Do you play any sport and someday you would like to join the Olympics? Let’s discover five outstanding Olympic games facts for kids.
The very first Olympics began as part of an Ancient Greek festival, which celebrated Zeus, the Greek God of sky and weather. It took place in 776 BC. The whole competition lasted for up to six months, and included games like wrestling, boxing, long jump, javelin, discus and chariot racing. Unfortunately chariot racing is no longer an Olympic sport. The first modern Olympics took place in Athens, Greece. Baron Pierre de Coubertin created the games we know so well in 1896. The Olympics were named after the place they were first held in Olympia, Greece.
The Olympic rings were first produced in 1913. It was the founder of the modern Olympic games, Baron Pierre de Coubertin who also designed the Olympic rings. The five colours of the rings and the white background reflect the colours on the flags of all participating continents. The idea of this is to represent everyone. The rings overlap to show how all the athletes from all over the world come together in unity to represent their country. The five continents are Africa, America, Asia, Europe, and Oceania.
Yes, if you were a talented artist from the years 1912 until 1948, you could have participated in the Olympics. During this time, painters, sculptors, architects, writers, and musicians all took part in the Olympic games. Artists competed for medals by creating works of art that often celebrated sporting successes.
Art was abandoned as an Olympic sport because artists were considered to be professionals. During this time Olympic athletes were required to be amateurs in their sport. Today, professional athletes can take part in all but two sports in the Olympics, these are boxing and wrestling.
The first-place Olympic medals were originally made of solid gold. The 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden was the last time gold was used in the first place medals. Since then instead of having medals made from solid gold, the first-place medals are now covered in only 6 grams of gold. The majority of the medal is actually made from silver.
Women competed in the 1900 Games in Paris for the very first time. During these games, a total of 22 women competed in five sports. These sports were tennis, sailing, golf, croquet, and equestrianism. Charlotte Cooper from Britain became the first female individual Olympic champion when she won the women’s singles tennis competition. Tennis and golf were the only sports where women could compete in individual disciplines. Women were not allowed to compete in boxing until the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
We hope you enjoyed learning more things about Olympic games as much as we loved teaching you about them. Now that you know how majestic these sports are, you can move on to learn about other sports and activities like: Table Tennis, Swimming, Diving, Resistance Training, Hiking, Alternative Movement and Exercise Videos.
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