The Greeks were the first to start the Summer Games in 776 BC (some 3000 years ago) in the plain of Olympia in Peloponnese. The ancient Summer Games grew and continued to be played every four years for nearly 1200 years.
In 393 AD, the Christian Byzantine Emperor Theodosius I abolished the Games because of their pagan influences. The successful campaign to revive the Summer Games was started in France by a young Frenchman Baron Pierre de Coubertin late in the 19th century. The first of the modern Summer Games opened on Sunday, March 24, 1896, in Athens, Greece.
Summer Games have been broadly divided into two major categories – Winter Olympics and Summer Olympics events. Number of great Olympians participate in both types of events to show their sporting talents. Initially, the Summer and the Winter Games were held in the same year but later it was decided that both of the events will be held after an interval of four years individually, and alternatively after a mutual gap of two years. The Winter Summer Games were started in 1924.
Winning an Olympic medal in any sport is an astonishing achievement; it is like a dream come true for a sports person and Olympian athletes. At present, almost 100,000 Olympians are known all around the world, who spread the message of Olympism. Some of the Olympian names that are considered the best among great athletes are: Frankie Fredericks, Merlene Ottey, Raelene Boyle, Ben Johnson, Marion Jones, Florence Griffith-Joyner, Heike Drechsler, Renate Stecher, Emil Zatopek and many more. At the first Summer Games, 311 male Olympian names appeared, but there were no female competitors.
Last Updated On : May 23, 2016
Team USA defeated team Serbia to win its third straight basketball gold medal in Men’s Basketball tournament. The winning team’s coach Mike Krzyzewski was utmost delighted with his team’s victory on the final day of Rio 2016 Olympic Games. USA won by a 19-15 lead and this is their 25th straight victory at the Olympic Games in addition to the 15th straight victory in the basketball tournament.
Mo Farah of Great Britain has bagged the gold by winning the 5000 meters final and completed the double double. According to media reports, with this victory Farah has become the second man in the history of Olympics to be able to successfully defend his 5000 and 10000 Olympic championships. His victory is being hailed on Twitter with some calling him the greatest long distance runner of all time. Meanwhile, the silver medal has gone to Paul Kipkemoi Chelimo and Dejen Gebremeskel of Ethiopia has bagged the bronze.
In the women's event, Caster Semenya of South Africa won the Olympic gold in the 800m. She won in one minute 55.28 seconds. Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi won the silver medal and Kenya's Margaret Nyairera Wambui bagged the bronze.
Chen Long of China has taken gold medal in the Rio Olympics 2016 after defeating Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia, who has won a silver in men’s badminton today. Lee was facing pressure not to lose the match. He beat Lin Dan of China in the semi-final. Lee and Lin, both are considered to be the best players of their time. With Lee’s defeat, Malaysia has missed out the chance of getting an Olympic gold medal.
Italy came up with a win and is heading to men's volleyball final against Brazil, after defeating USA. The US men's volleyball team tried all their survival skills, but could not stand in front of Italy. The winning team's thriller was 30-28, 26-28, 9-25, 25-22, 15-9. After it was over, US coach John Speraw said that the team was not skilled enough and they did not execute on some of the opportunities, which Italy flawlessly did
French boxer Estelle Mossely celebrated her 24th birthday by winning a gold medal in Women’s lightweight boxing championship. She defeated China’s Yin Junhua after the end of four rounds that had the two defending champions leveled on the scorecards of three judges. The bronze medals were earned by Mira Potkonen of Finland and Anastasia Beliakova of Russia.
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