The Olympic Games began over 2,700 years ago in

Olympia, in southwest Greece.

The Games were part of a religious festival and

they were held in honour of Zeus. They were staged

every four years at Olympia. People from all over

the Greek world came to watch and take part.

The Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the modern

Olympics in Athens in 1896 to reunite the world

through sports.

The motto

The Olympic motto is

made up of three Latin

words:

"Citius, Altius, Fortius", whi

ch means

"Faster, Higher, Stronger".

“The most important thing

is not to win but to take

part ”

The Olympic ValuesThe founder of the Olympic

Games, Pierre de Coubertin, saw in

the Games an ideal opportunity to

develop a set of universal principles

or values that could be applied to

education and society as a whole, as

well as to sport itself.

These Values can be interpreted as:

• RESPECT– fair play; knowing one’s

own limits; and taking care of one’s

health and the environment

• EXCELLENCE– how to give the best

of oneself, on the field of play or in

life; taking part; and progressing

according to one’s own objectives

• FRIENDSHIP – how to understand

each other through sport despite any

differences

The Olympic Games were held every four years but

it did not take place in 1916, 1940, 1944 due to the

World War I and II.

• The logo were designed in 1913 . It

is compose of five interlocking rings

coloured:

BLUE (Europe); YELLOW (Asia);

BLACK (Africa); GREEN (Australia);

RED (America).

• The colours are very important because each of the countries forming the Olympic Family has one of these colours as part of their national flag, including the white background.

•They are linked to represent the athletes of the world who meet at the Games.

THE RINGS

It is a sport which involves a performance of

exercises requiring physical

strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and

balance.

Women's events: Uneven bars, balance beam, floor

exercise and vaults.

Men's events: floor exercise, pommel horse, still

rings, vault, parallel bars and high bar.

Number of competitors: 196; 98 men and 98 women.

Scores are given by

a panel of judges

and they take into

account the

degree of difficulty

and the quality of

the execution.

Strength, flexibility

and balance are

keys to success in

this breathtaking

and hugely

competitive sport.

They are a multi-sport event for athletes with

physical, mental and sensorial disabilities. This

includes mobility disabilities, amputees, visual

disabilities and those with cerebral palsy.

They are held every four years, following the

Olympic Games, and governed by the

International Paralympic Committee (IPC).

The flame is a practice

continued from the ancient

Olympic Games.

It represents a number of

things, including purity and

the endeavor for perfection

and it is kept alight until de

Games have concluded.

• Women were first

allowed to participate in

1900 at the second

modern Olympic Games.

• The Olympic Hymn was

first played at the 1896

Olympic Games in Athens

but it wasn’t declared the

official hymn by the IOC

until 1957.