Olympic History Ancient Modern

The Olympic Games originated in Olympia, Greece in 776 BCE (traditional founding date) as a religious festival honoring Zeus, featuring athletic competitions among Greek city-states. They were held every 4 years for over 1,000 years until Roman Emperor Theodosius I banned them in 393 CE as pagan. The modern Olympics were revived by Pierre de Coubertin at Athens in 1896, featuring 241 athletes from 14 nations in 9 sports — far smaller than today's 10,000+ athletes from 200+ nations in 30+ sports. The Olympics have reflected the 20th century's politics: the 1936 Berlin Games (Nazi propaganda, Jesse Owens winning 4 golds); 1968 Mexico City (Black Power salute by Tommie Smith and John Carlos); 1972 Munich (11 Israeli athletes murdered by Palestinian terrorists); 1980 Moscow (US boycott over Soviet Afghanistan invasion); 1984 Los Angeles (Soviet boycott). The IOC has been consistently criticized for corruption (Salt Lake City bribery scandal), complicity with authoritarian hosts, and the economic burden on host cities (Montreal paid off its 1976 debt in 2006, 30 years later). The Paralympics (for athletes with disabilities) began in 1960 and have grown to rival the main games in scope.