The Olympic Games
The Olympic Games have the traditions of more than thousands of years. The Olympic Games, which originated in ancient Greece as many as 3,000 years ago, were revived in the late 19th century and have become the world’s preeminent sporting competition. The Olympic Games were named after the city of Olympia in Greece. The Olympic Games were commenced long before the birth of Christ. Greece was divided into many cities in those days. People of those cities were not in harmony. They used to fight with each other.
From the history of the Olympic Games, it is seen that a man named Iphitos founded the games. Iphitos was concerned about the strife among the people. He hit upon a plan. He invited the best athletes to participate in athletic contests to the valley of Olympia from the nearby cities. His plan suited well. The Greek people who were found of wars, instead of fighting their neighbors tried to undo their rivals in athletic contests. The first written records of the ancient Olympic Games date to 776 B.C. when a cook named Coroebus won the only event–a 192-meter footrace called the stade (the origin of the modern “stadium”)–to become the first Olympic champion.
From the 8th century B.C. to the 4th century A.D., the Games were held every four years in Olympia, located in the western Peloponnese peninsula, in honor of the god Zeus. The contests included sprints, leaping, boxing, throwing the discus and the javelin, and wrestling at the beginning. Afterward, the horse race was added to the contests. The Greeks forgot to fight each other. But in 394 A.D. the Roman emperor stopped the game. Since then for over fifteen hundred years no contests were held.
The Olympic Games revived in 1895 Olympic Games were held in Greece. The first modern Olympics took place in 1896 in Athens, and featured 280 participants from 13 nations, competing in 43 events. Since 1994, the Summer and Winter Olympic Games have been held separately and have alternated every two years. It is known as the first modern Olympic Games. It was held in Athens the capital city of Greece.
The first modern Olympics were held in Athens, Greece, in 1896. In the opening ceremony, King Georgios I and a crowd of 60,000 spectators welcomed 280 participants from 13 nations (all male), who would compete in 43 events, including track and field, gymnastics, swimming, wrestling, cycling, tennis, weightlifting, shooting, and fencing.
The modern Olympic Games are held every four years in different cities of the world. The remarkable fact is that the Olympic flames are lit from the city of Olympia where the first contest was held. Nowadays, the Olympic Games have become very popular worldwide. Many new events have been added. The 29th Olympic Games held in Beijing in China in 2008. About 10,000 competitors of different countries contested 302 events.
