Originating in Ancient Greece, the Olympic Games were not distinguished at first by a large scale and a wide range of participants. Not too many sports were represented in the first Olympics. With the revival of the Olympic movement in the 19th century, the situation changed. Today the Olympics are held regularly and include both summer and winter sports.
At their core, the Olympic Games are sports events of an international scale that are held at regular intervals. In ancient times, such games became a national holiday, during which strife and discord were forgotten, but with the advent of Christianity, the Olympics became a sign of paganism and gradually faded away. The forgotten traditions of the Olympics that existed in Ancient Greece were revived through the efforts of Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who became an active popularizer of international competitions for athletes from around the world.
The modern Olympic movement has become an integral part of world culture. Major complex sports competitions with the participation of world sports stars are held regularly, every four years. At first, the Olympic Games were exclusively summer. Only in 1924 were the Winter Olympics added to them. Until the mid-90s of the last century, the "white" Olympics were held in the same year with the summer games, after which they were shifted by two years for reasons of convenience in preparing for this important event.
Each Olympiad has its own number, with the account being kept from the first Olympic Games, held in 1896. The Summer Olympic Games were numbered even if, for objective reasons, they were not held. This was the case, for example, during the Second World War, when the XII and XIII Olympic Games were to be held. But when the Winter Games are numbered, missed Olympiads are taken into account.
The crucial moment in organizing the Olympic Games is the choice of the venue. As a rule, the International Olympic Committee grants the right to host such large-scale events not to a country, but to a specific city. At the same time, several cities usually participate in the competition, each of which, together with the national Olympic committee of a particular country, thoroughly defends "its" candidacy, presenting weighty arguments to an authoritative commission.
Since the 60s of the last century, another type of competition has appeared in the Olympic movement - the so-called Paralympic Games. They are traditionally attended by athletes with certain health limitations. As a rule, such competitions for persons with disabilities take place after the regular Olympic Games and in the same sports arenas. Paralympic athletes compete with each other in both summer and winter.
The Paralympic Games clearly demonstrate that even serious physical impairments cannot be an obstacle to high sporting achievements if a person has faith in himself and the will to win.
