History Of Olympics

History of the Olympics

• The Olympic Games are said to have originated in the ancient Greek civilization.
• The first recorded and documented Olympic Games were held in 776 BC.
• A runner named Coroebus was the first person to receive an Olympic championship.
• Even in ancient times, Olympic Games were held once in four years.
• They were abolished for 1200 years by Roman Catholic rulers.
• The Olympic Games were revived in 1896 due to the persistent efforts of a Frenchman.

Modern Olympic Games:

• The very first modern Olympic Games were held in April 1896.
• The events took place at a renovated Panathenaic Stadium.
• 300 athletes from 13 countries participated in the 1896 Olympics.

Some of the sports included at the first Olympic Games were:

• Pole vaulting, sprints
• Shot put
• Weight lifting
• Swimming
• Cycling
• Target shooting
• Tennis
• Marathon
• Gymnastics

Host Countries for Olympics:

Since the first Olympic Games in Athens, the following countries have hosted the games:

• 1896 Olympic Games - Athens
• 1900 Olympic Games - Paris
• 1904 Olympic Games - St. Louis
• 1908 Olympic Games - London
• 1912 Olympic Games - Stockholm
• 1916 Olympic Games - Not held
• 1920 Olympic Games - Antwerp
• 1924 Olympic Games - Paris
• 1928 Olympic Games - Amsterdam
• 1932 Olympic Games - Los Angeles
• 1936 Olympic Games - Berlin
• 1940 Olympic Games - Not held
• 1944 Olympic Games - Not held
• 1948 Olympic Games - London
• 1952 Olympic Games - Helsinki
• 1956 Olympic Games - Melbourne
• 1960 Olympic Games - Rome
• 1964 Olympic Games - Tokyo
• 1968 Olympic Games - Mexico City
• 1972 Olympic Games - Munich
• 1976 Olympic Games - Montreal
• 1980 Olympic Games - Moscow
• 1984 Olympic Games - Los Angeles
• 1988 Olympic Games - Seoul
• 1992 Olympic Games - Barcelona
• 1996 Olympic Games - Atlanta
• 2000 Olympic Games – Sydney

History of Athletic Events Added to the Olympic Games

The events of the Olympic Games were added to the program in the following chronological order:

Modern Olympic Games Purpose:

The Olympic Games are intended to promote the concept of “sound mind in a sound body”.

• The Olympic Games event also helps in building trust and friendship between nations.

Olympic Summer Sports:

Olympic summer sports include:

• Archery
• Basketball
• Boxing
• Canoeing
• Cycling
• Equestrian Events (Horseback Riding)
• Fencing
• Field Hockey
• Gymnastics
• Handball
• Judo
• Rowing
• Shooting
• Soccer
• Swimming
• Tennis
• Track And Field Events
• Volleyball
• Water Polo
• Weight Lifting
• Wrestling
• Yachting

Olympic Winter Sports:

Olympic winter sports include:

• Skating
• Skiing
• Bobsledding
• Lunge
• Tobogganing
• Ice Hockey
• Biathlon (Skiing-Shooting)

The Decathlon

• The Decathlon involves ten different sporting events.
• These may be running, jumping or sporting events.
• Whoever has the grandest total is awarded the championship.

The Pentathlon:

• The Pentathlon consists of five events.
• It was discontinued form 1924-1948.
• It includes the five military skills- fencing, riding, shooting and swimming.

Women’s Olympic Events:

Summer and winter events are held separately for women.

Women’s events include:

• Marathon
• Cycling
• Heptathlon- hurdles, throws and races
• Biathlon- walk, baseball and Judo.

Important Landmarks in Olympic History:

• 1896: United States track and field team won nine out of twelve events.
• 1912: A Native American, Jim Thorpe, won the Decathlon and the Pentathlon in the same year.
• 1936: Jesse Owens won four gold medals including a team medal.
• Fanny Blinkers- Koen of The Netherlands was the first woman to win three individual gold medals.
• The first athletes to win the decathlon twice were Bob Mathias of the United States, in 1948 and 1952, and Daley Thompson of Great Britain, in 1980 and 1984.
• 1976: Nadia Comaneci of Romania scored a perfect 10.00 in gymnastics and got seven perfect scores and three gold medals.
• 1964: Linda Skoblikova from Russia became the first speed skater to win four individual gold medals.
• 1972: American swimmer Mark Spitz won seven gold medals in a single year.
• The all-time individual medal winner was the American track athlete Ray C. Ewry, who won eight events in the 1900, 1904, and 1908 Games.
• 1972: 11 Olympic team members were killed in terrorist attacks in Munich, West Germany.
• Due to boycott by 30 African nations, 1976 Olympics in Montreal were called off.
• 1988: Drug related controversies came to light as many athletes were charged with steroid abused. Some were even suspended from the games.
• 1992: There were no Soviet teams as the Soviet Union had split up.

International Olympic Committee:

International Olympic Committee (IOC) is in charge of the development and organization of the games.

• The International Olympic Committee was founded in Paris in 1894.
• Its headquarters for International Olympic Committee are in Lausanne, Switzerland.
• The International Olympic Committee (IOC) comprises of about 70 members today.
• The members of International Olympic Committee are responsible for promoting new talent form their respective countries.
• There are only one member from each country in International Olympic Committee.
• Every participating nation must have its own National Olympic Committee
• There are 167 National Committees at present.