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This once-every-four-years gathering of the world’s athletes is known as the Olympic Games. The ultimate goal is to help cultivate equality among human beings and promote world peace. Separate competitions are held for the Summer and Winter Games. At least 3,000 years have passed since the first written records of the Olympic Games.
Thousands of athletes worldwide compete in a variety of competitions at the modern Olympic Games, the world’s most prestigious international athletic event.
Summer and Winter Olympic Games alternate every two years, making each event a four-year cycle.
Ancient Olympics
It was 776 BC when a chef named Coroebus won the only event at the ancient Olympic Games: a 192-metre foot race known as the stade (the modern stadium forerunner). He was the first Olympian. However, it is accepted that the Games had been in progress for some time even then. Herodotus says that Heracles, Zeus’ grandson from his first marriage to Alcmene’s daughter, started the Olympic Games, which, by the sixth century BC, had grown to be the most renowned of all Greek sporting events and festivals. Heracles, the Greek god of war, was responsible for the Games’ inception and location in Olympia.
Modern Olympics
More than 200 countries compete in the Olympic Games. As per history, Pierre de Coubertin’s personal mission is largely responsible for the modern Olympic Games. De Coubertin, a French aristocrat and educator, believed that fostering a well-rounded person required integrating structured sports into the education curriculum. He was so enthralled by sports that he embarked on a worldwide campaign to promote and organise them.
Late in his life, de Coubertin was enamoured with the concept of hosting a modern Olympic Games. On June 15, 1894, the International Athletic Congress was convened in Paris in order to plan what would later become the modern Olympics, taking place for the first time in 1896. In June, Congress officially established the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The International Olympic Committee elected Coubertin as its second president after Greece stepped down following the Athens Games. Till 1925, he played a key role in shaping the Games into the extravaganza they are today.
21st-century Games
Since its inception in 1896, the Summer Olympics have grown from 241 athletes from 14 countries to more than 11,200 athletes from 207 countries. For example, Pyeongchang hosted 2,922 athletes from 92 countries at the 2018 Winter Olympics. For the course of the Games, the Olympic Village becomes home to the majority of the participants and authorities. There are cafeterias, health clinics, and places for religious expression in this lodging centre, a self-contained home for all Olympic participants.
Olympics Symbols
The Olympic Charter’s ideas are represented by the symbols used by the Olympic movement. The five interlaced rings show that all five continents are connected. The rings over a white background constitute the flag of the Olympic games. These colours were chosen since every nation had at least one of them on its flag. Adopted in 1914, it was first flown at the Antwerp Olympics in 1920.
Months before each Olympic Games, the Olympic Flame is lit in a ceremony based on ancient Greek practices at the Temple of Hera in Olympia. The Olympic torch relay is started by lighting the torch of the first relay bearer (also a Greek athlete), who then carries it to the host city’s Olympic stadium, where it will play an important role in the opening ceremony. Ten female performers perform as Vestal Virgins to assist the priestess in lighting the torch. It was only at the 1936 Summer Olympic Games that the Olympic torch relay was first used as a means of promoting the Third Reich.
When the first Olympic mascot was adopted in 1968, it was an animal or human character that represented the culture of the country hosting the games. Since the 1980 Summer Olympics, when Soviet bear cub Misha became an international celebrity, it has played an important role in promoting the Games’ character. The Shropshire town of Much Wenlock inspired the mascot for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, which was called Wenlock. Pierre de Coubertin drew inspiration for the Olympics from the Wenlock Olympian Games, which are still held in Much Wenlock today.
Conclusion
In the modern era, the Olympic Games have expanded to include a wide range of sports in both the summer and winter seasons, attracting tens of thousands of athletes. The Olympic Games are widely regarded as the world’s most prestigious sporting event, with more than 200 countries competing. Summer and Winter Olympic Games alternate every two years, making each event a four-year cycle. Inspired by the ancient Olympic Games, which were held from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD, their creation was based on the Olympic Games. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was established in 1894 by Baron Pierre de Coubertin. Since then, the IOC has taken on the role of overseeing the entire Olympic Movement, as defined by the Olympic Charter.
