Olympics

CA. SUJAL MEHTA (Service) (3316 Points)

11 December 2008  

This is an international sports festival, which originated in the city of Olympia, an ancient city of Greece.
 
Ancient Olympics
 
These games were held at Mount Olympia in Greece in honour of Zeus from 776 BC to AD 394. From AD 394, games started degenerating and by AD 580, they altogether vanished and were banned by the Roman emperor, Theodosius.
 
Modern Olympics
 
It was French nobleman, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who revived Olympic games (almost 1500 years after the last ancient Olympics) in 1894. The modern series of the Olympic Games started in 1896 in Athens and since then are held every four years. Separate winter Olympic Games began in 1924. Women have been competing in the Olympics since 1912. India officially participated in the Olympics for the first time in 1920 when four athletes and two wrestlers were sent to participate in the sixth Olympic Games at Antwerp, Belgium.
 
The Olympic Flag is made up of white silk and contains fine intertwined rings as the Olympics Emblem. From right to left the rings are Blue (for Europe), Yellow (for Asia), Black (for Africa), Red (for America) and Green (for Australia). In 1897, Father Didon composed the games motto 'Citius, Altius, Fortius' in Latin, which means 'Swifter, Higher and Stronger'. However, it was introduced as Olympic motto only in 1920 games.
 
 
Olympics - Where and When
 
 
Olympiad Year Olympics  
    Venue Country
I 1896 Athens Greece
II 1900 Paris France
III 1904 St Louis US
IV 1908 London Great Britain
V 1912 Stockholm Sweden
VI* 1916 Berlin Germany
VII 1920 Antwerp Belgium
VIII 1924 Paris France
IX 1928 Amsterdam Netherlands
X 1932 Los Angeles US
XI 1936 Berlin Germany
XII** 1940 Tokyo (then Helsinki) Japan (then Finland)
XIII** 1944 London Great Britain
XIV 1948 London Great Britain
XV 1952 Helsinki Finland
XVI 1956 Melbourne Australia
XVII 1960 Rome Italy
XVIII 1964 Tokyo Japan
XIX 1968 Mexico City Mexico
XX 1972 Munich W. Germany
XXI 1976 Montreal Canada
XXII 1980 Moscow USSR
XXIII 1984 Los Angeles US
XXIV 1988 Seoul S. Korea
XXV 1992 Barcelona Spain
XXVI 1996 Atlanta US
XXVII 2000 Sydney Australia
XXVIII 2004 Athens Greece
XXIX 2008 Beijing China (Scheduled)
XXX 2012 England UK
* Games were not held due to World War I
       
** Games were not celebrated due to World War II. In 1940, the Games were retracted from Tokyo and were awarded to Helsinki by the IOC.