Tag: olympia

The Upcoming Vancouver Winter Olympics 2010

13 January 2010

Games are as much as part of world history as our oceans or even breathing. Ancient Egyptians are rumored to have participated in a variety of competitive games, and in the 8th century BC, the Greeks began competing in sporting events during the Olympic Games.

The games held in Olympia, Greece were stopped during the 5th century AD, after a span of over a millennium, and they were once again revised in the 19th century by Baron Pierre do Coubertin. Today’s Olympic Games take place every two years - winter and summer games - and bring the entire world together to compete for medals.

2010’s Winter Olympics will be held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and this will mark the third time Canada has hosted the event as a country, but only the first that British Columbia has had the honor.

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A quick history of the Olympic Games

29 July 2008

If you’re a fan of the Olympic Games, you may wonder how it all started. In ancient Olympia, Greece, the Olympic Games were held every four years. The first Olympic game was recorded in 776 B.C. almost 3,000 years ago.

At the time, this festival was a great gathering that took place in order to honor the Greek gods. Olympics were held during this festival period. Though multiple Gods were thought to be appeased by the festival, the most important among them was Zeus. It was thought that if the gods weren’t pleased, children died, lands were conquered, crops didn’t grow, and civilization couldn’t flourish. The Greeks called their festival Olympiad.

In the first 13 Olympic Games, there was only one event that took place: the sprint. The sprint event was about 108 meters long at the time, and only the finest Greeks were allowed to compete. The games were allegedly suspended for some 9 centuries. Upon returning, the Pentathlon was added, and it had different events. There was the discus throw, javelin toss, jumping, running, and wrestling.

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