††The Olympic Games are sporting contests, originally held in Olympia in ancient Greece.
The first Olympic Games were held in 776 BC and repeated every four years until they were abolished by the Roman Emperor Theodosius in 393 AD. They were re-introduced in 1896 after an idea by Frenchman Baron Pierre de Coubertin.
Winter Olympic Games began in 1924. They included skiing, ski-jumping, skating, ice hockey, bob sleigh and tobogganing.
The Olympics began as a kind of religious festival, intended to honour Zeus and promote peace throughout the Greek Empire. Greeks measured time by the games - the four-year period was called an 'Olympiad'. There were running races, wrestling, boxing, horse-racing and pentathlon.
