Summer Games is regarded as the largest international multi-sport event. The summer games take place every four years. A number of events are held in the competition and those who get the first, second and the third positions are awarded gold, silver and bronze medals respectively. This international sports competition is also known as the Games of the Olympiad and boasts of a history of more than a hundred years.
The next summer games 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 Games Events
These events are organized by the International Olympic Committee (IOL). The summer games includes 35 sports and nearly 400 events. The Summer games includes 28 sports with 38 disciplines and the Winter games includes 7 sports with 15 disciplines.
The Summer games 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 summer games debut.
Summer Games Symbol
The Summer Games flag consists of the Summer Games rings -five intertwined rings representing five continents having colors – blue, yellow, black, green and red on a white field.
Summer Games Motto
Summer Games motto is “Ctius, Altius, Fortius“, which means “Faster, Higher, Stronger”
Summer Games Torch Relay
The Summer Games Flame is lit in Olympia which is used to light the torch. The torch is relayed to the host city’s Summer Games stadium.
Summer Games Mascot
The Summer Games mascot is an animal or human figure which represents the cultural heritage of the host country. The mascots are important message transmission vehicles for the world’s largest sports event, especially for children and young people. The mascot reflects the host country identity and culture.
Winter Games
The XXIII Winter Games 2018 will be held in PyeongChang, South Korea from Feb 9 – Feb 25.
The Winter Games are a celebration of winter sports around the world. The Winter Games are held every four years in a venue known for its competitive winter sports facilities. The first winter games 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 Games and Winter Games 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 Games and the Winter Games in different four-year cycles, thus these two sport events now occur two years apart.
Winter Games exclusively features seven snow-sporting events divided into 15 disciplines. The various sporting events at the Winter 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 Games 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 Games will be held at PyeongChang South Korea from February 9 to 25, 2018, while the following event, i.e. the XXIV Winter Games will be held in Beijing, China in 2022.