Summer olympic games

Olympic games list
Olympic games started in which year and country
Ancient olympic games

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History of Olympic Sport

The name “Olympics” comes from the place where the games were first started, the small town of Olympia.

However, a more insightful approach reveals that it is much bigger than a toponym. Olympia was named after the Mount Olympus, the tallest mountain of Greece that was considered the house of Gods. And, according to the myth, the Gods themselves participated in the first Olympic games. And this highlights the importance of the games and the unique background behind the games. Olympic games were held every four years and they became so prominent that created a legacy that remained alive until the revival of the Modern Olympics.

Aristotle places the date of the first Olympic games to be 776 BC. Before that, the Mediterranean region had a long tradition of athletic and performance events, with representation of athletic scenes in tombs from Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. However, these were part of celebrations and performances that were held to entertain the monarch and the nobles. The main difference with the Olympic games was the introduction of con

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Olympic Games

Major international multi-sport event

This article is about the modern games in general. For the most recent event, see 2024 Summer Olympics. For the ancient Greek games, see Ancient Olympic Games. For other uses, see Olympic (disambiguation).


Abbreviation	Olympiad (for summer games only)
Motto	Faster, Higher, Stronger – Together (Latin: Citius, Altius, Fortius – Communiter; French: Plus vite, Plus haut, Plus fort – Ensemble)
First event	Summer Athens, Greece in 1896 Winter Chamonix, France in 1924
Occur every	Four years, alternated two years during the four-year cycle
Headquarters	Lausanne, Switzerland
President	Thomas Bach

The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; French: Jeux olympiques)^[a]^[1] are the world's leading international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games are considered the world's foremost sports competition, with more than 200 teams, represent

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The Olympic tradition pre-dates the modern games by several millennia. The first games were documented almost 3,000 years ago in ancient Greece, and from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD the games were held at the sanctuary of Zeus in Olympia.

Ruins at the site of Olympia (the east colonnade of the Palaestra)

Ruins at the site of Olympia (the Philippieion)

The ancient Olympic Games were as much a religious festival as an athletic event. Oxen were sacrificed to Zeus during the games, and in the mid-5th century BC, a temple was erected in the sanctuary, housing a colossal statue of the god made of wood, ivory and gold.

Then as now, the ancient Olympic Games took place every four years—usually towards the end of the summer—and were enormously popular, drawing crowds of thousands.

Over time, the sporting calendar in Ancient Greece expanded to include numerous festivals. Four of the most prominent events were collectively known as the Panhellenic Games: two of them, the Olympic Games and Nemean Games, were held in honour of Zeus, while the Pythian Games honoured Apol