originated from the city Olympia. ‘Olympiad,’ is a period of four years beginning with the games of the
Olympics ending with the opening of the next games.
Greece’s cities and
mythology hold names that describe victory, power and resistance. Among a few
are, Nike, Νίκη in Greek, meaning ‘Victory’
or ‘Victorious.’ Νίκη was the Goddess of victory,
the Roman version is Victoria. Another name is ‘Marathon.’
Marathon is a city in Greece
about 25 miles
from Athens
which in the year 490 B. C., the Greeks lacked any means of transportation
therefore the only way to deliver letters was on horseback or through hiring a
professional runner.
At that time Phillippides or Phidippides, a
professional runner sped from Marathon to Sparta,
another city in Greece
so the estimated distance between the aforementioned cities was 25 miles. When he reached
his landmark, Phillippides then pronounced this famous word, ‘Nenikékamen’ meaning ‘We have won.’ The
25 mile
distance was official until the 1908 Olympics in London when Queen Alexandra, wife of Edward
VII asked to see the start from the Buckingham palace. It was then that the
course was extended and accommodated per royal request, with this, the new 26.1
distance became official.
Ever wonder why the founder of Nike came up
with this name?
Sources:
1) Marathon –
You Can Do it! By Jeff Galloway. My marathon running bible when I used to
compete.
2) History of marathon:
3) Olympic meaning:
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