1. The Olympic Games is a major internationalEvent featuring
summer and winter sports,in which thousands of athletes
participatein a variety of competitions. The OlympicGames have come
to be regardedas the worlds foremost sports competitionwhere more
than 200 nations participate. TheGames are currently held every two
years, withSummer and Winter Olympic Gamesalternating, although
they occur every fouryears within their respective seasonal
games.TheOlympic Movementconsists of internationalsportsfederations
(IFs), National Olympic Committees (NOCs), and organizingcommittees
for each specific Olympic Games. The host city is responsible
fororganizing and funding a celebration of the Games consistent
with the OlympicCharter. Over 13,000 athletes compete at the Summer
and Winter Olympics in 33different sports and nearly 400
events.
2. The victors of these early games werecrowned with wreaths
from a sacred olivetree that grew behind the temple of Zeus.The
winners marched around the grove tothe accompaniment of a flute
while admirerschanted songs written by a prominent poet.The Olympic
Games were held withoutinterruptions in ancient Greece. The
gameswere even held in 480 BC during the PersianWars, and coincided
with the Battle ofThermopylae.The games were held every four years
from776 BC to 393 AD, when they were abolishedby the Christian
Byzantine EmperorTheodosius I. The ancient Olympic Gameslasted for
1170 years.
3. The first significant attempt to emulate the ancientOlympic
Games was the LOlympiade de laRpublique, a national Olympic
festival held annuallyfrom 1796 to 1798 in Revolutionary France.
Thecompetition included several disciplines from theancient Greek
Olympics.In 1850 an Olympian Class was started by Dr WilliamPenny
Brookes at Much Wenlock, in Shropshire,England. In 1859, Dr Brookes
changed the nameto Wenlock Olympian Games. This annual
sportsfestival continues to this day.Between 1862 and 1867,
Liverpool held an annualGrand Olympic Festival. Devised by John
Hulley andCharles Melly, in cooperation with Dr Brookes, thesegames
were elitist in nature since only Gentlemencould compete. Some of
the Gentlemen brought theircoaches with them.
4. In 1865 Hulley, Dr. Brookes and E.G. Ravensteinfounded the
National Olympian Association inLiverpool, a forerunner of the
British OlympicAssociation. Its articles of foundation provided
theframework for the International Olympic Charter.The Panathinaiko
Stadium hosted Olympics in 1870and 1875. Thirty thousand spectators
attended thatGames in 1870 though no official attendance recordsare
available for the 1875 Games. In 1890, afterattending the Olympian
Games of the WenlockOlympian Society, Baron Pierre de Coubertin
wasinspired to found the International OlympicCommittee (IOC). He
presented his ideas duringthe first Olympic Congress of the newly
createdInternational Olympic Committee. On the last dayof the
Congress, it was decided that the firstOlympic Games, to come under
the auspices of theIOC, would take place in Athens in 1896.
5. The Winter Olympic Games isa sporting event, which
occursevery four years. The firstcelebration ofthe WinterOlympics
was held in Chamonix,France , in 1924. The originalsports were
alpine and cross-country skiing, figure skating,ice hockey, Nordic
combined , ski jumpingand speed skating. TheGames were held every
four years from 1924 until 1936 when theywere interrupted by World
War II. The Olympics resumed in 1948 and werecelebrated every four
years. The Winter and Summer Olympic Games were heldin the same
years until 1992, when the governing body for the Olympic Games,the
International Olympic Committee (IOC), decided to place the Summer
andWinter Games on separate four-year cycles in alternating
even-numbered years.
6. The Winter Games have evolved since theirinception. Sports
have been added and some ofthem, such as luge, short track
speedskating and freestyle skiing, have earned apermanent spot on
the Olympic programme.Others,suchasspeedskiing, bandy and
skijoring, were demonstrationsports but never incorporated as
Olympicsports.The IOC has had to address several
criticisms,internal scandals, the use of performanceenhancing drugs
by Winter Olympians, as wellas a political boycott of the Winter
Olympics.Nations have used the Winter Games toshowcase the claimed
superiority of theirpolitical systems.
7. The Winter Olympics have been hosted onthree continents, but
never in a country in thesouthern hemisphere. The United States
hashosted the Games four times; France has beenthe host three
times; Austria, Canada, Italy,Japan, Norway and Switzerland have
hostedthe Games twice.Sochi, Russia, was elected as the host city
ofthe 2014 Winter Olympics over Salzburg,Austria, and Pyeongchang,
South Korea. Thiswill be the first time that Russia will host
aWinter Olympics. The Olympic Village andOlympic Stadium will be
located on the BlackSeacoast. All of the mountain venues will be50
kilometers (30 mi) away in the alpine regionknown as Krasnaya
Polyana. On July 6, 2011,the IOC selected the city of
Pyeongchang,South Korea to host the 2018 Winter Olympics.
8. From 241 participants representing 14 nations in1896, the
Games have grown to about 10,500competitors from 204 countries at
the 2008 SummerOlympics. The scope and scale of the WinterOlympics
is smaller. For example, Turin hosted2,508 athletes from 80
countries competing in 84events, during the 2006 Winter Olympics.
Duringthe Games most athletes and officials are housed inthe
Olympic village. This village is intended to be aself-contained
home for all the Olympicparticipants. It is furnished with
cafeterias, healthclinics, and locations for religious
expression.The IOC allowed the formation of National
OlympicCommittees representing countries that did notmeet the
strict requirements for politicalsovereignty that other
international organizationsdemand. As a result, colonies and
dependencies arepermitted to compete at Olympic Games.
9. 43 different sports, spanning 56 different disciplines, have
been part of the Olympic program at one point or another. 28 sports
have comprised the schedule for the 2000, 2004, and 2008 Summer
Olympics, though baseball and softball have been removed to give a
list of 26 for the 2012 Games. Sport
YearsSportYearsArchery19001912, 1920, since Divingsince 1904 1972
Equestrian1900, since 1912AthleticsallFencing allBadmintonsince
1992 Football19001928, since 1936Baseball 19922008Golf1900, 1904,
2016, 2020Basketball since 1936Basque pelota1900
GymnasticsallBoxing 1904, 1908, since 1920 Handball1936, since
1972Canoeing and since 1936 Hockey (field)1908, 1920, since
1928kayakingJeu de paume1908Cricket1900 Judo1964, since
1972CyclingallLacrosse1904, 1908
10. Sport Years Sport YearsModern pentathlon since 1912Table
tennissince 1988Polo1900, 1908, 1920, Taekwondo since 20001924,
1936Rackets 1908Tennis18961924, since1988Roque 1904Rowingsince
1900Triathlon since 2000Rugby union 1900, 1908, 1920,1924Tug of
war19001920Rugby sevens2016Volleyballsince 1964Sailing 1900, since
1908Water motorsports 1908Shooting1896, 1900, 19081924, since
1932Water polo1900, since 1908Softball19962008 Weightlifting 1896,
1904, sinceSwimmingall 1920Synchronizedsince 1984swimmingWrestling
1896, since 1904
11. Since 1992 a number of new sports have been added to the
Olympic programme;which include short track speed skating,
snowboarding, freestyle and mogulsskiing. The addition of these
events has broadened the appeal of the WinterOlympics beyond Europe
and North America. While European powers such asNorway and Germany
still dominate the traditional Winter Olympic sports,countries such
as South Korea, Australia and Canada are finding success in thenew
sports. The results are more parity in the national medal tables,
more interestin the Winter Olympics and higher global television
ratings.SportYearsSportYearsAlpine skiing Since 1936Ice hockey
Since 1924BiathlonSince 1960Luge Since 196419241956 Nordic
combinedSince 1924Bobsleigh1964presentShort track
speedCross-countrySince 1992Since 1924skatingskiing 1924;
19481924SkeletonCurlingSince 20021998presentSki jumpingSince
1924Freestyle skiingSince 1992Snowboarding Since 1998 Figure
skatingSince 1924 Speed skatingSince 1924
12. The 2012 Summer Olympic Games,officially known as the Games
of the XXXOlympiad or "London 2012 OlympicGames", are scheduled to
take placein London, England, United Kingdom from27 July to 12
August 2012. London willbecome the first city to officially host
themodern Olympic Games three times, havingpreviously done so in
1908 and in 1948.London was selected as the host city on 6July 2005
during the 117th IOC Session inSingapore, defeating Moscow, New
YorkCity, Madrid and Paris after four rounds ofvoting. The
successful bid was headed byformer Olympic champion Sebastian
Coe.