The History of the Olympic Games.

The History of the Olympic Games

in brief

Written by Sayapin Alexander.

Rostov-on-Don

2016

The History of the Olympic Games in brief

The Olympic Games were originally an ancient Greek religious festival in honour of Zeus, held in Olympia near Mount Olympus, the mythical home of the gods. The initial date for the beginning of the Games was 776 В. С. They were held every four years, in the middle of the summer; the main condition of the festival was that there should be peace throughout Greece. The ceremonies included contests in oratory, poetry, music, and art, as well as in athletic skills like wrestling, throwing the javelin, and running.

The Olympic Games were an exclusively male festival, open to young men from all the Greek cities. Women were not allowed to compete in the Olympic Games, or even to attend and watch them. The victors were traditionally crowned with olive leaves rather than with gold medals. To be a victor in the classical Olympic Games was a great honour not only for the athlete but for his city.

 A Frenchman, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, was the enthusiast who brought about the inauguration of the modern Olympic Games in 1896 with the participation of 311 athletes from thirteen countries, competing in nine sports.

At first the modern Games were limited to men. Women first competed in the Games in 1910, playing golf.

Winter sports were brought into the Olympic programme through the organization of special Winter Games, first held in France at Chamonix in 1924, with competitions in ice hockey, speedskating, figure skating, and skiing. These are still the basic events of the winter programme, with the addition of bobsleigh and toboggan races, and ice hockey.

The most impressive moment in the opening ceremony of the Games is the taking of the Olympic oaths. First a representative athlete from the host country, holding a corner of the Olympic flag, takes the following oath on behalf of all the participants.

The Olympic flag has five interlocking rings on a white background. They represent the five inhabited continents of the world and symbolize universal brotherhood. The six colours, the white of the background and the blue, yellow, black, green, and red of the rings, represent the nations of the world, since every national flag contains at least one of these colours. Another idea sees in each colour a certain continent, for example, blue colour symbolizes Europe, yellow- Asia, red – America, black – Africa and green – Australia.

The motto of the Games is "Citius, altius, fortius" (Latin — faster, higher, braver). 

There are two types of Olympic Games: Summer Olympics and Winter Olympics.

The Olympic Games have been held in many countries, and Russia is no exception. In 1980 the 22nd Olympic Games took place in Moscow, and in 2014 they took place in Sochi.