Olympic Games History

The Greeks were the first to start the Summer Games in 776 BC (some 3000 years ago) in the plains 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

The Summer Games originally included only one event, the stadion race, which was a short sprint measuring between 180 and 240 meters. Over the years, more events were added including boxing, wrestling, chariot racing, pentathlon, wrestling, long jump, javelin throw and discus throw among others.

The Olympic flag was adopted in 1914 and was first used in the 1920 Summer Games in Antwerp, Belgium. The flag depicts five interlocking rings (blue, yellow, black, green, and red) against a white background. These rings represent the five inhabited continents: Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australia and Europe.

The official Olympic Motto is "Citius, Altius, Fortius", a Latin phrase meaning "Swifter, Higher, Stronger". The concept of Olympic mascot was first introduced in the year 1968 which is usually an animal or human figure representing the cultural heritage of the host country.

The 19th Summer Games are scheduled to be held in Beijing, in 2008, while the 20th version of the Summer Games will be hosted by London in 2012.