Olympic Games London 2012

Inspired by the ancient Greek games organized in the city of Olympia between 776 BC and 393 DC, summon Olympics athletes from around the world to meet every four years in a different city. In 2012 the shift is that of London, the capital of England and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and one of the world's major cities. From Friday July 27 to Sunday August 12 the world will be watching to see who the big medal this year.

Olympic Games Sports

Ancient Olympics

Stadium in Olympia, Greece.

The Ancient Olympic Games were a religious and athletic festival held every four years at the sanctuary of Zeus in Olympia, Greece among representatives of several city-states and kingdoms of Ancient Greece. These games featured mainly athletic but also combat and chariot racing events. During the games, all conflicts among the participating city-states were postponed until the games were finished.The origin of these Olympics is shrouded in mystery and legend; one of the most popular myths identifies Heracles and his father Zeusas the progenitors of the Games. According to legend, it was Heracles who first called the Games "Olympic" and established the custom of holding them every four years. A legend persists that after Heracles completed his twelve labors, he built the Olympic Stadium as an honor to Zeus. Following its completion, he walked in a straight line for 200 steps and called this distance a "stadion" (Greek: στάδιον, Latin: stadium, "stage"), which later became a unit of distance. Another myth associates the first Games with the ancient Greek concept of Olympic truce (ἐκεχειρία, ekecheiria). The most widely accepted inception date for the Ancient Olympics is 776 BC; this is based on inscriptions, found at Olympia, listing the winners of a footrace held every four years starting in 776 BC. The Ancient Games featured running events, a pentathlon (consisting of a jumping event, discus and javelin throws, a foot race, and wrestling), boxing, wrestling, pankration, and equestrian events. Tradition has it that Coroebus, a cook from the city of Elis, was the first Olympic champion.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_Games

The first Olympics

The first Olympic Games were held in Olympia in Greece in 776 BC. In these early games the events were very traditional and included running, javelin throwing, wrestling and boxing. The games were held every four years and were for men only. Women could not compete in them or even watch them. The athletes didn’t wear any clothes and there were no medals or trophies for the winners. The prizes were crowns made of olive leaves.

The Olympic flame

The Olympic flame is an important symbol of the Games. A few months before the games start, the flame is carried from Greece to the country holding the Olympics. Often it is carried by runners with torches. On the first day of the Olympic Games the flame is used to light a much bigger fire usually at the centre of the Olympic stadium and it will burn for as long as the games last.

The flag

The flag of the Olympic Games is white with five rings: blue, yellow, black, green and red. The rings represent the union of the five continents: Africa, America, Asia, Oceania and Europe.

The modern Olympics

Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894. The IOC has since become the governing body of the Olympics and the first modern event took place in Athens in 1896. The Games are still held every four years and nowadays there are about 26 Olympic sports which are broken down into different events or disciplines. These include badminton, baseball, basketball, gymnastics, boxing, judo, tennis, football and even beach volleyball. Today, billions of people watch the Olympic Games around the world.

Source: http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-for-the-games/history/read/history-olympic-games

Olympics History

The Modern Olympic Games began from the year 1896 and were held in Athens, Greece, the place of birth of Olympics. It was the efforts of French educator Baron Pierre de Coubertin and others that led to the revival of the Olympic event. The Olympic Games have since been held successfully twenty five times, with the last Olympic Games also happening in Athens in 2004. The Games were successfully held after a gap of four years but it was only on three occasions that the Olympic Games could not be held. These were the warring periods in the history of modern world. In the year 1916, 1940 and 1944 the Olympic Games could not take place due to the destruction and devastation caused by the 1st and 2nd World Wars. The XXIX Olympiad is now all set to take place in Beijing from 8th August 2008 to 24th August 2008. Given below is the chronology of the modern Olympic Games.

Athens, 1896 - The first Modern Olympic Games were held in the place of birth of the Olympics.
Paris, 1900 - Women took part for the first time in the history of modern Olympics.
St Louis, 1904 - These were the first modern Olympic Games, where gold, silver and bronze medals were awarded for first, second and third prize respectively.
London, 1908 - Athletes from 22 nations represented their respective countries at the Olympic Games.
Stockholm, 1912 - At these games, for the first time competitors came from all five continents symbolized in the Olympic rings.
Antwerp, 1920 - The Olympic Games at Antwerp, Belgium had several firsts. For the first time the Olympic oath was uttered, the Olympic flag hoisted and doves released to symbolize peace.
Paris, 1924 - The VIII Olympiad were the last ones to be organized under the presidency of Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of modern Olympics.
Amsterdam, 1928 - These games were the first to bear the name Summer Olympic Games and the Olympic torch was also lit for the first time.
Los Angeles, 1932 - Colombia and the Republic of China made their first appearances at the Olympic Games.
Berlin, 1936 - Jesse Owens, an African-American athlete in the times of racial discrimination, became the star of the Games and won four gold medals in the sprint and long jump events.
London, 1948 - The XIV Olympiad was officially opened by King George VI.
Helsinki, 1952 - At the 1952 Olympic Games, for the first time a team from USSR participated.
Melbourne / Stockholm, 1956 - The Olympic Games were celebrated in Melbourne, Australia. However the equestrian events were held five months earlier in Stockholm, Sweden due to quarantine regulations in Australia.
Rome, 1960 - At the Rome Olympics, Soviets won 15 of the 16 possible medals in women's gymnastics.
Tokyo, 1964 - Sixteen nations made their first appearance in the Tokyo Olympics.
Mexico, 1968 - These are the only Olympic Games held in Latin America. Also at these games, East and West Germany send their separate teams for the first time.
Munich, 1972 - The Games were marred by the Munich massacre. On September 5, 1972 Palestinian terrorists belonging to the Black September Organization abducted eleven Israeli athletes from the Games Village and subsequently killed them.
Montreal, 1976 - The Games were officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II and several of the members of the royal family of Britain were present on the occasion. Also owing to the Munich massacre, the security arrangements were very tight.
Moscow, 1980 - The USA boycotted the Games as a protest to USSR's invasion of Afghanistan.
Los Angeles ,1984 - Owing to the American boycott of the 1980 Olympic Games, Soviet and other Eastern bloc countries including Cuba, East Germany and others also boycotted the Los Angeles Games.
Seoul, 1988 - Guam, Maldives, Cook Islands, Aruba, American Samoa, Vanuatu, Saint Vincent, Grenadines and South Yemen participated in the Olympic Games for the first time at the Seoul Olympics.
Barcelona ,1992 - With the exception of Afghanistan, it was for the first time since 1972 Munich Olympics that all the IOC countries participated in the Games.
Atlanta, 1996 - Twenty four countries made their Olympic debut this year. The Games were also affected by violence as on July 27, 1996 the Centennial Olympic Park was bombed killing two and wounding 111 others.
Sydney, 2000 - The 'Millennium Games' or the 'Games of the New Millennium' generated much interest world wide and the host city Sydney also won the 'Pierre de Coubertin Trophy', in recognition of the collaboration and happiness shown by the people of Sydney during the event.
Athens, 2004 - At the Athens Olympic Games all the 202 nations affiliated to the International Olympic Committee participated at the Games. The Athenians put up a spectacular cultural show and fireworks during the opening and closing ceremonies.
Beijing, 2008 - The Beijing Olympics are due to be held from August 8th to August 24th. The Games will be co-hosted by six other cities of People's Republic of China.

Source: http://olympics.sporting99.com/olympics-history.html