The Olympic Games

The Olympic Games

– every four years athletes from around the world come together to compete in the Olympic Games, called the Olympus, in short
– the first Olympics were held in 776 BC and then every four years – the venue was the Greek town Olympia; the event was to let the best sportsmen – the ideal was the type of person who was perfect in all aspects; however, women were banned from the Games
– athletes competed in races, boxing and wrestling matches, gymnastics and weightlifting; they also threw spears and discuses, and jumped for distance
– winners were crowned with wreaths of olive or palm leaves
– in 1896 the first modern Olympics were held in Athens in Greece – the games were a huge success, and it was up to that time the biggest sporting events ever held; only nine countries participated and all the athletes were male.
– the first Winter Olympics were held in France in 1924; the events included speed-skating, figure-skating, ice hockey, curling, bobsledding, cross-country skiing, ski jump and Northern combinations
– the first women were allowed to compete in the 1928 games in Amsterdam
– nowadays, the games are usually watched on television by nearly four billion people
– there are 28 sports represented in the 2008 Olympics – participants will compete in:

• swimming
• diving
• cycling
• boxing
• canoeing
• baseball
• basketball
• football
• gymnastics
• judo
• tennis
• shooting
• weightlifting…

– The Olympics symbols are Olympic flag and the Olympic fire. Olympics flag is white with five circles (yellow, red, green, blue and black) – the circles representing five continents of the competing nations
– today the Olympic games are held biannually (Summer and Winter Olympic Games and in different cities around the world