The Olympic Games are an international sports festival held periodically, but how many years are the Olympic Games held? The Olympic Games are held every four years and are divided into Summer and Winter Olympics, which are held separately from each other. Crowning a sports champion for each different kind of sports and giving him the title of best athlete, after winning all his competitors trained in their countries in an organized manner, and holding the title for 4 years after that. As for the Olympics, its origins historically go back to ancient Greece. 776 B.C Hence, the idea of the Olympic Games began to appear and become popular.
The role of the World Olympic Committee
The Olympic Committee was founded by the French Pierre de Coubertin in 1894 AD, and it was initially based in Paris, then moved to Lausanne in Switzerland during the First World War and settled there. This committee still plays an important role in organizing the modern Olympiad in its current form. It is the primary supporter of all contributors and participants from all over the world, especially the youth, as well as its role in maintaining sports integrity and Olympic values in societies, and its regular sponsorship of the opening and closing ceremonies.
Sports Included in the Olympic Games
In its beginnings, the modern Olympic Games were limited to only 9 basic summer sports in 1896, which are:
- athletics; It includes a number of sports; Such as jumping, throwing, jogging, middle and long-distance races.
- Cycling.
- fencing.
- gymnastics; Weight lifting.
- wrestling swimming.
- tennis.
- Shooting.
- kayaking; Badminton.
- baseball. Basketball.
- boxing.
- Canoeing (canoe-kayak).
- Riding.
- football.
- handball.
- hockey.
- judo.
- Modern pentathlon that combines 5 sports.
- softball; taekwondo Table Tennis.
- Archery or archery.
- Triathlon or triathlon.
- sailing.
- volleyball.
The Olympic Games' most recognizable symbols
Olympic Games logo
- Yellow: Asia.
- Black: the continent of Africa.
- Green: Australia.
- Blue: Europe.
- Red: the two continents of North and South America.
Olympic Games anthem
Olympic torch
Olympic Games Opening Ceremony
- Entry of the head of the host country along with the president of the Olympic Committee.
- Play the official national anthem.
- Entry of athletes in a special procession.
- Pigeon release.
- Presentation of the Olympic laurel wreath award.
- Initiate formal speeches.
- Opening of the Olympic Games or the Olympics.
- Raising the flag of the Olympic Games.
- The official Olympic anthem was played.
- Swearing-in by competitors, coaches, and judges.
- Lighting the Olympic torch.
- Commencement of the technical program or artistic activities.
The countries organizing the Olympics open their activities in a way that befits and them through some official ceremonies, and in the presence of the country’s president and the head of the Olympic Committee, to increase the attendance of the festival in the media.
Women's participation in the Olympic Games
In its early days, the Olympic Games were restricted to men and women were not allowed to compete, and married women were not even allowed to attend the spectacle, and it came to the effect that a married woman’s attendance at the Olympics would subject herself to the death penalty, and despite that, the woman insisted on participating, she wanted Participation in the Olympics within the running race, 3 local races were held in ancient Greece for women and separately on a relatively short track, and the winners were crowned with crowns made of olives that were also given to men when they won. Women’s participation in the Olympics officially began in 1900, in the Paris Olympics, and women were participating in tennis and golf games only, then several years later, many other women’s sports were added until boxing was included in the list in 2012 to cancel all restrictions on women’s participation In various sports, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics is the first to roughly balance men and women, with 49% of the women participating.