Saturday, August 9, 2008

About The Olympics

Thanks, Wikipedia.

First, a note about the Olympic logo of five rings coloured red, yellow, green, blue and black. They represent unity in sports amongst the five continents of Asia, Europe, Africa, America and Oceania.

The logo was designed in 1913 and made its debut at the 1914 Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium.

The Olympic Games or Olympics is an international multi-sport event. The modern Olympics was inaugurated in Athens, Greece in 1896 and is held every 4 years.

The Olympics refers to the Summer Olympics. There is a winter sports event known as the Winter Olympics which began in Chamonix, France in 1924 and is also held every 4 years.

The original Olympic Games was held in 776 BC in Olympia, Greece and was celebrated until 393 AD.

Interest in reviving the Olympics was first shown by the Greek poet and newspaper editor Panagiotis Soutsos in 1833. In 1859, Greek businessman Evangelos Zappas sponsored the first modern international Olympic festival and paid for the refurbishment of the Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens.

In 1894, French businessman and nobleman Baron Pierre De Coubertin formed the International Olympic Committee (IOC) which was tasked with organising the first modern Olympics.

The first modern Olympics took place in Athens in 1896 with the motto Faster, Higher And Stronger. 241 athletes joined the event from 14 teams.

In every opening ceremony, the host team marches into the stadium last while Greece marches into the stadium first.

These are the host cities and countries of the Olympics in history:

1896 - Athens, Greece;
1900 - Paris, France;
1904 - St. Louis, United States;
1908 - London, Britain;
1912 - Stockholm, Sweden;
1916 - Berlin, Germany (cancelled because of World War I);
1920 - Antwerp, Belgium;
1924 - Paris, France;
1928 - Amsterdam, Holland;
1932 - Los Angeles, United States;
1936 - Berlin, Germany;
1940 - Helsinki, Finland (cancelled because of World War II);
1944 - London, Britain (cancelled because of World War II);
1948 - London, Britain;
1952 - Helsinki, Finland;
1956 - Melbourne, Australia;
1960 - Rome, Italy;
1964 - Tokyo, Japan;
1968 - Mexico City, Mexico;
1972 - Munich, West Germany;
1976 - Montreal, Canada;
1980 - Moscow, Soviet Union;
1984 - Los Angeles, United States;
1988 - Seoul, South Korea;
1992 - Barcelona, Spain;
1996 - Atlanta, United States;
2000 - Sydney, Australia;
2004 - Athens, Greece;
2008 - Beijing, China.