Olympic Games

From the Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can change

Olympic flag

The Olympic Games is a sports event that takes place in a different city every four years. It includes many of the best athletes from all over the world. The first modern Games were held in Athens in 1896.

There are separate games for the summer and winter. The Summer Olympic Games has many sports, including athletics (track and field events such as sprint, marathon, and discus), swimming, gymnastics, cycling, boxing, soccer, weightlifting, wrestling, basketball, and many other sports. The Winter Olympic Games also have many sports, which include skiing, speed skating, luge, bobsled, figure skating, and ice hockey.

Athletes win medals made of gold, silver, and bronze for coming in first, second, and third place.

The most recent Summer Olympics were held in 2004 in Athens, Greece; before that, they were held in Sydney, Australia in the year 2000. The next ones will be held in Beijing, China, in 2008, and then London, Great Britain in 2012.

The most recent Winter Olympics were held in 2006 in Torino, Italy; before that, they were held in Salt Lake City, United States, in 2002. The next ones will be held in Vancouver, Canada in 2010.

1 The Olympic Rings
2 Opening ceremony
3 Olympic cities
- 3.1 Summer games
4 Other websites

[change] The Olympic Rings

The Olympic Rings became the symbol of the Olympic Games in 1913. The five rings represent the fact that countries from all five continents of the world take part in the games. Each ring is a different color, and at least one of the five colors (Blue, Yellow, Black, Green, and Red) can be found on the flag of every country in the world. The rings do not represent particular continents.

[change] Opening ceremony

The Olympic torch, which is lit at the opening ceremony

In the opening ceremony, the stadium is opened. Special events happen like songs, performances, dances, etc. The Olympic theme song is played (it was written by John Williams) The torch is brought in after being carried around the world, from Athens. Doves are released, but fake ones — they stopped using real ones after they started to fly into the torch and burn! Then, every athlete from each country comes into the stadium in alphabetical order, except for the country where the games are held, which goes last.

[change] Olympic cities

[change] Summer games

Year	Location	Notes
1896	Athens, Greece
1900	Paris, France
1904	Saint Louis, Missouri, United States
1906	Athens, Greece
1908	London, United Kingdom
1912	Stockholm, Sweden
1916	Berlin, Germany	cancelled because of World War I
1920	Antwerp, Belgium
1924	Paris, France
1928	Amsterdam, Netherlands
1932	Los Angeles, California, United States
1936	Berlin, Germany
1940	Helsinki, Finland	cancelled because of World War II
1944	London, United Kingdom	cancelled because of World War II
1948	London, United Kingdom
1952	Helsinki, Finland
1956	Melbourne, Australia	Horse races were held in Stockholm, Sweden
1960	Rome, Italy
1964	Tokyo, Japan
1968	Mexico City, Mexico
1972	Munich, Germany
1976	Montreal, Canada
1980	Moscow, Soviet Union
1984	Los Angeles, California, United States
1988	Seoul, South Korea
1992	Barcelona, Spain
1996	Atlanta, Georgia, United States
2000	Sydney, Australia
2004	Athens, Greece
2008	Beijing, China	On February 2nd a plan to drive a plane into the stadium during the opening ceremony was discovered, to be perpetrated by Al Queda. The plan was immediately stopped and arrests were made.
2012	London, United Kingdom