The Olympics

The Olympics 

by:Jakob Timmerman

The Olympic Games are from the athletic contests held at the ancient Greek city for almost 1200 years. The ancient Greek games ended in 393 AD. Many years would pass before the Olympics would come back in 1896. The modern games have been held every four years since 1896 except for the ones in 1916, 1940, and 1944, which were canceled because of World Wars I and II. Women first began competing in the Olympics in 1900. The games were traditionally held only in the summer, and in 1924 the Winter Games were added. After 1992 the Winter and Summer Games were no longer held in the same year. The Winter Games were scheduled for 1994 and held every four years after that. The Summer Games remained on their same four-year schedule as always.

Ancient Olympics

The Olympic Games begun in 776 BC. The popularity of the games was so good that the four-year period between games begun. Like almost all other ancient Greek sporting things, the Olympic Games were part of a religious festival. The Olympics were held in honor of the god Zeus. The games were staged in the wooded valley of Olympia which was a spiritual gathering place and was occupied by great temples for Zeus and Hera. There are a lot of myths surrounding the origin of the games both Zeus and the legendary Hercules have been credited for starting the event. According to a poem by a guy named Pindar written in 250ish BC, Pelops created the games in order to celebrate the victory that made him a king.

At First, the Olympics had only one competition, it was a footrace of about 210 yards.  Eventually a race twice as long as the race that was first added. By 708 BC, more racing events had been added as well as wrestling and the pentathlon, a five-part event that included running, wrestling, jumping, and throwing the discus and javelin. In time, boxing, chariot racing, and other events.

Present Time

Now a days, 206 nations and territories have competed in the Olympics. The Olympics this year were supposed to happen it Tokyo, Japan, but have been postponed until 2021 due to the coronavirus. But now unfortunately, the Olympics might be canceled next year in 2021 due to the coronavirus. My final note for you today is that even though you like sports and playing them, stay safe.