The Modern Olympic

Hye guys, do you know that it took 1503 years for the Olympics to return. The first modern Olympics were held in Athens, Greece, in 1896. The man responsible for its rebirth was a Frenchman named Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who presented the idea in 1894. His original thought was to unveil the modern Games in 1900 in his native Paris, but delegates from 34 countries were so enthralled with the concept that they convinced him to move the Games up to 1896 and have Athens serve as the first host. De Coubertin’s 1894 conference created the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which has run the Games ever since. The IOC chooses the host cities and sets the rules for competing. In recent years, its reputation has been hurt by scandals over corruption and bribery in the selection of the host cities. Baron de Coubertin saw the Olympics as a place in which sporting excellence could be celebrated. The ideal was to build international understanding and cooperation. The Olympic code promotes amateurism, or performance without payment, and professionals are allowed to participate only under certain rules. In Athens, 280 participants from 13 nations competed in 43 events, covering track-and-field, swimming, gymnastics, cycling, wrestling, weightlifting, fencing, shooting, and tennis. All the competitors were men. In 1924, the first truly successful Olympic Games were held in Paris, involving more than 3,000 athletes, including more than 100 women, from 44 nations. The first Winter Olympic Games were also held that year.

Beckham hold the 2012 Olympic Torch

The idea of the Olympic torch or Olympic Flame was first inaugurated in the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam. There was no torch relay in the ancient Olympic Games. However, torch relays in other ancient Greek athletic festivals including those held at Athens. The modern Olympic torch relay was first instituted at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin.