History of Olympics Games
The history of the Olympics dates back to 776 BC. The games were originally held in Olympia in Greece. At first, the only event in the Summer Games was a 200-yard dash, called a stadium. Then, in 724 BC a two-stadia race was added. The 24-stadia event began two years later, and the pentathlon and wrestling became part of the games in 708 BC. This pentathlon was a five-event match comprising running, wrestling, leaping, throwing the discus, and hurling the javelin. Later on, boxing, a chariot race, and other events were included in the schedule of Summer Games.
In 1896, the Summer Games were revived by Pierre Fredy, Baron de Coubertin. He campaigned for the revival of the summer games as an international event to bring the nations close together to compete in sports. The second Summer Olympics in 1900 was the first one in which the participation of women players was granted officially. Eleven women were allowed to compete in lawn tennis and golf.
Two Olympics are held – Summer Olympics and Winter Olympics. Both the Olympics events are held after an interval of four years individually, and are held alternatively after a mutual gap of two years. For instance, the Winter Olympics was held in Turin, Italy in 2006 which was followed by the Summer Olympics event held in Beijing, China in 2008. The next Winter Olympics was held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 2010 followed by the Summer Olympics event hosted by London in 2012.
Summer Olympics
The next summer Olympics is going to be hosted in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from August 5 to 21, 2016. It is the first South American country to host the games.
Summer Olympics Events:
The Summer Olympic sports are archery, badminton, baseball, basketball, beach volleyball, boxing, cycling, diving, equestrian, fencing, field hockey, gymnastics, judo, mountain biking, rowing, sailing, shooting, soccer, softball, swimming, synchronized swimming, table tennis, tennis, track and field, volleyball, water polo, weightlifting and wrestling.
Two sports, taekwondo and triathlon (swimming, biking, running), were introduced for the first time at the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, Australia. In 1996, Mountain biking made its Olympic debut.
Olympics symbol:
The Olympic Motto:
Olympic Torch Relay:
Olympic Mascot:
Winter Olympics
The Winter Olympics are a celebration of winter sports around the world. The Winter Olympics are held every four years in a venue known for its competitive winter sports facilities. The first winter Olympics were held in 1924 in Chamonix, France. They were held every four years thereafter with a break between 1936 and 1948 for the Second World War. From then on both the Summer Olympics and Winter Olympics were held in the same year till 1992. However, in accordance with a 1986 decision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), it was decided to hold the Summer Olympics and the Winter Olympics in different four-year cycles, thus these two sport events now occur two years apart.
Winter Olympics exclusively features seven snow-sporting events divided into 15 disciplines. The various sporting events at the Winter Olympic Games are: Alpine skiing, Biathlon, Bobsled, Cross-country skiing, Curling, Figure skating, Freestyle skiing, Ice hockey, Luge, Nordic combined, short track speed skating, Skeleton, Ski jumping, Snowboarding, and Speed skating.
The Winter Olympics because of the nature of the sports involved and their requirements have always been held in countries in the northern hemisphere so far. They have yet to be held in the southern hemisphere. The US has been the host country four times, while France has hosted the games thrice. Austria, Canada, Japan, Italy, Norway and Switzerland have each hosted the Games on two occasions.
The next event, i.e. The XXIII Winter Olympic Games will be held at PyeongChang South Korea from February 9 to 25, 2018, while the following event, i.e. the XXIV Winter Olympic Games will be held in Beijing, China in 2022.