Olympic Games
Athens
Summer 2004

Greece, the Beginning

The first documented Olympic Games were in 776 BC. They were held every four years in ancient Olympia, after which they were named. The prize for Olympic champions, no awards were given to second or third place athletes, was an olive wreath, the kotinos.

The importance of the ancient Olympic Games was such that warring states would cease their conflicts in order to honour the ceremonies - a concept that has been carried forward throughout the history of the Games as the Olympic Truce.

The Olympic Games were revived in Athens in 1896, following the efforts of the French Baron Pierre de Coubertin and the Greek Dimitrios Vikelas. They deeply believed in the universal and noble competition of sport and the "ethos" of the ancient Olympic ideals.

The celebration of these ideals, the Olympic spirit and the Olympic values, have been uniting countries around the world ever since, with each country adding its own character to the Games.  From: Athens 2004.

The Flag

According to most accounts, Baron Pierre de Coubertin (founder of the modern Olympic Movement) adopted the rings in 1913 after he saw a similar design on an artifact from ancient Greece. The five rings represent the five major regions of the world: Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania: Blue = Europe, Yellow = Asia, Black = Africa, Green = Australia/Oceania and Red = the Americas.

Every national flag in the world includes at least one of the five colors, which are (from left to right) blue, yellow, black, green, and red. It is important to emphasize that Pierre de Coubertin never said nor wrote that the colors of the rings were linked with the different continents.

The Olympic Flag made its debut at the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp, Belgium. At the end of each Olympic Games, the mayor of that host-city presents the flag to the mayor of the next host-city. It then rests at the town hall of the next host-city for four years until the Opening Ceremony of their Olympic Games. The plain white background of the Olympic flag is symbolic of peace throughout the games.

Click on the images below to find out more about two of the sports to watch at the games:

        
Basketball                              Rowing

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