The Olympic Games

OLYMPIC SPORTS

The Olympic Games were founded in ancient Greece 3,000 years ago and they were brought back to life in the 19th century. At the beginning, the Olympic Games were a celebration of a religious character. People participated to honor the god Zeus, every four years from the 8th century B.C. to the 4th century A.D. The first modern Olympic Games took place in Athens in 1896 with only 280 athletes from 13 nations. The participants competed in 43 competitions. In 1994, the Summer Olympic Games and the Winter Olympic Games were split. Today, the Olympics are the most important sports competition in the world with more than 300 events. Some of these events were incorporated in 1896, like track and field, gymnastics, swimming, shooting, fencing, cycling, tennis, weightlifting, and others like figure skating and ice hockey were added later.