The modern Olympic Games that we enjoy today have very old roots. The first Olympic games, what we now call the Ancient Olympic Games were first played around 776 BC. These games were a series of competitions held between people from several city-states (small kingdoms or countries) in Greece. The ancient games were also athletic in nature, but sometimes included combat (fighting) and chariot racing (horses and carriage) events. When people came together for the ancient Olympics all conflicts* among the participating city-states were postponed until the games were finished. This meant the games were a time of peace and unity. The creators of the Modern Olympic games also hoped that these games would be a sign of peace and unity among countries that have fought or are fighting one another.
People began to make attempts to recreate the ancient Olympic Games with sports festivals held annually from 1796 to 1798 in France. But the first true Modern Olympic Games, similar to the games going on now in London, were held in Athens, Greece in 1896. The first modern Olympics brought together 241 athletes from 14 countries, who competed in 43 events. The summer Olympic games have been held every four years since then (except for times when it has been cancelled in 1916, 1940 and 1944 due to World War I and World War II). It was after the World War II that the Paralympics (the Olympic competition for individuals with physical disabilities) were held. These games were organized to promote the rehabilitation of soldiers that fought in the war. Since 1988 the Paralympics Games have been held in the same host city as the Olympics, directly following the regular Olympic games. The winter Olympics were first held in 1924 and celebrated every four years on the same year as their summer Olympics until 1992, after which the winter Olympics were moved to be two years apart from the summer Olympics. Below is a list of the cities in which the modern summer Olympics have been held, you’ll see in this list that South America and Africa have not yet hosted the Olympics games, but that will change in 2016 when the games are held in Brazil. I wonder which African nation will be the first to host the Olympics?
1896- Athens, Greece
1900- Paris, France
1904- St. Louis, United States
1908- London, England
1912- Stockholm, Sweden
1920- Antwerp, Belgium
1924- Paris, France
1928- Amsterdam, Netherlands
1932- Los Angeles, United States
1936- Berlin, Germany
1948- London, England
1952- Helsinki, Finland
1956- Melbourne, Australia
1960- Rome, Italy
1964- Tokyo, Japan
1968- Mexico City, Mexico
1972- Munich, Germany
1976- Montreal, Canada
1980- Moscow, Russia
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
2012- London, England
and next
2016- Rio De Janerio, Brazil
Transparent Language has helped people from countries like these learn English. Let us help you too, be sure to check out the other resources for ESL learners at http://www.transparent.com/.
*conflict = disagreement, argument or fighting
