,
It’s no secret that I am a huge fan of the Olympic
games, so when I travelled to Switzerland I knew I had to visit the Olympic
Museum in Lausanne. When the Olympics is on I am glued to the TV watching every
sport out there from Equestrian to High Diving, from Basketball to Archery.
So when I found myself in the Olympic Museum, I was
ecstatic. Why is there an Olympic Museum in Lausanne? you might ask (just like
I did). Well, it turns out that this hilly city on the coast of Lake Geneva is
the home of the International Olympic Committee.
The Olympic Museum in Lausanne is the
Olympic Museum. The grounds of the museum are beautifully manicured with
statues relevant to the Olympics, the Olympic flame and marked Olympic records
(such as a pole indicating the highest high jump).
When I arrived I purchased an audio set as it goes
into a lot more detail about the exhibits you are looking at.
The first exhibit is packed with historical
memorabilia including a gold, silver and bronze medal from the Sydney Olympics.
There is also an entire display of all the Olympic medals from every Olympic
game. The next section, one of my favorites, was a huge display of every
Olympic torch from the very beginning up until the 2008 Beijing torch. Each was
is surprisingly very different from one another and each has a story behind it.
The London Olympic torch was not displayed as I visited before the games, but it
has to be my favorite for many reasons. It was designed by Edward Barber and
Jay Osgerby and the 8,000 holes within the design represent the number of
people involved within the Torch Relay around the UK.
The second floor is packed with equipment, clothing
and shoes used and worn by former Olympians. Some of my favorite pieces were
Michaels Phelps swimming trucks from Athens 2004 and Venus Williams’s winning
tennis shoes from Sydney 2000.
There is a timeline that shows how world history has aligned with Olympic history, including the death of 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team during the Munich games of 1972 and the 1980 Olympic boycott to the games in Moscow because of the country’s choice to invade Afghanistan. One section of the museum is also dedicated to the fight against doping.
Rotating exhibits also make an appearance at the
museum. I wandered through Athletes and Science, which focused on the advances
in technology and how that has changed the Olympic Games. There was also a
section on the chemistry of an athlete’s body, which invited guests to
participate in experiments of memory, reaction time and other essential skills
Olympic athletes need. There was a lot of school groups in at the time I was
there so all the activities were occupied by children!
I had a fantastic time at the museum and would recommend it
to any Olympic Fan!
0 Response to "Visit the Olympic Museum in Lausanne"
Post a Comment