Olympic Games

Sports Name: Multi Sports

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Updated On : 02 Mar, 2024

Full Name
Olympic Games

Type
international

Location
Worldwide

Disabled
No

Conducted
Once in 4 years

Gender
Both

Trivia

Michael Phelps of United States has the most number of medals in Olympic history (28 Golds, 3 Silvers, 2 Bronze).
London has hosted Olympics the most number of times (1908, 1948, 2012).

The modern Olympic Games or 'Olympics' are the leading international multi-sport event in which thousands of athletes from more than 200 countries participate. The introduction of modern Olympic Games was inspired by the ancient Olympic Games which were held as religious and athletic festivals in Olympia, Greece, from the 8th century BC to 4th Century AD. Baron Pierre de Coubertin, from France, is known as the inventor of the modern Olympics. The International Olympics Committee (IOC) is the governing body of the Olympic Movement, established in 1894. As the decision maker, the IOC is responsible for choosing the host city for each competition and also organizes funds for the games as per the Olympic Charter. It is supported by the International Sports Federations (IFs) and National Olympics Committee.

There are eight categories of Olympic Games, organized by IOC:

Olympics (Summer & Winter) –The first modern Summer and Winter Olympics were held in Athens, Greece in 1896 & Chamonix, France in 1924, respectively.
Paralympic Games (Summer & Winter) –These are organized for athletes with disability. The first Summer and Winter Paralympic were held in Rome in 1960 and Örnsköldsvik, Sweden in 1976, respectively.
Youth Olympic Games (Summer & Winter) –These are organized for teenage athletes (between 14 to 18 years). The first Summer and Winter Youth Olympics were organized in Singapore in 2010 and Austria in 2012.
Special Olympics (Summer & Winter) –These are organized for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. The first Summer and Winter Special Olympics were held in Chicago, U.S. in 1968 and Colorado, U.S. in 1977, respectively.

Competition Format

The Olympic Games (Winter & Summer) are held after every four years, the Olympic and Paralympic Games being organized in the same year. However, each Summer and Winter Olympics is held in a leap of two years. Special Olympic Games are organized between Summer and Winter Olympics.
In the first Summer Olympics, only five sports were contested by 13 nations which have now increased to 28 according to the last Summer Olympic Games, held in 2016. More than 13,000 athletes (both Men & Women) from more than 200 nations participated in the last event.
The Winter Olympic Games consists of 15 types of sports.
The number of sports remains more or less same for Paralympics, Youth Olympics as in Summer and Winter Olympics.
Qualification rules for each of the Olympic sports are prescribed by the International Sports Federations (ISFs).
For individual sports, participants simply qualify through achieving a certain place in a major international event or according to the IF's ranking list. As a general rule, maximum three individual athletes are allowed to represent a country in a competition.
For team sports, qualifier rounds are held. Only one team may represent a nation for a sport.
Athletes compete in various rounds to win the competition (in each sport). The first, second, and third-place finishers (athletes or team) in every event receive Olympic medals: gold, silver, and bronze, respectively.
Summer Sports- Summer Sports are so called because the games can be played during any season (preferably in summer) and there is no specific requirement of games to be conducted on ice as in the case of winter sports.
Winter Sports- Winter sports are so called because of the need of cold weather for conducting the events, especially outdoor games which requires snow or ice. Hence, the Winter Olympics can only, be hosted in countries such as North America, European Nations and certain Asian Countries.