Olympics

The Olympic Games (often referred to simply as The Olympics or The Games) is an international multi-sport event comprising summer and winter sporting events. more...

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Each season's Games are held every four years (an Olympiad) and, as of 1992, they are celebrated two years apart.

The Olympic Games (Greek: Ολυμπιακοί αγώνες; Olympiakoi Agones) began in 776 BC, held in Olympia, Greece, and were celebrated until 393 AD. In 1896, the ancient Olympic Games were revived under the initiative of a French nobleman, Pierre Frédy, Baron de Coubertin, thus beginning the era of the Modern Olympic Games.

Since the first games in 1896, in Athens, Greece, participation in the Olympic Games has increased to include athletes from nearly all nations worldwide. With the bettering of satellite communications and global telecasts of the events, the Olympics are consistently gaining supporters. The most recent Summer Olympics were the 2004 Games in Athens and the most recent Winter Olympics were the 2006 Games in Turin. The upcoming games in Beijing comprise 302 events in 28 sports. As of 2006, the Winter Olympics were competed in 84 events in 7 sports.

History

There are many legends surrounding the origin of the ancient Olympic Games. One of these associates the first Games with the ancient Greek concept of ἐκεχειρία (ekecheiria) or Olympic Truce. The date of the Games' inception based on the count of years in Olympiads is reconstructed as 776 BC, although scholars' opinions diverge between dates as early as 884 BC and as late as 704 BC.

From then on, the Games quickly became much more important throughout ancient Greece, reaching their zenith in the sixth and fifth centuries BC. The Olympics were of fundamental religious importance, contests alternating with sacrifices and ceremonies honouring both Zeus (whose colossal statue stood at Olympia), and Pelops, divine hero and mythical king of Olympia famous for his legendary chariot race, in whose honour the games were held. The number of events increased to twenty, and the celebration was spread over several days. Winners of the events were greatly admired and were immortalised in poems and statues. The Games were held every four years, and the period between two celebrations became known as an 'Olympiad'. The Greeks used Olympiads as one of their methods to count years. The most famous Olympic athlete lived in these times: the sixth century BC wrestler Milo of Croton is the only athlete in history to win a victory in six Olympics.

Read more at Wikipedia.org