“Olympic” comes from the ancient Greek Olympus or Olympia. Mount Olympus was a place where games were played in honor of the Greek god Zeus. The first modern summer Olympic games were played in Athens, Greece in 1896. Women started competing in 1912.
At first, the Olympic games were restricted to running. Later, many new events were added like the long run, boxing, wrestling, the foot race with armor (defensive covering for the body). The winners of the Olympics were crowned and rewarded. Women used to have separate Olympic contests every four years, but with fewer events.”
The traditional track and field athletics include the decathlon (100-meter, 400-meter and 1500-meter runs) and pentathlon (300-metre freestyle swim, 4000-meter cross-country run, 5000-meter 40-jump horse race, target shooting, etc). Other many games and sports are beside. For example, cycling, swimming, diving, shooting, volleyball, rowing, riding sports, soccer, hockey, weightlifting, boxing, gymnastics, wrestling, and so on. The winter games included ice hockey, skiing, and skating. Since 1944, the winter games have been held in even-numbered years in which summer games are not contested.
The Olympic games have definite advantages. They promote a happy competition between different states, and this promotes international standards of games. Each state makes yearlong preparations for the Olympics and its players compete with each other in the best possible ways. This promotes nationalism. That is why the players from individual states take on their national colour, and feel that they are playing for their countries.
On the other hand, the participating countries in the Olympic games contribute to international cooperation and goodwill. Representative sportsmen from most countries get together in the host country, with the knowledge that they are competing internationally. They play and compete with the feeling that they belong to the world. Sometimes political considerations affect sports events.
Commercial interests also play their role when the Olympic games are arranged in the host country. The television networks earn huge amounts when they televise the games, and also flash advertisements of commercial organizations. The whole world of newspapers and magazines is in action to report the sports events to earn money and fame. The Olympics of 2008 in China were magnificently impressive and reflective of the greatness of China in their presentation.
The Olympic games bring hopes of success to the competing groups of players. Whatever their performances, they leave the playgrounds and competition fields with the feeling that they did their best after all.
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