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What is meant by the Olympic Games?

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.

Then the Olympic Games developed a lot, and many sports were added to the list of games in which participation is allowed during the Olympics until their number reached 28 sports in 2004 AD, the most important of which are the following:

• 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 games held in the Winter Olympics differ from the Summer Olympics, and the Winter Olympics include Ice skating, hockey, and curling.

The Olympic Games' most recognizable symbols

Many symbols were used during the Olympic Games in the past and continue to this day as an inseparable part of the Olympic events, including the following:

Olympic Games logo

The French Baron de Coubertin came up with the idea of ​​the necessity of a symbol of the Olympic Games by launching the modern Olympic Games logo, which is represented by five overlapping rings as a symbol of the cooperation and participation of the five continents in this event. To access the current colors with the white background representing the colors of the flags of the world, and the colors of the rings symbolize the continents as follows:

• Yellow: Asia. 

• Black: the continent of Africa. 

• Green: Australia. 

• Blue: Europe. 

• Red: the two continents of North and South America.

Olympic Games anthem

The official Olympic anthem is heard twice; The first is the moment when the flag of the Olympic Games is raised at the opening, and the second is when the flag is lowered at the closing ceremony, and it was the beginning of the implementation of the idea in the Olympics in 1896 AD with the participation of 14 countries from different countries of the world. The conclusion is without errors, and the anthem is a hymn for the Olympics resulting from purely Greek efforts. Its author is the opera composer Spiridon Samaras of Greek origin, and its words were composed by the Greek poet Costis Palamas, and the poet was keen to choose the words that ignite the fuse of eternal human meanings; Like hope, courage, and strength.

Olympic torch

The idea of ​​lighting a fire goes back to ancient Greece. Myths stated that it symbolized the fire that the giant or the god Prometheus stole from the god Zeus, and the flame was an essential symbol in the ancient Olympic Games, taking care to keep it burning throughout the period of the events. In modern times; This tradition is represented in lighting the first flame in Greece, then it is carried through runners or through various other means; To roam the whole world in succession until it reaches its final stop or in the place where the Olympic Games will be held for the beginning of the opening ceremony there as a symbol of the unending spirit of competition.

Olympic Games Opening Ceremony

The Olympic Games are marked by special artistic and cultural opening ceremonies, often drawn from the traditions of the host country. Among the well-known opening ceremonies are the following:

• 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.

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