Olympics Games is one of the most prestigious athletic events of that happen after a gap of 4 years. These games are based on the Ancient Greek games that were also organized to show the prowess of the athletes. Excavations show that Olympia hosted the games in the ancient times. The modern games were organized after France lost the Franco-Prussian War. The French ruler Pierre de Coubertin acted as one of the major driving force behind the modern Olympic Games.
Venue of First Modern Olympics
The modern Olympic Games, which were mean to attract the attention of people in different athletic events, started in Greece. According to the records, the organizers of the event selected Greece as the venue of the first modern Olympic Games as an honor to the original Olympic Games.
Popularity
The first modern Olympic Games, which was held in Greece in 1896 was well received by people and become popular instantly. The first games attracted around three hundred athletes in this Olympics. The Olympic Games that was held in the year 1900 in Paris had more contestants. By this time, the event received immense popularity among people of many countries. This was the first time, when female contestants were allowed to contest in the races and prove their talent.
Noting the increasing popularity of the Olympic Games, the organizers decided to divide the competitions in two separate categories. Therefore, they started the Summer Olympics and the Winter Olympics. The concept of Winter Olympics not only increased the popularity of the games but increased the number of sporting events in this event. There are many sporting events in the current version of the Olympics and now the athletes have to qualify several hurdles for participating in the Olympic Games.
Winter Olympics
To make the Winter Olympics popular and to relate with the climatic conditions, the organizers of this athletic event developed different types of ice and snow sports. Records indicate that the snow and ice sporting events were selected for the Winter Olympics had uniqueness. Since these sports could not be held in the summer months. Therefore, the format of summer and winter games is completely different.
The Winter Olympics as well as the Summer Olympics were initially scheduled to take place in the same year. The organizers also decided that both the events would be held at an interval of four years. However, they later decided to increase the gap between the Winter Olympics and the Summer Olympics. Initially, the games were held at a difference of few months. However, the plan was changed soon and now the duration between Winter Olympics and Summer Olympics is two years.
Current scenario
In 2010, the winter Olympics held in Vancouver, Canada. In the last 100 years, there have been many changes within the committee that has been organizing the games. The Paralympics games are held for those athletes that have physical disabilities. The Youth Olympics have now been organized for teenage athletes. At the last count, there were 13,000 athletes that competed at the winter and Summer Olympics in over 33 different sports and 400 sporting events.
