OLYMPIC GAMES THE HISTORY ORIGIN
Beginning in 776 B.C., the Olympic Games were held in the Valley of Olympia in Greece - famous for its magnificent temples of the gods Zeus and Hera - as a religious festival dedicated to the Olympian Gods involving one event, a stade race held over 192 meters. Athletes in those days competed every Olympiad (a unit of time measuring four years). It was believed that the heroes and gods were the first to compete and considered competition a noble endeavor that combined a positive balance of the body, mind and soul. Some myths attribute the first Olympic Games to the mighty Hercules, who organized foot races and rewarded the victors with a wreath of wild olive leaves. The root of the word "athlete" comes from the Greek word "athlos," which means "contest," and has been linked to Hercules because it suggests the highest level of physical achievement and moral virtues. By about 650 B.C., the Ancient Games were held over five days, involving running, wrestling, the pentathlon, horse riding and chariot racing. Participants came to compete from every corner of the Greek world aiming at the ultimate prize - an olive wreath and a "heroic" return to their city-states. Athletes competed in the nude and upon victory were awarded a crown of wild olive leaves. Women and slaves were strictly forbidden to attend the Games under the punishment of death.

BANNED ::
The Ancient Games were held for almost 1200 years until 393 A.D. when Roman Emperor Theodosius I banned all pagan festivals (the Olympics celebrated the Greek god Zeus). He asserted that the Games placed an excessive public focus on athletic and spiritual affairs and abolished them. REVIVAL :: On June 23, 1894, French educator Baron Pierre de Coubertin, speaking at the Sorbonne in Paris to a gathering of international sports leaders, proposed that the ancient games be revived on an international scale. The idea was enthusiastically received. The International Olympic Committee was formed and the Modern Olympics were born. The first Modern Olympics were held two years later in Athens, Greece, where 245 (all men) athletes from 14 nations competed in the ancient Panathinaikon Stadium to large and ardent crowds. Nine sports were included in the 1896 games. No female athletes were present in the 1896 games. South Boston's James Connolly won the hop, step and jump (triple jump) and became the first Olympic champion in more than 1,500 years. Winners were awarded a silver medal and an olive branch. MODERN :: The Olympic Movement has survived wars, boycotts and terrorism to become a symbol of the ability of the people of all nations to come together in peace and friendship. Over the years, the Olympic Games traveled to different countries and continents, and in 2004, they returned to the country of their birth and the city of their revival for the hosting of the XXVIII Modern Olympic Games. In between, the 1976 Games were boycotted by 32 nations - most of them from black Africa - because the IOC did not ban New Zealand who earlier had toured racially-segregated South Africa in a rugby tournament. The 1980 Games were boycotted by 64 nations, led by the USA, to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan on Dec 27, 1979. The 1984 were boycotted by 14 communist Eastern Bloc nations, led by the USSR, as revenge for 1980. GAMES OF THE OLYMPIAD (SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES)