Written By Ananya Agarwal (Grade 10)
We have entered the leap year and personally it’s the Olympic Games more than that extra day in February that excites me. The Olympic Games is a celebration of sport and honours all the dedicated athletes who leave no stones unturned to clinch that piece of golden metal. It’s a platform for talented sports people to achieve their life long dreams and bring great pride to their nation. Without doubt, it is the highest level to prove one’s sporting talent and compete with the best of the best across the globe. And the fact that it only takes place once in four years, further enhances the competition’s prestige.
One might not know, but it is believed that Hercules (who is a Greek god) actually started the games and the Olympics were the greatest sporting festival of the ancient world. The first written evidence of the Olympics is found in 776 BC. It was held in the honour of the Greek god Zeus. After the Roman empire conquered Greece, the games continued but its standards and quality slowly declined.
Then in the modern age, Pierre de Coubertin, the father of the Olympics, made a plan to revive the Olympic Games. The first modern Olympic Games was held in Athens, Greece in 1896. 280 male participants came from 12 nations and participated in 43 events. It was in the 1900 games held in Paris when women were first included in the games. Since then the games have kept evolving with more participants and sports to participate in. The Winter Olympics debuted in 1924 in the Paris Olympics and it was also the first time there was a closing ceremony. The Paralympics began in 1948 at a hospital for war veterans. It was the brainchild of German neurologist Sir Ludwig Guttman as he wanted his patients who were all veterans of World War II to rehabilitate quickly.
This year the Olympics will be held in Paris, and it will be the sixth time to be hosted in France.
Featured Image Courtesy – Fat Tire Tours
