ATHENS hosted the first games of the modern Olympics in 1896, but there are many other hidden facts of the Olympic Games. As the 33rd Olympics draws near in Paris, France, Saturday Telegraph, hereby presents rules and historical facts of the games which comes up every four years.
*MODERN Olympism was conceived by Pierre de Coubertin. The French- man also initiated the International Athletic Congress held in 1894 in Paris.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was constituted on June 23rd 1894. *The first Olympic Games took place in the 8th century B.C. in Olympia, Greece. They were held every four years for 12 centuries. Then, in the 4th century A.D., all pagan festivals were banned by Emperor Theodosius I and the Olympics were no more.
However, the athletic tradition was resurrected about 1500 years later: The first modern Olympics were held in 1896 in Greece. *In ancient Greece, athletes didn’t worry about sponsorship, protection, or fashion – they competed naked. *Back then, the games lasted five to six months. * Women were only allowed to compete in the Olympics from 1900. *THE Olympics symbol consists of five Olympic rings used alone in one or several colours. *The five colours of the rings are mandatorily blue, yellow, black, green and red. The rings are interlaced from left to right. The blue, black and red rings are situated at the top, the yellow and green rings are at the bottom. *THE Olympic symbol represents the union of the five continents and the global meeting of athletes at the Olympic Games. *THE Olympic flag has white background with no border. The Olympic symbol is located in the centre with its five colours. *Olympic Motto: “Citius, Altius, Fortius” expresses the message of the IOC to all who belong to the Olympic Movement, telling them to excel in accordance with Olympic spirit.