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Olympic Games
The name comes from Olympia, a sacred place in
Ancient Greece, where the first Ancient Olympic
Games took place. The Games were a very important
event for the Ancient Greeks and they took place
every four years, from 776 BCE to at least 393 CE. The
Games were very different from the ones we know
now! They were essentially a religious festival, the
athletes were mainly soldiers, and women were not
allowed to compete. Married women were not even
allowed to attend! Sports included boxing, wrestling
and chariot racing. Athletes competed completely
naked, and occasionally even died during combat
sport competitions.
From Ancient Greece, we fast forward .................. the
1896 Olympics in Athens, which marked the beginning ................... a new era of the Games. The 1896 Olympic Games saw 280 athletes .................. 12 countries
competing ................... 43 events, including the first
marathon competition. By the time the Paris Olympics
took place in 1924, there were around 3,000 athletes,
including more than 100 women, from more than 44
different countries. This was also the year that the first
Winter Olympics were held. The Paralympic Games
first took place in Rome, Italy, in 1960, with 400 athletes from 23 countries.
The ‘Olympic rings’ are a globally known symbol of the
Olympic movement and were introduced in 1913. The
colours of the five linked rings are, from left to right,
blue, yellow, black, green and red, and they appear on
a white background. They represent the union of five
continents and the meeting of athletes from around
the world.