The History of the
Olympic Games
1 Early History
The Olympic Games started
in 776 B.C; they were named Olympic after the city of Olympia in Greece where
the games started the first time. The five rings, symbol of the Olympic Games,
represent the five continents (The Americas, Australia, Asia, Africa, and
Europe). People say the Games were there even before 776 B.C by 500 to 600
years. Olden historians started to measure the timing for the games to start
every four years between August to September. The Olympics had only one game
called "Stade" which is a sprint race for about 210 yards.
2 Development
After 52 years another
two games were added in to the Olympics, 400 meters and 1500 meters run. From
that time till 648 B.C. a lot of games were included like foot race, long jump,
boxing, chariot racing, pankration, and others. Women were not allowed to play
any games at that time, and married women were not allowed to attend the games.
The Olympic Games
declined after an Emperor entered the Olympic chariot race and pronounced
himself the winner even after he fell from his chariot. In 393 an Emperor ended
the Olympic Games after nearly 120 years.Baron Pierre de Coubertin (1863-1937)
of France, was inspired to create a modern Olympic Games after visiting the
ancient Olympic site. In November 1892 he proposed to revive the Olympics as an
international contest held every four years. After two years he got the
approval, and he made the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to be the
government of the Olympic Games and they are located in Switzerland.
In 1908 at the Olympic
Games in London there were more than 2,000 athletes from 22 nations competing.
The next Olympic Games had more than 2,500 competitors from 28 countries and
started the first women's swimming events. In 1916 no games were held due to
World War 1. After the war finished they started to play in 1920 in Antwerp, Belgium, and for the first
time football was spread throughout the country. In 1924, there were huge
numbers of people who participated from 44 different nations in Paris. In 1928
the Games in Amsterdam had more than 290 women out of 3,000 athletes at the
Olympics Games, and for the first time there was a closing ceremony for the
Olympics. More games were included that year like skating, ice hockey,
bobsledding and the biathlon.The Olympic games became an important and huge jump
in sports at that time. The Olympic Games were postponed again for 12 years
because of the second World War, and resumed in
.1948
3 Modern Development
The 2004 Summer
Olympic Games was known as Games of the XXVIII Olympiad held in
Greece, and for the first time since the 1996 Olympics all countries with
National Olympic Committee attended the
Games. Also for the first time since 1896 the Olympics were held in Greece. In
2008, the Games had grown to about 10,500 competitors from 204 nations. In
2010, the Olympics started games for 14 to 18 years old and gave them a chance
to be in the Olympics; they called it the Youth Games. The first Youth Olympic
Games were held in Singapore in August 2010. The IOC allowed only 3,500
athletes at the Summer Youth Games, and 970 athletes at the Winter Youth Games.
Bibliography
"olympic games summer and winter locations
and history of the games."World Atlas of the World including Geography
Facts, Maps, Flags - worldatlas.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2013. <http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopa
"The Olympic Games — History.com Articles,
Video, Pictures and Facts."History.com — History Made Every Day —
American & World History. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2013. <http://www.history.com/topics/olympic-games>.
2010. "Olympic Games - Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia." Wikipedia,
the free encyclopedia.N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_Gam
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