The Olympics is probably the biggest sports event in the world, along with World Cup. In the Olympics, the best athletes from countries all over the world compete one another in many types of sports. It is held every four years during summertime. Even though the modern Olympics nowadays are held in different countries, the primitive Olympics originated from Greece.
The first Olympic Games were held in Greece, in the sixth century B.C. Since there was only one event in the first Olympics, it lasted for only one day. It was a short running race, which we would call as a marathon today. Only men were allowed to run in the race. Women were not allowed to even be anywhere near the race. This is understandable, since women had such low values in the early days. The Olympics were stopped in the fourth century A.D., when Greece began to be ruled by Rome.
It started again in the nineteenth century, when Baron Pierre de Coubertin, a Frenchman, suggested that it would be good to bring back the custom. He wanted it not just for the Greeks, but other nations as well. De Coubertin organized a meeting in Paris, with representatives from nine countries. They all agreed to start the Olympics again in Athens, Greece in 1896. For bringing back the Olympics, De Coubertin is known as the Father of Modern Olympics.
Baron de Coubertin started a committee to run the Olympics. This committee still exists today, and is called the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It locates in Lausanne, Switzerland and has made many important decisions for the modern Olympics. In 1912, the Committee decided to allow women to participate. This decision made the Olympics more universal. In 1924, a second group of events were held in winter seasons. Now there are two seasons to Olympics: summer and winter.
Even though the sports games are the main events in Olympics, the opening rituals are very interesting as well. Most of these rituals were established in 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp,...