The Olympic Games are very popular and eagerly awaited in many countries around the world. However, over their centuries-old history, they have experienced ups and downs, they were banned and allowed again, boycotted and even turned into an event of a regional rather than a global scale.
The first documented Olympic Games were held in Greece in 776 BC. However, there is information that may indirectly indicate that such competitions were held earlier. In particular, there is a legend according to which the Olympic Games were first organized by Hercules in 1210 BC, although no evidence of this has yet been found.
From the documents that have come down to us, it became known that the Olympic Games at first included only one type of competition - running, moreover, they were not numbered, as in our time, but received their name from the name of the winner. Scientists also found out that at the time of the games, a truce should have been concluded between the warring states, however, unfortunately, this rule was repeatedly violated. The games were canceled several times, and when Christianity became the official religion, they were completely banned, christening pagan fun.
The Olympic Games were forgotten for many centuries, but there is information that even in the 17th century, similar events, only of a regional scale, were held in a number of countries, including Greece, France, England, etc. poet Panayotis Sutsos. The poet has repeatedly sent petitions to the ruler and talked about how important it is to revive the Olympic Games. However, he managed to achieve the result only many years later with the help of the Greek public figure Evangelis Zappas, who in 1859 held the Olympics with his own savings.
Several decades later, the idea of the Greeks was strongly supported by the Frenchman Pierre de Coubertin. He was convinced that it was the French, who had suffered a shameful defeat in the war with Prussia, who should strengthen not only their bodies, but also their souls. Moreover, Monsieur Coubertin dreamed of uniting athletes from all over the world in order to finally achieve mutual understanding and end bloody wars.
Thanks to the efforts of Pierre de Coubertin, the first Summer Olympic Games were held in 1896, after which they were repeated every four years and are still being held. In 1924, the first Winter Olympics were organized. At first, they were held in the same year as the Summer ones, but, starting in 1994, they began to be arranged with an interval of two years. Later, the Olympics received special development: since 1960, special competitions have been held for disabled people, and since 2010 - for juniors from 14 to 18 years old.
