The Olympic Games

The Olympics are the symbol of peace and unity.

Long ago ancient Greeks often waged wars. The ruler of a small state, Elis, wanted to live in peace with all his neighbours. He organized athletic games in 776 B.C. in Olympia. All wars were stopped during these games.

The Olympic Games in Greece were held every four years in honour of Zeus, the supreme god of Greek religion. They were held for over 1.000 years.

All athletes took the Olympic Oath and promised to compete honestly. Only men competed and they wore no clothes. Women were not allowed even to watch the competitions at the stadium under the fear of death penalty.

The main sports in the original Olympic Games were running, long jumps, wrestling, throwing the discus and the javelin. Laterfist fighting (boxing) and chariot races were also included in the Games. Winners were called "olympionics", they were awarded olive wreaths and cups of olive oil for winning the first place in sports competitions.

A lighted torch was brought all the way from Greece, carried by a relay of runners, in order to light the Olympic Flame which bums all through the Games.

The Olympic Games were accompanied by arts festivals. Poets recited their poems, singers sang hymns, dancers danced and orators pronounced speeches.

The long-distance race was called the Marathon. In the year 490 BC the Greeks defeated a powerful Persian army at the village of Marathon about 40 kilometres from Athens. A soldier ran all the way and brought news of the victory to Athens. Then he fell and died.

Frenchman Baron Pierre de Coubertin revived the ancient Greek tradition. He created the International Olympic Committee and the first modern Olympiad took place in Athens in 1896. One important rule of the Olympic Games is that the competitors must be amateurs.

The famous flag of the IOC shows five rings of different colours (the five continents).

Since then the Olympic Games have been held every four years (every leap year). There were no games during the two world wars. The Winter Olympic Games first took place in 1924.

The 22nd Olympic Games were held in 1980 in Moscow.