2. The Olympic Games is a major international
Event featuring summer and winter sports,
in which thousands of athletes participate
in a variety of competitions. The Olympic
Games have come to be regarded
as the world’s foremost sports competition
where more than 200 nations participate. The
Games are currently held every two years, with
Summer and Winter Olympic Games
alternating, although they occur every four
years within their respective seasonal games.
The Olympic Movement consists of international sports
federations (IFs), National Olympic Committees (NOCs), and organizing
committees for each specific Olympic Games. The host city is responsible for
organizing and funding a celebration of the Games consistent with the Olympic
Charter. Over 13,000 athletes compete at the Summer and Winter Olympics in 33
different sports and nearly 400 events.

4. The victors of these early games were
crowned with wreaths from a sacred olive
tree that grew behind the temple of Zeus.
The winners marched around the grove to
the accompaniment of a flute while admirers
chanted songs written by a prominent poet.
The Olympic Games were held without
interruptions in ancient Greece. The games
were even held in 480 BC during the Persian
Wars, and coincided with the Battle of
Thermopylae.
The games were held every four years from
776 BC to 393 AD, when they were abolished
by the Christian Byzantine Emperor
Theodosius I. The ancient Olympic Games
lasted for 1170 years.

5. The first significant attempt to emulate the ancient
Olympic Games was the L'Olympiade de la
République, a national Olympic festival held annually
from 1796 to 1798 in Revolutionary France. The
competition included several disciplines from the
ancient Greek Olympics.
In 1850 an Olympian Class was started by Dr William
Penny Brookes at Much Wenlock, in Shropshire,
England. In 1859, Dr Brookes changed the name
to Wenlock Olympian Games. This annual sports
festival continues to this day.
Between 1862 and 1867, Liverpool held an annual
Grand Olympic Festival. Devised by John Hulley and
Charles Melly, in cooperation with Dr Brookes, these
games were elitist in nature since only Gentlemen
could compete. Some of the Gentlemen brought their
coaches with them.

6. In 1865 Hulley, Dr. Brookes and E.G. Ravenstein
founded the National Olympian Association in
Liverpool, a forerunner of the British Olympic
Association. Its articles of foundation provided the
framework for the International Olympic Charter.
The Panathinaiko Stadium hosted Olympics in 1870
and 1875. Thirty thousand spectators attended that
Games in 1870 though no official attendance records
are available for the 1875 Games. In 1890, after
attending the Olympian Games of the Wenlock
Olympian Society, Baron Pierre de Coubertin was
inspired to found the International Olympic
Committee (IOC). He presented his ideas during
the first Olympic Congress of the newly created
International Olympic Committee. On the last day
of the Congress, it was decided that the first
Olympic Games, to come under the auspices of the
IOC, would take place in Athens in 1896.

7. The Winter Olympic Games is
a sporting event, which occurs
every four years. The first
celebration of the Winter
Olympics was held in Chamonix,
France , in 1924. The original
sports were alpine and cross-
country skiing, figure skating,
ice hockey, Nordic combined , ski
jumpingand speed skating. The
Games were held every four years
from 1924 until 1936 when they
were interrupted by World War II. The Olympics resumed in 1948 and were
celebrated every four years. The Winter and Summer Olympic Games were held
in the same years until 1992, when the governing body for the Olympic Games,
the International Olympic Committee (IOC), decided to place the Summer and
Winter Games on separate four-year cycles in alternating even-numbered years.

8. The Winter Games have evolved since their
inception. Sports have been added and some of
them, such as luge, short track speed
skating and freestyle skiing, have earned a
permanent spot on the Olympic programme.
Others, such as speed
skiing, bandy and skijoring, were demonstration
sports but never incorporated as Olympic
sports.
The IOC has had to address several criticisms,
internal scandals, the use of performance
enhancing drugs by Winter Olympians, as well
as a political boycott of the Winter Olympics.
Nations have used the Winter Games to
showcase the claimed superiority of their
political systems.

9. The Winter Olympics have been hosted on
three continents, but never in a country in the
southern hemisphere. The United States has
hosted the Games four times; France has been
the host three times; Austria, Canada, Italy,
Japan, Norway and Switzerland have hosted
the Games twice.
Sochi, Russia, was elected as the host city of
the 2014 Winter Olympics over Salzburg,
Austria, and Pyeongchang, South Korea. This
will be the first time that Russia will host a
Winter Olympics. The Olympic Village and
Olympic Stadium will be located on the Black
Seacoast. All of the mountain venues will be
50 kilometers (30 mi) away in the alpine region
known as Krasnaya Polyana. On July 6, 2011,
the IOC selected the city of Pyeongchang,
South Korea to host the 2018 Winter Olympics.

10. From 241 participants representing 14 nations in
1896, the Games have grown to about 10,500
competitors from 204 countries at the 2008 Summer
Olympics. The scope and scale of the Winter
Olympics is smaller. For example, Turin hosted
2,508 athletes from 80 countries competing in 84
events, during the 2006 Winter Olympics. During
the Games most athletes and officials are housed in
the Olympic village. This village is intended to be a
self-contained home for all the Olympic
participants. It is furnished with cafeterias, health
clinics, and locations for religious expression.
The IOC allowed the formation of National Olympic
Committees representing countries that did not
meet the strict requirements for political
sovereignty that other international organizations
demand. As a result, colonies and dependencies are
permitted to compete at Olympic Games.

11. 43 different sports, spanning 56 different disciplines, have been part of the Olympic
program at one point or another. 28 sports have comprised the schedule for
the 2000, 2004, and 2008 Summer Olympics, though baseball and softball have been
removed to give a list of 26 for the 2012 Games.
Sport Years Sport Years
Archery 1900–1912, 1920, since Diving since 1904
1972 Equestrian 1900, since 1912
Athletics all Fencing all
Badminton since 1992 Football 1900–1928, since 1936
Baseball 1992–2008
Golf 1900, 1904, 2016, 2020
Basketball since 1936
Basque pelota 1900 Gymnastics all
Boxing 1904, 1908, since 1920 Handball 1936, since 1972
Canoeing and since 1936 Hockey (field) 1908, 1920, since 1928
kayaking Jeu de paume 1908
Cricket 1900 Judo 1964, since 1972
Cycling all Lacrosse 1904, 1908

12. Sport Years Sport Years
Modern pentathlon since 1912 Table tennis since 1988
Polo 1900, 1908, 1920, Taekwondo since 2000
1924, 1936
Rackets 1908 Tennis 1896–1924, since
1988
Roque 1904
Rowing since 1900 Triathlon since 2000
Rugby union 1900, 1908, 1920,
1924 Tug of war 1900–1920
Rugby sevens 2016 Volleyball since 1964
Sailing 1900, since 1908
Water motorsports 1908
Shooting 1896, 1900, 1908–
1924, since 1932 Water polo 1900, since 1908
Softball 1996–2008 Weightlifting 1896, 1904, since
Swimming all 1920
Synchronized since 1984
swimming Wrestling 1896, since 1904

13. Since 1992 a number of new sports have been added to the Olympic programme;
which include short track speed skating, snowboarding, freestyle and moguls
skiing. The addition of these events has broadened the appeal of the Winter
Olympics beyond Europe and North America. While European powers such as
Norway and Germany still dominate the traditional Winter Olympic sports,
countries such as South Korea, Australia and Canada are finding success in the
new sports. The results are more parity in the national medal tables, more interest
in the Winter Olympics and higher global television ratings.
Sport Years Sport Years
Alpine skiing Since 1936 Ice hockey Since 1924
Biathlon Since 1960 Luge Since 1964
1924–1956 Nordic combined Since 1924
Bobsleigh
1964–present Short track speed
Cross-country Since 1992
Since 1924 skating
skiing 1924; 1948
1924 Skeleton
Curling Since 2002
1998–present Ski jumping Since 1924
Freestyle skiing Since 1992 Snowboarding Since 1998
Figure skating Since 1924 Speed skating Since 1924

14. The 2012 Summer Olympic Games,
officially known as the Games of the XXX
Olympiad or "London 2012 Olympic
Games", are scheduled to take place
in London, England, United Kingdom from
27 July to 12 August 2012. London will
become the first city to officially host the
modern Olympic Games three times, having
previously done so in 1908 and in 1948.
London was selected as the host city on 6
July 2005 during the 117th IOC Session in
Singapore, defeating Moscow, New York
City, Madrid and Paris after four rounds of
voting. The successful bid was headed by
former Olympic champion Sebastian Coe.