Olympics

Olympics is the biggest multi-sports event on the planet. Thousands of athletes from around the world represent their nations in the event that is held every four years.

Olympics history:

The history of the Olympics games dates back more than 2,000 years. The first written evidence of the official Games dates from 776 BC, when the Greeks began measuring time in Olympiads.

Later in 393 AD, the Olympic games were banned by Roman Emperor Theodosius I for religious reasons. The Games were not revived until the modern era. The Olympic Games were revived at the first Olympic Congress, organised by Baron Pierre de Coubertin and held at the Grand Amphitheatre at the Sorbonne University from 16 to 23 June 1894.

Delegates from more than a dozen countries had participated in that meeting that eventually led to the formation of the International Olympic Committee. The first modern Olympic Games were finally held in Athens in 1896 while Paris hosted the Games in 1900. The Paris Games was a historic event as it saw the participation of women athletes as well.

While almost 1000 athletes had participated in the Paris Games, 22 of them were women. British tennis player Charlotte Cooper was the first female Olympic champion. Women participation in the Games have increased at a meteoric rate in recent decades. The 2012 London Games was the first edition of the Olympics where women competed in all sports.

The athletes received the gold, silver and bronze medals for the first time at the 1904 Olympic Games in St. Louis (Missouri). The 1904 Games also included the first known disabled athlete, George Eyser. The 1912 Games held in Stockholm were the first Olympic Games to include competitors from all five continents.

The tradition of setting up Olympic village began from the Paris Games in 1924. Since then, it has become customary for the host nation to build Olympic village.

Most medals in Summer Olympics:

USA is well ahead of other countries when it comes to success in the Summer Olympics. No country has been as prolific as the USA in terms of winning Olympics medals so far. USA has won a total of 2638 medals in all the years of competition. They hold the record for winning the most gold, silver and bronze medals. While no other country has won even 400 gold medals, USA has won a staggering 1065 gold medals.

Here is the list of top 20 nations with most medals in the Olympics:

India at the Olympics:

India first participated in the Olympics games in 1900. Only Norman Pritchard had represented the country in that edition and had won two silver medals in athletics. India also became the first-ever Asian country to win an Olympics medal.

India sent a team to the Olympics for the first time in 1920 and has participated in the Summer Olympics in every edition since then. Overall, India have won 35 medals in the Games so far. Their best performance came in Tokyo 2020 when they won 7 medals.

India have enjoyed most success in Men’s field hockey in the Games. Between 1928 and 1980, India won eleven medals including a record 8 gold medals. India won 6 of those 8 gold medals consecutively from 1928 to 1956.

Here is a list of India’s medal tally in each edition of the Olympics games:

Paris Olympics 2024:

The Olympics has returned to Paris after a long gap of 100 years. The Paris Games 2024 will be the 33rd edition of the Games. The event is scheduled to take place from July 26 to August 11. More than 10,500 athletes representing 206 countries will be taking part in the Games.

The Paris Olympics will be a historic event as it will be the first-ever Games to have equal numbers of men and women participating.

The sporting events will be held across 11 venues  – Stade De France, Roland-Garros Stadium, Parc Des Princes, Place De La Concorde, Stade Vélodrome, Grand Palais, Champ De Mars Arena & Eiffel Tower Stadium, Esplanade Des Invalides, Château De Versailles, Teahupo’O, Yves-Du-Manoir Stadium.