- The early history of the Olympics
The Olympics originated in ancient Greece about 3,000 years ago and were revived in the late 19th century to become the world’s leading sporting competition.
The ancient Olympics were held every four years from early August to mid-September during a religious festival in honor of Zeus.
The match is named after its location in Olympia, a sacred site located near the west coast of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece. Their influence was so great that ancient historians began to measure time by the four-year increments between the Olympics.
Participation in the ancient Olympics was initially limited to male Greek citizens, not women. It was even mentioned that married women were prohibited from attending the competition.
- The Rise of the Olympics
When the Roman Empire conquered Greece in the mid-2nd century BC, the standard and quality of the Olympics declined.
It took quite a long time for the Olympics to bounce back. One of them thanks to the efforts of Baron Pierre de Coubertin (1863-1937) of France. The young baron was inspired by the idea of creating the modern Olympics after visiting the site of the ancient Olympics.
In November 1892, at a meeting of the Union des Sports Athlétiques in Paris, the Baron proposed the idea of reviving the Olympics as an international athletic competition held every four years.
Two years later the Baron received approval to establish the International Olympic Committee (IOC) which later became the governing body for the modern Olympics today.
- The development of the modern Olympics
The first modern Olympics were held in Athens, Greece, in 1896. In the opening ceremony, King Georges I and around 60,000 spectators welcomed 280 participants from 13 countries who will compete in 43 sports.
The five interlocking colored rings have become the official symbols of the modern Olympics. The five rings represent the continents of North and South America, Asia, Africa, Europe and Australia. The Olympic flag, which features this symbol on a white background, was flown for the first time at the Antwerp Games in 1920.
The Olympics became an international sporting event in 1924, when the VIII Games were held in Paris. Around 3,000 athletes from 44 countries competed that year. This moment is also the first time that women can take part in the Olympics.
Eighty years later, when the 2004 Summer Olympics returned to Athens for the first time in more than a century, nearly 11,000 athletes came from 201 countries.
Source : idntimes.com