Everything you want to know about the Olympics is here

About the Olympics

The Olympic Games are a four-year carnival of international sports. The ultimate goals are to foster global peace and human development through sport. The Winter and Summer Games are separate competitions.

Athletes from 204 nations and regions competed in 26 sports for a total of 302 different events at the commemorative XXX Olympic Games in London in 2012.

The Ancient Olympic Games

 About 2,300 years ago, the Olympic Games initially took place. The ancient Greek Olympic Games, that were staged in the Olympia region, were where they got their start. The Games are claimed to have started as a festival of art and sport to worship gods, despite the fact that there are few ideas about their original goals. However, the ancient Olympic Games came to an end in 393 as a result of the start of conflicts in the area in which they were held.

The Modern Olympics

The ancient Olympic Games were revived in the late 19th century after a 1,500-year gap, largely due to the efforts of French educator Baron Pierre de Coubertin. The inaugural Olympic Games were held in Athens, Greece, two years after his proposal to resurrect the Olympic Games was overwhelmingly approved by the International Congress in Paris in 1894. Furthermore, he created the five-ring symbol, which most people would recognise as the Game’s logo and which stands for the unity of the five continents.

Organization and Flag

The modern Olympics are administered by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). In 1894, it was founded. Switzerland’s Lausanne is where it is headquartered. The IOC chooses which sports will be featured at the Olympics. The cities that will host the Games are also chosen by them. For instance, London was invited to host the 2012 Summer Olympics. Each nation is given its own national Olympic committee in addition to the IOC.

The Olympic Games’ flag features five interconnected rings against a white backdrop. The five continents indicated by the rings—the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia—are united by the Games. Blue, yellow, black, green, and red are the colors of the rings. National flags were the inspiration for the rings’ colors and the white background. Each nation’s flag features at least one of the colors.

Olympics Ceremonies

The opening ceremony starts off the Olympic Games. The national team of each nation enters the Olympic stadium wearing its official garb. Each team is led by an athlete carrying its national flag. The Greek team always enters the stadium first. The other countries are listed after the host country in alphabetical order by language. Always coming in last is the host team.

The Olympic flag is raised during the ceremony. The Olympic flame is then lit in the stadium by a leading figure of the hosting nation who has carried a torch inside. (Olympic torch lighting in Greece’s Olympia. The torch is then transferred from Greece to the host nation by a series of runners.) The Olympics’ flame remains burning after they are over.

Following the conclusion of each event during the Games, a victory ceremony is held. For first, second, and third place, medals are given. The medals are gold, silver, and bronze, from first to third. The national anthem of the gold medalist is played while the victors’ nations’ flags are raised.

The final event is followed by the closing ceremony. Compared to the opening ceremony, it is less formal. Both the Olympic flag and the Olympic flame are extinguished. The 16-day Games are marked by ceremonies and events.

Events

Different sports that are appropriate for the two seasons are featured in the summer and winter games. Both men and women can compete in solo and team competitions. Various events take place both inside and outside.

Compared to the Winter Games, the Summer Games provide a broader variety of competitions. The gymnastics, swimming, and track and field competitions are the most seen events of the Summer Games. Baseball, basketball, boxing, cycling, diving, judo, sailing, softball, volleyball, water polo, weightlifting, and wrestling are more sports.

On snow or ice, all Winter Games sports are played. Skiing and ice skating are very popular. Speed skating competitions and exquisite figure skating competitions are also included in the skating events. A well-liked team sport is ice hockey. Skiing and shooting are combined in the biathlon. The Winter Games also feature bobsled and luge races at high speeds on sleds.

Olympic events are subject to modification. At times, new, well-liked sports are added to the Olympics. For instance, in the late 1900s, beach volleyball, windsurfing, and mountain riding all made appearances at the Summer Olympics. Inclusion of snowboarding in the Winter Games. In addition, female athletes now participate in sports that were formerly thought to be exclusively for men. Weightlifting and wrestling are two examples.