Olympics Timeline: 1990s to the Present Day Barcelona Games For the first time in decades, every single nation with an Olympic Committee shows up, even Cuba, North Korea, and South Africa. A record 172 nations participate, represented by 10,563 athletes. With the door open to professional athletes, the U.S. sends a Dream Team including Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, and Karl Malone. As expected, they go undefeated. Carl Lewis wins two more gold medals, bringing his total to eight. 13-year-old Fu Mingxia of China wins the platform diving event, making her the second-youngest person to win an individual gold medal. World Cup athletes are now allowed to compete in soccer, but only three players over the age of 23 are allowed on each team, effectively making the Olympic event the under-23 championship. Gymnast Vitaly Scherbo of the Unified Team wins six gold medals in gymnastics. Cuba wins seven gold medals in boxing, and the first one ever awarded in baseball.

In the end, the Unified Team takes home 112 medals, the United States has 108, and Germany has 82. A total of 64 nations win at least one medal, the highest number yet. Atlanta Games Muhammad Ali lights the cauldron at the start of the Centennial Games. 179 nations participate; 79 win medals. A pipe bomb in Centennial Olympic Park kills one person and injures 111, but the Games go on. America's Michael Johnson wins both the 200m and 400m races ; France's Marie-José Perec does the same. Carl Lewis gets his ninth gold medal by winning the long jump. Amy Van Dyken of the U.S. wins four gold medals in swimming, while Ireland's Michelle Smith wins three golds and a bronze. Smith is accused of using performance-enhancing drugs; this remains unproven, but she is suspended in 1998 for tampering with a urine sample. The American women's teams win the first-ever softball and women's soccer events. They also win gymnastics, with the help of Kerri Strug , who nails her second vault despite a sprained ankle.

The United States returns to the top of the standings, followed by Russia and Germany. 10,651 athletes (4,069 of them women) from 199 nations participate; the only nation excluded is Afghanistan. North and South Korea enter the stadium under one flag. Australian Aboriginal Cathy Freeman lights the cauldron at the start of the game, and goes on to win the 400m race. British rower Steven Redgrave becomes the first athlete to win gold medals in five consecutive Olympics. The U.S. softball team defends its title; Michael Johnson does the same in the 400m race. 17-year-old Ian Thorpe of Australia wins four medals (three gold) in swimming, breaking his own world record in the 400m freestyle. American Marion Jones wins five track medals, three of them gold. Russian gymnast Alexei Nemov takes home six medals, as he had done in Atlanta in 1996. Eric "the Eel" Moussambani of Equatorial Guinea is this year's lovable loser, taking 152.72 seconds in the 100m freestyle swim.

This is more than twice as long as Pieter van den Hoogenband's gold-winning performance. There are 165 events for men, 135 for women, and 12 mixed events. Women are excluded from boxing and baseball; men are excluded from synchronized swimming, rhythmic gymnastics, and softball. The United States, the Russian Federation, and the People's Republic of China lead the medal-winners. Salt Lake City Winter Games These Games are controversial starting about three years before they begin, as it is revealed that several IOC members accepted inappropriately large gifts in exchange for voting to hold the Games in Salt Lake City. At least four IOC members resign, as do top Salt Lake City committee officials, in the midst of several investigations, and the IOC pledges to change the way host cities are chosen. Also controversial is the United States' decision to include, in the Opening Ceremony, a flag that had been at Ground Zero in New York. This is seen by some as contrary to the Olympic spirit. These Games are also dominated by doping scandals.

Spain's Johann Muehlegg and Russia's Larissa Lazutina and Olga Danilova are disqualified due to darbepoetin use; the first two lose gold medals, although all retain medals won before they were tested. Britain's Alain Baxter similarly loses his bronze slalom medal after a drug test, although the drug detected turns out to be a Vicks inhaler. Unknown to him, it has a different formulation in America than in the UK. A later investigation clears him of all moral guilt, but his medal is not returned. Russian figure skating pair Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze win the gold over Canadian pair Jamie Sale and David Pelletier. The Canadians protest, the French judge admits to having been pressured to give the Russians a higher ranking, and, in an unprecedented ceremony, the Canadian pair is given gold medals, although the Russians retain theirs. American Sarah Hughes gives the free-skating performance of a lifetime, nailing two triple-triple combinations and vaulting from fourth-place dark horse to gold medalist. This, too, has some measure of controversy, as a slight change in the judges' placement would have put Russia's Irina Slutkaya ahead, but that protest goes nowhere.

The International Skating Union votes to radically overhaul the scoring system for figure skating and ice dancing in future competitions. The Canadian men's ice hockey team wins the gold medal, 50 years to the day after the last time they'd done so. Their women's ice hockey team also emerge victorious. In both cases, the Americans take the silver. Skeleton is an event for the first time since 1948; for a change, John Heaton is not around to compete. German speed-skater Claudia Pechstein wins two gold medals, taking home a medal in four straight Winter Games. Teammate Georg Hackl gets the silver in luge, becoming the first athlete ever to win five medals in one event. Norway's Ole Einar Bjørndalen wins all four men's biathlon events. For the first time since 1968, female athletes are not tested for gender. There are 41 men's events, 34 women's events, and 3 mixed events. Germany, the United States, and Norway end up with the most medals, with Norway taking home the most golds. The History of the Olympic Games | Scholastic The History of the Olympic Games Compare the ancient Olympics to the modern games.

Plus, learn how money, politics, and performance-enhancing drugs have become major influences, often causing controversy. Grades 6–8, 9–12 The Olympic Games are an international sports festival that began in ancient Greece. The original Greek games were staged every fourth year for several hundred years, until they were abolished in the early Christian era. The revival of the Olympic Games took place in 1896, and since then they have been staged every fourth year, except during World War I and World War II (1916, 1940, 1944). Perhaps the basic difference between the ancient and modern Olympics is that the former was the ancient Greeks' way of saluting their gods, whereas the modern Games are a manner of saluting the athletic talents of citizens of all nations. The original Olympics featured competition in music, oratory, and theater performances as well. The modern Games have a more expansive athletic agenda, and for 2 and a half weeks they are supposed to replace the rancor of international conflict with friendly competition. In recent times, however, that lofty ideal has not always been attained.

The Ancient Olympics The earliest reliable date that recorded history gives for the first Olympics is 776 B.C., although virtually all historians presume that the Games began well before then. It is certain that during the midsummer of 776 B.C. a festival was held at Olympia on the highly civilized eastern coast of the Peloponnesian peninsula. That festival remained a regularly scheduled event, taking place during the pre-Christian golden age of Greece. As a testimony to the religious nature of the Games (which were held in honor of Zeus, the most important god in the ancient Greek pantheon), all wars would cease during the contests. According to the earliest records, only one athletic event was held in the ancient Olympics — a footrace of about 183 m (200 yd), or the length of the stadium. A cook, Coroibus of Elis, was the first recorded winner. The first few Olympics had only local appeal and were limited to one race on one day; only men were allowed to compete or attend. A second race — twice the length of the stadium — was added in the 14th Olympics, and a still longer race was added to the next competition, four years later.

When the powerful, warlike Spartans began to compete, they influenced the agenda. The 18th Olympiad included wrestling and a pentathlon consisting of running, jumping, spear throwing (the javelin), discus throwing, and wrestling. Boxing was added at the 23rd Olympiad, and the Games continued to expand, with the addition of chariot racing and other sports. In the 37th Olympiad (632 B.C.) the format was extended to five days of competition. The growth of the Games fostered "professionalism" among the competitors, and the Olympic ideals waned as royalty began to compete for personal gain, particularly in the chariot events. Human beings were being glorified as well as the gods; many winners erected statues to deify themselves. In A.D. 394 the Games were officially ended by the Roman emperor Theodosius I, who felt that they had pagan connotations. The Modern Olympics The revival of the Olympic Games in 1896, unlike the original Games, has a clear, concise history.

Pierre de Coubertin (1863–1937), a young French nobleman, felt that he could institute an educational program in France that approximated the ancient Greek notion of a balanced development of mind and body. The Greeks themselves had tried to revive the Olympics by holding local athletic games in Athens during the 1800s, but without lasting success. It was Baron de Coubertin's determination and organizational genius, however, that gave impetus to the modern Olympic movement. In 1892 he addressed a meeting of the Union des Sports AthlÃ©tiques in Paris. Despite meager response he persisted, and an international sports congress eventually convened on June 16, 1894. With delegates from Belgium, England, France, Greece, Italy, Russia, Spain, Sweden, and the United States in attendance, he advocated the revival of the Olympic Games. He found ready and unanimous support from the nine countries. De Coubertin had initially planned to hold the Olympic Games in France, but the representatives convinced him that Greece was the appropriate country to host the first modern Olympics. The council did agree that the Olympics would move every four years to other great cities of the world.

Thirteen countries competed at the Athens Games in 1896. Nine sports were on the agenda: cycling, fencing, gymnastics, lawn tennis, shooting, swimming, track and field, weight lifting, and wrestling. The 14-man U.S. team dominated the track and field events, taking first place in 9 of the 12 events. The Games were a success, and a second Olympiad, to be held in France, was scheduled. Olympic Games were held in 1900 and 1904, and by 1908 the number of competitors more than quadrupled the number at Athens — from 311 to 2,082. Beginning in 1924, a Winter Olympics was included — to be held at a separate cold-weather sports site in the same year as the Summer Games — the first held at Chamonix, France. In 1980 about 1,600 athletes from 38 nations competed at Lake Placid, N.Y., in a program that included Alpine and Nordic skiing, biathlon, ice hockey, figure skating and speed skating, bobsled, and luge.

But the Summer Games, with its wide array of events, are still the focal point of the modern Olympics. Among the standard events are basketball, boxing, canoeing and kayaking, cycling, equestrian arts, fencing, field hockey, gymnastics, modern pentathlon, rowing, shooting, soccer, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, volleyball, water polo, weight lifting, wrestling (freestyle and Greco-Roman), and yachting. New sports are added to the roster at every Olympic Games; among the more prominent are baseball, martial arts, and most recently triathlon, which was first contested at the 2000 Games. The Games are governed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), whose headquarters is in Lausanne, Switzerland. The Summer and Winter Games were traditionally held in the same year, but because of the increasing size of both Olympics, the Winter Games were shifted to a different schedule after 1992.

They were held in Lillehammer, Norway in 1994, in Nagano, Japan in 1998, in Salt Lake City, Utah in 2002, in Turin, Italy in 2006, and in 2010, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Politics and the Olympics The ideology of nationalism, which swept the world during the early 20th century, left its mark on the Olympics. Athletic nationalism was brought to a peak by Nazi Germany, which staged the 1936 Games in Berlin and used the Olympics to propagandize its cause. The Germans built a powerful team through nationalized training and scientific advances and dominated the Games in terms of medals won. The political overtones of the Olympics did not lessen with the fall of Nazi Germany. In 1956, Egypt, Iraq, and Lebanon boycotted the Melbourne Games to protest the Anglo-French seizure of the Suez Canal, and the Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland boycotted as well to protest the USSR's invasion of Hungary. In Mexico City in 1968, two African American runners used the victory pedestal to protest U.S. racial policies.

In the Munich Olympics in 1972, 11 Israeli athletes were massacred by Palestinian terrorists. And in 1976 in Montreal, 33 African nations, to be represented by about 400 athletes, boycotted the Games to protest South Africa's apartheid policies. The most serious disruptions to the modern Olympics, however, occurred in 1980 and 1984. In 1980, under strong pressure from the Carter administration, the U.S. Olympic Committee voted to boycott the Summer Games in Moscow to protest the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. About 40 nations followed suit, including West Germany, China, and Japan, depriving the Soviets of their chief athletic competition and raising doubts about the future of the Olympic movement. Although the 1984 Winter Games, in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, proceeded without boycotts, the Summer Games, in Los Angeles, were undercut by an Eastern-bloc boycott led by the USSR.

Fear of an openly hostile environment in Los Angeles was cited by the Soviet Olympic Committee as the reason for nonparticipation, but most commentators believed the reasons to be political: the poor state of recent U.S.-Soviet relations, revenge for the U.S. boycott in 1980, and possible embarrassment to the Soviets on worldwide television caused by planned anti-Soviet demonstrations and defections of Eastern-bloc athletes. The popularity and financial success of the 1984 Los Angeles Games were, however, greater than anticipated. In 1988 the Winter Games — in Calgary, Alberta, Canada — went on without incident. At the Summer Games, in Seoul, South Korea, only six nations (including Cuba and North Korea) boycotted, and the focus returned to the athletes.The 1992 Winter and Summer Games (in Albertville, France, and Barcelona, Spain, respectively) were the first Olympics without the Eastern-bloc sports machine, were the last for the "Unified Teams" from the former USSR, and marked the return of South Africa to Olympic competition.

The 1996 Summer Games, in Atlanta, Ga., were the largest ever; they were marred by a bombing that took the lives of two people. The 1994 and 1998 Winter Games transpired without incident. The 2000 Summer Games were held in Sydney, Australia, to great acclaim. In Sydney, politics took a back seat to the competition, although North and South Korea were temporarily reunited as their athletes marched as one country in the opening ceremonies. Athens, Greece — site of the first modern Olympics — was the site of the Summer Games in 2004. Though it has potential for political controversies due to its rapid modernization and its communist state-Beijing, China was selected for the 2008 Summer Games. Money and the Olympics The biggest influence on the modern Olympic Games is money. Commercialism exists side by side with the outstanding athleticism and the spirit of friendship imbuing competitors from around the world. Since the 1984 Games in Los Angeles, it has become clear that a city hosting the Games can anticipate a financial windfall, as spectators and sponsors converge for the event.

Because of the tremendous potential for profit, the process of selecting host cities has become politicized, and there is a large potential for corruption. In fact, a scandal erupted in late 1998, when it was found that promoters involved with Salt Lake City's (winning) bid for the 2002 Winter Games had bribed IOC members, who were forced to resign; the Nagano and Sydney bids were also under suspicion of bribery. Athletes, too, especially in the "glamour sports" such as gymnastics, ice skating, or track and field, can reap tremendous financial gains for winning performances, through product endorsements and personal appearances. Originally, Olympic athletes were expected to remain strictly amateurs and not earn money even for endorsing products. However, by the last decades of the 20th century, professionalism among competitors received official acceptance, as the IOC finally recognized that many world-class athletes were already functioning as professionals. At the elite level of competition in many Olympic sports, the athlete must devote him- or herself entirely to the sport, all but precluding the holding of a full-time job.

The end of amateurism began in 1960s in the Communist countries, where top athletes were supported by the state, but were officially considered amateurs. To counter this, in the 1970s and 1980s athletes in non-Communist countries sought out corporate sponsors, in effect becoming "employees" of the sponsor. By the late 1980s, restrictions were eased on athletes earning prize money at their sports, and professional athletes were permitted to represent their countries at the Olympics. This now includes the star athletes who play in the American professional leagues, such as the U.S. basketball "Dream Team" of National Basketball Association superstars who dominated the 1992 Olympic competition. In addition, with IOC rules concerning amateurism vacated, many medal-winning contestants have cashed in on their Olympic fame with product endorsements or performance tours. Performance-Enhancing Drugs Winning medals at the Olympic Games has always been considered the most prestigious mark of an athlete, and a source of glory for the athlete's country. This has led to the use of performance-enhancing drugs by athletes, intentionally or otherwise, despite the health risks to the athlete and IOC rules prohibiting the use of these substances.

The types of drugs banned include stimulants (which can be found in common cold and cough medications; caffeine is also banned), narcotics, anabolic steroids, diuretics, certain hormones (such as human growth hormone), and in some sports, beta blockers. The testing of athletes for drug use began for the Olympics in 1968, at the Mexico City Games, but did not become widespread until the 1972 Games. Over the years, as drugs such as human growth hormone have been developed, tests have been added for newer drugs. With such great rewards at stake, there are athletes and even national sports programs willing to use performance-enhancing drugs despite the risks to future health and the disgrace of getting caught. The best-known example of drug use is the East German sports federation, which had a systematic program for giving its athletes steroids from 1974 to 1989. During that time East German women suddenly dominated events such as swimming, winning medals in 11 of 13 events both in 1976 and 1980. Other swimmers suspected that the East German women were using steroids, because the drugs affected their physical appearance, but the team was never caught.

After the reunification of Germany, the East German sports federation's records were opened and the program was exposed. In 2000 the former head of the federation and the doctor who developed and administered the drug plan were convicted of systematic and overall doping. The former athletes maintain that they never knew they were taking steroids, claiming that they were told that the various medications were vitamins. As drug testing procedures have improved, more athletes have been caught. In Seoul there was suspicion of widespread use of performance-enhancing drugs after Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson tested positive; he was stripped of his gold medal. In the mid-1990s, China's female swimmers and runners quickly rose to the top of elite competition, arousing suspicions of drug use; by the late 1990s many were caught through more diligent drug testing. The IOC publicly decries the use of performance-enhancing drugs. However, it is commonly believed that even with out-of-competition testing, the drugs and masking agents available to athletes is far ahead of the tests used to detect these substances. A study released in September 2000 that was financed by the U.S.

government accused the IOC of permitting drug use to persist in order to maintain the mystique of the Olympics and record-breaking performances. The IOC formed the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in late 1999 to test athletes at the upcoming Olympics and to increase drug testing standards, but how effective WADA will be in the long run is not yet known. Jim Benagh Bibliography: Finding, John E., and Pelle, Kimberly D., Historical Dictionary of the Modern Olympic Movement (1996); Greenberg, Stan, Guinness Book of Olympic Records (1992); Guttmann, Allen, The Olympics (1992); Henry, Bill, et al., An Approved History of the Olympic Games (1984); Hill, Christopher, Olympic Politics: Athens to Atlanta, 1896–1996, 2d ed. (1997); Swaddling, Judith, The Ancient Olympic Games, 2d ed.

(2000); Wallechinsky, David, The Complete Book of the Summer Olympics: Sydney 2000 Edition (2000); Young, David C., The Modern Olympics: A Struggle for Revival (1996). × The Olympic Games - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.com The Olympic Games A+E Networks Introduction The Olympic Games, which originated in ancient Greece as many as 3,000 years ago, were revived in the late 19th century and have become the world’s preeminent sporting competition. From the 8th century B.C. to the 4th century A.D., the Games were held every four years in Olympia, located in the western Peloponnese peninsula, in honor of the god Zeus. The first modern Olympics took place in 1896 in Athens, and featured 280 participants from 13 nations, competing in 43 events. Since 1994, the Summer and Winter Olympic Games have been held separately and have alternated every two years.

Google The Olympics in Ancient Greece The first written records of the ancient Olympic Games date to 776 B.C., when a cook named Coroebus won the only event–a 192-meter footrace called the stade (the origin of the modern “stadium”)–to become the first Olympic champion. However, it is generally believed that the Games had been going on for many years by that time. Legend has it that Heracles (the Roman Hercules ), son of Zeus and the mortal woman Alcmene, founded the Games, which by the end of the 6th century B.C had become the most famous of all Greek sporting festivals. The ancient Olympics were held every four years between August 6 and September 19 during a religious festival honoring Zeus. The Games were named for their location at Olympia, a sacred site located near the western coast of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece. Their influence was so great that ancient historians began to measure time by the four-year increments in between Olympic Games, which were known as Olympiads. Did You Know?

The 1896 Games featured the first Olympic marathon, which followed the 25-mile route run by the Greek soldier who brought news of a victory over the Persians from Marathon to Athens in 490 B.C. Fittingly, Greece's Spyridon Louis won the first gold medal in the event. In 1924, the distance would be standardized to 26 miles and 385 yards. After 13 Olympiads, two more races joined the stade as Olympic events: the diaulos (roughly equal to today’s 400-meter race), and the dolichos (a longer-distance race, possibly comparable to the 1,500-meter or 5,000-meter event). The pentathlon (consisting of five events: a foot race, a long jump, discus and javelin throws and a wrestling match) was introduced in 708 B.C., boxing in 688 B.C. and chariot racing in 680 B.C. In 648 B.C., pankration, a combination of boxing and wrestling with virtually no rules, debuted as an Olympic event.

Participation in the ancient Olympic Games was initially limited to freeborn male citizens of Greece; there were no women’s events, and married women were prohibited from attending the competition. Decline and Revival of the Olympic Tradition After the Roman Empire conquered Greece in the mid-2nd century B.C., the Games continued, but their standards and quality declined. In one notorious example from A.D. 67, the decadent Emperor Nero entered an Olympic chariot race, only to disgrace himself by declaring himself the winner even after he fell off his chariot during the event. In A.D. 393, Emperor Theodosius I, a Christian, called for a ban on all “pagan” festivals, ending the ancient Olympic tradition after nearly 12 centuries. It would be another 1,500 years before the Games would rise again, largely thanks to the efforts of Baron Pierre de Coubertin (1863-1937) of France. Dedicated to the promotion of physical education, the young baron became inspired by the idea of creating a modern Olympic Games after visiting the ancient Olympic site.

In November 1892, at a meeting of the Union des Sports Athlétiques in Paris, Coubertin proposed the idea of reviving the Olympics as an international athletic competition held every four years. Two years later, he got the approval he needed to found the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which would become the governing body of the modern Olympic Games. The Olympics Through the Years The first modern Olympics were held in Athens, Greece, in 1896. In the opening ceremony, King Georgios I and a crowd of 60,000 spectators welcomed 280 participants from 13 nations (all male), who would compete in 43 events, including track and field, gymnastics, swimming, wrestling, cycling, tennis, weightlifting, shooting and fencing. All subsequent Olympiads have been numbered even when no Games take place (as in 1916, during World War I , and in 1940 and 1944, during World War II ). The official symbol of the modern Games is five interlocking colored rings, representing the continents of North and South America, Asia, Africa, Europe and Australia.

The Olympic flag, featuring this symbol on a white background, flew for the first time at the Antwerp Games in 1920. The Olympics truly took off as an international sporting event after 1924, when the VIII Games were held in Paris. Some 3,000 athletes (with more than 100 women among them) from 44 nations competed that year, and for the first time the Games featured a closing ceremony. The Winter Olympics debuted that year, including such events as figure skating, ice hockey, bobsledding and the biathlon. Eighty years later, when the 2004 Summer Olympics returned to Athens for the first time in more than a century, nearly 11,000 athletes from a record 201 countries competed. In a gesture that joined both ancient and modern Olympic traditions, the shotput competition that year was held at the site of the classical Games in Olympia.

Tags Olympic Games Summer and Winter Locations and History of the Games Olympic games summer and winter locations and history of the games Olympic games summer and winter locations and history of the games Olympic History The Olympic Games took their name from the Greek city of Olympia and though there were important athletic competitions held in other Greek cities in ancient times, the Olympic Games were regarded as the most prestigious. The games were held every four years during August and September and the word "Olympiad", which referred to the four year intervals between competitions, was commonly used to measure time. The first documented Olympic champion was a man named Coroebus, a cook from Elis who won the sprint race in 776 BC. Historians believe that the games had already existed for at least 500 years prior to that date. The Olympic Games originally featured only one event: a race called the "stade", equal to a distance of about 210 yards. By 728 BC two additional races had been added, comparable to the 400 meter and 1,500 meter races of the modern games. The Olympics came to include wrestling, boxing and the pentathlon, as well as specialized events for soldiers and heralds.

It was only in 472 BC that the events were spread out over a period of four to five days, previously they had all taken place on a single day. Participation in the Olympic Games was originally limited to free born Greeks, but as Greek civilization was spread by the conquests of Alexander the Great, the Games drew entrants from as far away as Antioch, Sidon and Alexandria. While the only official prize was a wreath or garland, successful athletes were supported by the governments of their cities and devoted much time to training. Most of the competitors were, in fact, professionals. After the Roman conquest of Greece in the second century BC, the Olympic Games suffered a decline in popularity and importance, but the Games persisted until AD 393, when the Roman emperor Theodosius I ordered their abolition. The idea of reviving the Olympic Games originated with Baron Pierre de Coubertin, a 29 year old French aristocrat who first publicly raised the issue in 1892. At a conference on international sport held in Paris in 1894, Coubertin managed to convince delegates from 49 organizations representing nine countries to vote in favor of an Olympic revival.

His chief allies in this effort were Dimitrios Vikelas of Greece and Professor William M. Sloane of the United States. The organizers had planned the first modern Olympics for 1900 in Paris, but later decided to move the date forward to 1896 and to change the venue to Athens, though the local government of the Greek capital was initially hostile to the idea. Coubertin and his colleagues of the newly formed International Olympic Committee eventually prevailed, and the first Olympic Games of the modern era were inaugurated by the King of Greece in the first week of April 1896. The Games of 1896, 1900 and 1904 were loosely organized and did not feature national teams produced by rigorous selection. The 1908 Games, held in London in a newly built 66,000 seat stadium, were the first where the events were organized by the relevant authorities in each athletic discipline. More than 2,000 athletes from 22 nations competed in 100 events.

The 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm drew more then 2,500 competitors from 28countries and featured the first women's swimming events. No Games were held in 1916 due to World War I, but the Games enjoyed strong growth after the war, with 44 nations participating in the 1924 Olympics in Paris. At the1928 Games in Amsterdam there were more than 290 women among the 3,000athletes, more than double the number that took part in 1924. The Olympic Games were suspended again for 12 years because of World War II, resuming in 1948 in London. The post-war era saw steady growth in the number of countries and athletes competing and a dramatic increase in women's events. Politics began to intrude on the Games in a serious way at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, where Palestinian terrorists attacked Israeli athletes in the Olympic Village. Sixty nations boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, while the Soviets and some of their allies retaliated by declining to take part in the 1984 Games in Los Angeles.

The end of the Cold War has eliminated the largest source of political conflict, and most Olympic controversies in recent years have centered on accusations. Olympic Games Location (modern day) The IOC, headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, sets and enforces Olympic policy. The site of the games is chosen, usually at least six years in advance. The Olympic Flag Putting five colored interlocking rings on a white background was conceived by Pierre de Coubertin. Almost a century after the flag's creation, the six colors, those of the rings (blue, yellow, black, green, red) and that of the background (white), still maintain their symbolism today. The Olympic symbol, the five interlocking rings, represents the union of the five continents and the meeting of the athletes of the world at the Olympic Games. Sites of the Summer Olympic Games 1896 - Athens, Greece 1904 - St.

Louis, Missouri USA 1906 - Athens, Greece* 1932 - Los Angeles, California USA 1936 - Berlin, Germany 1984 - Los Angeles, California USA 1988 - Seoul, South Korea 2016 - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2020 - Tokyo, Japan Olympics | Rio 2016 Schedule, Medals, Results & News search-form Spectacular skeleton Skeleton is a sport that requires complete focus, state-of-the-art equipment and a potent mixture of self-belief and bravery. Not only that, you also need power, poise and absolute precision. It is adrenaline-fuelled and human-powered! Meet the adventurous Olympians and relive skeleton’s most iconic moments - from Chamonix 1924 to Sochi 2014. Where were the last Olympics held? | Reference.com Where were the last Olympics held? A: Quick Answer As of 2014, the most recent Olympic games were the winter contests held in Sochi, Russia, in February 2014.

More than 2,800 athletes competed in the games, and 12 new events were introduced, including women's ski jumping and the ski half-pipe for men and women. Full Answer During the Sochi Olympics, six nations competed in the winter games for the first time. They were Malta, Paraguay, Timor Leste, Togo, Tonga and Zimbabwe. The summer and winter Olympic Games alternate every two years. Prior to the 2014 Sochi games, the 2012 summer Olympics were held in London. The 2016 summer Olympics are scheduled for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Olympic Games in 1996 | New Georgia Encyclopedia Olympic Games in 1996 Harvey K. Newman , Georgia State University, 08/09/2004 Last edited by NGE Staff on 10/18/2016 Explore This Article The Legacy of the 1996 Olympic Games From July 19 until August 4, 1996, Atlanta hosted the Centennial Summer Olympic Games, the largest event in the city's history.

Local leaders hoped to use the publicity to promote Atlanta's image as an international city ready to play an important role in global commerce. After wining the bid to host the games, Atlanta's preparations for the Olympics took more than six years and had an estimated economic impact of $5.14 billion. In the process Atlanta changed dramatically as new sports venues were built, park space was created, sidewalks and streets were improved, and housing patterns were altered. During the seventeen days of the Olympics, more than 2 million visitors came to Atlanta, and an estimated 3.5 billion people around the world watched part of the games on television . The 1996 Olympics created a significant legacy for Atlanta and its leaders. Preparations for the Games 1996 Olympic Games 1987 an Atlanta attorney and former football player at the University of Georgia , Billy Payne, conceived the idea of hosting the 1996 Summer Olympic Games. Atlanta mayor Andrew Young was among the first to join Payne in the quest to develop a bid and sell the proposal, first to local business leaders, then to the U.S. Olympic Committee, and finally to the members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The local organizing committee headed by Payne and Young produced a two-volume bid document outlining the city's plans for the sporting events, financial support, and accommodations for Olympic visitors. Major selling points of the bid were the warmth of southern hospitality and the city's unique heritage as both the birthplace of Martin Luther King Jr. and a major center of the civil rights struggle . Atlanta competed against five other cities for the right to host the 1996 Olympics: Athens, Greece; Belgrade, Yugoslavia; Manchester, England; Melbourne, Australia; and Toronto, Canada. Payne, Young, and other volunteers traveled around the world promoting the city's bid to IOC delegates. Griffin Bell and Sam Nunn The rich prize of hosting the Olympics resulted in a pattern of lavish gift-giving and providing favors to IOC members that cost the six cities competing for the games in excess of $100 million. After the selection of Atlanta in September 1990, rumors circulated that the city had used excessive gifts, or in some instances, bribes, to influence IOC voting, but no evidence came to light until documents were released as part of a 1999 congressional investigation into Olympic bidding in the wake of a scandal in Salt Lake City, Utah.

This pattern of attempting to influence IOC members appears to have been the norm among all the competing cities at the time. Preparations for the games were intense. Many of Atlanta's sports venues had to be expanded, and other entirely new venues needed to be designed and built. Funds came from a variety of sources, including more than $1 billion in public money as well as ticket sales and corporate sponsorships that were sold to many types of businesses, from television game show production companies to automobile, watch, and salad-dressing manufacturers. Private investment also came in the form of hotel construction as approximately 7,500 rooms were built between 1990 and the opening of the games. Olympic Village This brought the number of hotel rooms in the Atlanta area to more than 60,000. National chains opened themed restaurants along Peachtree Street in hopes of profiting from the crowds of Olympic visitors. The federal government spent millions of dollars on replacing sidewalks, posting pedestrian signs, planting trees, installing new lighting, and displaying public art.

As soon as the streets in the downtown area were fixed up for Olympic visitors, a representative of the city government leased space to temporary vendors in tents, stalls, and carts, creating a carnival atmosphere that became the subject of much controversy. Let the Games Begin The opening ceremony on July 19 attracted a capacity crowd of 83,000 to the Olympic Stadium for a display honoring southern culture and the 100th anniversary of the modern Olympic movement. Olympics The artistic success of the opening ceremonies gave way to problems when the athletic competitions began the next day. Members of the international press corps experienced transportation problems getting to venues near downtown from their housing in scattered locations throughout the metropolitan area. Many journalists were late or missed events as some buses broke down and a few drivers became lost. There were also delays in reporting the results of athletic events as a state-of-the-art computer system failed to deliver data from the various competition sites. This caused missed deadlines and added to the frustration of journalists from all over the world. Their reports on the games were critical of local organizers and the city itself. Those who came to watch the athletes were not disappointed by the 10,318 competitors representing 197 nations in 26 sports.

Other visitors came to Atlanta just to be a part of the huge event, creating a lively crowd enjoying free concerts in Centennial Olympic Park and other activities downtown. The pleasant mood of the Olympics changed suddenly in the early morning of July 27, when a pipe bomb exploded in Centennial Olympic Park during a concert, causing two deaths and more than 100 injuries. While the athletic competition continued, security became tighter for subsequent Olympic events. The Legacy of the 1996 Olympic Games Following the closing ceremony on August 4, there were mixed assessments of the games. Surveys showed that most visitors were impressed with Atlanta's efforts to host the games and left with a favorable opinion of the city. The members of the IOC were pleased with the athletic competition, the all-time high attendance, and the television coverage. On the other hand, they were critical of the commercialism surrounding the Atlanta games and the problems affecting international journalists. Downtown Atlanta received several tangible legacies from the Olympics, like its improved pedestrian environment. One of the preparations for the games included the construction of new housing and the conversion of existing buildings into lofts, which Centennial Olympic Park gave the city a round-the-clock population that helped reverse several decades of decline.

Housing in several low-income neighborhoods near downtown also changed in preparation for the games. For example, the Techwood Homes public housing project was replaced by mixed-income apartments and dormitories to house Olympic athletes. Many of Atlanta's sports facilities were replaced or upgraded for the Olympics, including the Olympic Stadium, which was later refitted as Turner Field , the home of Atlanta's professional baseball team, the Braves . The new Centennial Olympic Park provided additional greenspace and attracted investment in nearby housing and hotels. Atlanta's tourism industry also received a boost from the Olympics. During the five years after the Olympics, the number of conventions hosted by the city increased each year, and the number of international tourists also grew. The hosting of the 1996 Olympic Games made a lasting imprint on Atlanta, bringing increased attention and investment to the greater Atlanta area from around the globe. In 2006 the city celebrated the ten-year anniversary of the games with various ceremonies and celebrations, including the opening of the Centennial Olympic Games Collection at the Atlanta History Center in July. You Might Also Like

Question: How many Summer Olympic Games were held during the 1990’s?
Answer: Two