Olympic GamesA brief history
The modern Olympics were the idea of pierre de coubertin,a French aristocrat. They began in 1896
and, excepting the two World Wars, have been held every four years since.
According to the Olympic Charter, established by Pierre de Coubertin, the goal of the Olympic Movement is to contribute to building a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport practiced without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.
1896 ATHENS245 men from 14
nations competed. The Marathon was born. American
students dominated the
Athletics.
1900 PARIS1319 people
from 22 countries
entered. The Games were
eclipsed by the great exhibition.
Women competed for the first time.
•
1904 St.LOUIS687Competitors from 13 nations took
part.525 of the USA .
1908 LONDON2035 Men and women from 22 countries took part.
1912 STOCKHOLM
2547 Athletes from 28 countries
took part. Swimming and
Pentathlon included for the
first time. Electronic timing
devices were used for the first time.
1920 ANTWERPGermany, Austria , Bulgaria, Hungary
and Turkey were not invited.
• 1924 PARISOlympic motto was coined.Faster,higher and Stronger.
1924 PARISOlympic motto was
coined.Faster,higher and Stronger.
1928 AMSTERDAM3014 Athletes from 46 countries took part.
• 1932 LOS ANGELES• Automatic timing devices and the Photo finish Camera
were introduce.
1932 LOS ANGELESAutomatic timing devices and the Photo finish
Camera were introduce.
1936 BERLINJesse Owens USA won Four Gold Medals.
1948 LONDONGermany and Japan were not invited and
USSR did not sent a team.• 1952 HELSINKI• USSR Competed for the first time.
1952 HELSINKI
USSR Competed for the first time.
1956 MELBOURNEFirst Olympics held in the Southern
Hemisphere.• 1960 ROME• This was the last Games to which South Africa was
invited for 32 years.
1960 ROME
This was the last Games to which South Africa was
invited for 32 years.
1964 TOKYOFirst Olympics held in Asia, Judo and
Volleyball were introduce.
•
1968 MEXICO CITY
Mexico was controversial
because of the high altitude.
1972 MUNICHFull Scale drug testing began,USA lost the Basket ball final to USSR for the first time. Eleven members of the Israeli team were
murdered by Palestinian terrorists.
1976 MONTREAL The Games were boycotted by African Nations in
protest at the IOC’s refusal to bar New Zealand after a rugby tour of South Africa by its All Blacks team.
1980 MOSCOWUSA,Canada,West Germany and Japan
boycotted the Games.
1984 LOS ANGELESUSSR boycotted the Games as a revenge for the Moscow boycott. Daley Thompson UK won the
decathlon gold for the second Olympics in succession.
1988 SEOULFlorence Griffith Joyner won three gold and a silver for
the USA,Canadian Ben Johnson won the 100m in a world record time but was stripped of his gold three
days later after testing positive for steroids.
1992 BARCELONAFormer Soviet republics competed as the Unified Team under Olympic Flag. South Africa returned to Olympic
competition following the ending of apartheid.
1996 ATLANTA10744 Athletes from 197 countries participated.
Michael Johnson of USA completed an unprecedented double by winning the 200M and 400M sprint. He won
200M with a world record.
2000 SYDNEY10651 athletes from 199 countries took part. The
Triathlon was held for the first time.
2004 ATHENS11000 Athletes from 199 countries took part.
2008 BEIJING
HISTORIC OLYMPIC EMBLEMS
LONDON 2012
PHOTO GALLARY
0
50
100
1st Qtr 2nd Qtr 3rd Qtr 4th Qtr
East
West
North
Each new dawn brings the possibility of a new progress.
J.Jayakrishnan
END
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