Olympics

The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (French: Jeux olympiques) are leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games are considered the world's foremost sports competition with more than 200 nations participating. The Olympic Games are normally held every four years, alternating between the Summer and Winter Olympics every two years in the four-year period.

Their creation was inspired by the ancient Olympic Games (Ancient Greek: Ὀλυμπιακοί Ἀγῶνες), held in Olympia, Greece from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD. Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894, leading to the first modern Games in Athens in 1896. The IOC is the governing body of the Olympic Movement,^{[definition needed]} with the Olympic Charter defining its structure and authority.

The evolution of the Olympic Movement during the 20th and 21st centuries has resulted in several changes to the Olympic Games. Some of these adjustments include the creation of the Winter Olympic Games for snow and ice sports, the Paralympic Games for athletes with disabilities, the Youth Olympic Games for athletes aged 14 to 18, the five Continental games (Pan American, African, Asian, European, and Pacific), and the World Games for sports that are not contested in the Olympic Games. The IOC also endorses the Deaflympics and the Special Olympics. The IOC has needed to adapt to a variety of economic, political, and technological advancements. The abuse of amateur rules by the Eastern Bloc nations prompted the IOC to shift away from pure amateurism, as envisioned by Coubertin, to the acceptance of professional athletes participating at the Games. The growing importance of mass media has created the issue of corporate sponsorship and general commercialisation of the Games. World wars led to the cancellation of the 1916, 1940, and 1944 Olympics; large-scale boycotts during the Cold War limited participation in the 1980 and 1984 Olympics;^[4] and the 2020 Olympics were postponed until 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Olympic Movement consists of international sports federations (IFs), National Olympic Committees (NOCs), and organising committees for each specific Olympic Games. As the decision-making body, the IOC is responsible for choosing the host city for each Games, and organises and funds the Games according to the Olympic Charter. The IOC also determines the Olympic programme, consisting of the sports to be contested at the Games. There are several Olympic rituals and symbols, such as the Olympic flag and torch, as well as the opening and closing ceremonies. Over 14,000 athletes competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics and 2018 Winter Olympics combined, in 35 different sports and over 400 events.^[5]^[6] The first, second, and third-place finishers in each event receive Olympic medals: gold, silver, and bronze, respectively.

The Games have grown so much that nearly every nation is now represented. This growth has created numerous challenges and controversies, including boycotts, doping, bribery, and a terrorist attack in 1972. Every two years the Olympics and its media exposure provide athletes with the chance to attain national and sometimes international fame. The Games also provide an opportunity for the host city and country to showcase themselves to the world.

Some intresting question of olympics ?????????

Why are the Olympics every 4 years?

The Olympic Games are held every fours to respect the ancient origins of the Olympic Games, which were held every four years at Olympia. The four-year interval between the Ancient Games editions was named an “Olympiad”, and was used for dating purposes. Time was counted in Olympiads rather than years at the time

How many game does Olympic have?

Olympic sports. Currently, the Olympic program consists of 35 different sports, 53 disciplines and more than 400 events. The Summer Olympics includes 28 sports with 38 disciplines and the Winter Olympics includes 7 sports with 15 disciplines.

What do you know about Olympics?

The Olympic Games are an international sports festival, held every four years. The ultimate goals are to cultivate human beings, through sport, and contribute to world peace. Summer Games and Winter Games are held separately.

Who is the greatest Olympian of all time?

Michael Phelps

Michael Phelps is the greatest Olympian of all time, winning 28 medals, including 23 gold.

Who is the youngest person to go to the Olympics?

Pushing boundaries. The youngest known Olympian to take home a medal was 10-year-old Dimitrios Loundras, who finished third in the team parallel bars at the 1896 Olympic Games

Which color represents Asia in Olympics ring?

green

Each ring in the 16 prints symbolizes one of the five continents competing at the Olympics: Africa (yellow), the Americas (red), Asia (green), Europe (black), and Oceania (blue).

What sports are no longer in the Olympics?

The only sports that have been dropped from the Olympics since 1936 are baseball and softball, which were both voted out by the IOC Session in Singapore on July 11, 2005, a decision that was reaffirmed on February 9, 2006, and reversed on August 3, 2016.

What are the 5 new Olympic sports?

On June 1, 2016, the International Olympic Committee made the decision to add new sports to the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. It approved the addition of five sports — baseball/softball, karate, skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing — that would add 18 new events and 474 athletes to the Summer Games

What country has held the most Olympics?

The United States has hosted or been awarded a total of eight Olympic Games, more than any other country, followed by France with five and Japan with four editions.

Do you get paid to be in the Olympics?

“They don't get paid to go to the Olympics. They'll have their travel covered, lodging covered, and food covered.” According to our expert, some U.S. teams that have sponsors may have a salary. However, that means most U.S. Olympians themselves don't get paid by the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Is there a maximum age limit for the Olympics?

What is the age limit for taking part in the Olympic Games? There is no specific age limit for taking part in the Olympic Games.

What is the motto of the Olympics?

Faster, Higher, Stronger - Together

The International Olympic Committee decided upon the change with the new motto being, "Faster, Higher, Stronger - Together." The specific motto for the Tokyo games remains unchanged, "United by Emotion." It's the first time the motto has changed since the inception of the modern Olympics back in 1894.

What is the main purpose of the Olympic game?

The purpose of the Olympic Games is to bring together the world's finest male and female athletes in some predesignated group of summer and winter sports. Winners in each of these contests are now generally regarded as the champions in their sport for the four-year period following their triumph.

What city has hosted the Olympics 3 times?

London has had the honour of hosting the Olympic Games three times, most recently in 2012. Just this week, it was announced that Brisbane will hWhat American female has won the most Olympic gold medals?

The gymnast is the most decorated of all time in the US with a combined total of 30 Olympic and World Championship medals

most the Olympic Games for the first time. The Australian city has been confirmed as the host city for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Who is the greatest female athlete of all time?

Jackie Joyner-Kersee is the greatest

rank	athlete	sport
1	Jackie Joyner-Kersee	Track & Field
2	Babe Didrikson Zaharias	Track & Field
3	Billie Jean King	Tennis
4	Sonja Henie	Figure Skating

Top ten facts about the ancient Olympic Games

Olympics

1 - The ancient Olympic stadium

The Olympics were named after Mount Olympus, but they were actually held in the rural sanctuary of Olympia, in Greece’s western Peloponnese region.
It was a hugely sacred area, featuring picturesque olive tree plantations and a giant statue of the god Zeus.
By the second century BC, the main stadium held approximately 45,000 people, who stayed in tents around the building.

2 - Religious origins of the Olympic Games

There is some historical dispute over the reason behind the ancient Olympics.
One theory is that it was a festival in honour of Zeus. This would help explain why it was named after Mount Olympus - where the Greek gods were said to have lived.
However, some historians believe that the ancient Olympics were actually funeral games held in honour of deceased local heroes.
This is entirely plausible, given that sporting events were often associated with funeral rituals.
During the festival, a vast number of oxen were sacrificed in honour of Zeus. After a small part of each animal was burned for the god, the rest of the meat was consumed by the people at a grand banquet.

A recreation of the monumental statue of Zeus at Olympia.

3 - An Olympic Truce between Greek city states

Prior to the Games, messengers called ‘spondophoroi’ were sent out across the Greek world to announce the Olympic Truce or ‘Ekecheiria’.
Each participating city-state had to sign up to the truce, which meant that no war was permitted and no arms could be carried into Olympia.
This in turn facilitated the safe passage of athletes and spectators travelling to the festival.
Initially, the truce was for one month but it was later extended to three.
A large crowd, combined with a peaceful atmosphere, meant that the Olympics became a perfect opportunity for merchants, artists, and musicians to display their wares and talents.

4 - Who could take part?

All free male Greek citizens were entitled to participate in the ancient Olympic Games, regardless of their social status. Several emperors even took part.
Women were not permitted to compete.
There was, however, a loophole to this rule. In chariot racing, the horse owners were declared Olympic champion, and not the riders.
Anyone was allowed to own a horse and Kyniska, daughter of King Archidamos of Sparta, subsequently became the first female Olympic victor in Antiquity. Her four horses won in the 396BC and 392BC Olympiads.
A separate festival called the Heraean Games, dedicated to the goddess and wife of Zeus, Hera, was created for women.
These Games were also held in Olympia, and featured young girls competing in a footrace on a track one sixth shorter than the men’s equivalent.

A discus thrower, a jumper and two javelin throwers take part in the Ancient Olympic Games.

5 - Events at the ancient Olympics

For the first 12 ancient Olympics, the only event was a short footrace of about 190m - or one length of the stadium - called a ‘stade’.
Eventually, the Games expanded from one day to five, as a total of 18 events were added to the programme.
The earliest additions were running events of different lengths, as well as wrestling, pentathlon, boxing and for the wealthiest competitors, chariot racing.
Like it’s modern equivalent, the ancient pentathlon included five different events. These were the discus, long jump (using weights from a standing jump), javelin, running, and wrestling.
Among the various horse races was the ‘kalpe’ where the rider would jump off their mare and run alongside them for the last lap.
Each event was intended to train men for war, which was perhaps best personified by the ‘hoplitodromos’ race, where athletes had to complete between two and four lengths of the stadium wearing a full set of hoplite armour.
The most brutal sport was ‘pankration’. This event was a combination of wrestling and boxing, where neck holds and strangling were permitted, and only biting and eye-gouging were forbidden. Athletes could resign through waving a finger in the contact sports, but death was still commonplace.
The Michael Phelps of the ancient Olympics was undoubtedly Leonidas of Rhodes. The runner won a total of 12 titles across four-consecutive Olympiads (164-152 B.C.) and was hailed as a hero among men.
Interestingly, the marathon event - despite being named after an ancient Greek city - was not part of the ancient programme. It was introduced at the first modern Olympic Games, at Athens in 1896.

Ancient Olympics

Stadium in Olympia, Greece

The Ancient Olympic Games were religious and athletic festivals held every four years at the sanctuary of Zeus in Olympia, Greece. Competition was among representatives of several city-states and kingdoms of Ancient Greece. These Games featured mainly athletic but also combat sports such as wrestling and the pankration, horse and chariot racing events. It has been widely written that during the Games, all conflicts among the participating city-states were postponed until the Games were finished. This cessation of hostilities was known as the Olympic peace or truce. This idea is a modern myth because the Greeks never suspended their wars. The truce did allow those religious pilgrims who were travelling to Olympia to pass through warring territories unmolested because they were protected by Zeus. The origin of the Olympics is shrouded in mystery and legend; one of the most popular myths identifies Heracles and his father Zeus as the progenitors of the Games. According to legend, it was Heracles who first called the Games "Olympic" and established the custom of holding them every four years. The myth continues that after Heracles completed his twelve labours, he built the Olympic Stadium as an honour to Zeus. Following its completion, he walked in a straight line for 200 steps and called this distance a "stadion" (Greek: στάδιον, Latin: stadium, "stage"), which later became a unit of distance. The most widely accepted inception date for the Ancient Olympics is 776 BC; this is based on inscriptions, found at Olympia, listing the winners of a footrace held every four years starting in 776 BC. The Ancient Games featured running events, a pentathlon (consisting of a jumping event, discus and javelin throws, a foot race, and wrestling), boxing, wrestling, pankration, and equestrian events. Tradition has it that Coroebus, a cook from the city of Elis, was the first Olympic champion.

The Olympics were of fundamental religious importance, featuring sporting events alongside ritual sacrifices honouring both Zeus (whose famous statue by Phidias stood in his temple at Olympia) and Pelops, divine hero and mythical king of Olympia. Pelops was famous for his chariot race with King Oenomaus of Pisatis.The winners of the events were admired and immortalised in poems and statues. The Games were held every four years, and this period, known as an Olympiad, was used by Greeks as one of their units of time measurement. The Games were part of a cycle known as the Panhellenic Games, which included the Pythian Games, the Nemean Games, and the Isthmian Games.

The Olympic Games reached the height of their success in the 6th and 5th centuries BC, but then gradually declined in importance as the Romans gained power and influence in Greece. While there is no scholarly consensus as to when the Games officially ended, the most commonly held date is 393 AD, when the emperor Theodosius I decreed that all pagan cults and practices be eliminated.Another date commonly cited is 426 AD, when his successor, Theodosius II, ordered the destruction of all Greek temples.

1896 Games

Opening ceremony in the Panathinaiko Stadium, 6 April 1896

The first Games held under the auspices of the IOC was hosted in the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens in 1896. The Games brought together 14 nations and 241 athletes who competed in 43 events. Zappas and his cousin Konstantinos Zappas had left the Greek government a trust to fund future Olympic Games. This trust was used to help finance the 1896 Games. George Averoff contributed generously for the refurbishment of the stadium in preparation for the Games. The Greek government also provided funding, which was expected to be recouped through the sale of tickets and from the sale of the first Olympic commemorative stamp set.

Greek officials and the public were enthusiastic about the experience of hosting an Olympic Games. This feeling was shared by many of the athletes, who even demanded that Athens be the permanent Olympic host city. The IOC intended for subsequent Games to be rotated to various host cities around the world. The second Olympics was held in Paris.

Changes and adaptations

Francis Field of Washington University in St. Louis during the 1904 Summer Olympics

After the success of the 1896 Games, the Olympics entered a period of stagnation which threatened its survival. The Olympic Games held at the Paris Exposition in 1900 and the Louisiana Purchase Exposition at St. Louis in 1904 failed to attract much participation or notice. Of the 650 athletes in the 1904 Olympics, 580 were American; the winner of the marathon was later disqualified upon discovery of a photograph of him riding in a car during the race.The Games rebounded with the 1906 Intercalated Games (so-called because they were the second Olympics to take place within the third Olympiad), which were held in Athens. These Games attracted a broad international field of participants and generated a great deal of public interest, marking the beginning of a rise in both the popularity and the size of the Olympics. The 1906 Games were officially recognised by the IOC at the time (although not any longer), and no Intercalated Games have been held since.

Winter Games

Ice hockey game during the 1928 Winter Olympics at St. Moritz

The Winter Olympics was created to feature snow and ice sports that were logistically impossible to hold during the Summer Games. Figure skating (in 1908 and 1920) and ice hockey (in 1920) were featured as Olympic events at the Summer Olympics. The IOC desired to expand this list of sports to encompass other winter activities. At the 1921 Olympic Congress in Lausanne, it was decided to hold a winter version of the Olympic Games. A winter sports week (it was actually 11 days) was held in 1924 in . Although it was intended that the same country host both the Winter and Summer Games in a given year, this idea was quickly abandoned. The IOC mandated that the Winter Games be celebrated every four years in the same year as their summer counterpart. This tradition was upheld through the 1992 Games in Albertville, France; after that, beginning with the 1994 Games, the Winter Olympics were held every four years, two years after each Summer Olympics.

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