Title: Olympic Games Facts for Kids
Headings: Olympic Games facts for kids
Olympic Games facts for kids
Contents
Ancient Olympics
Modern Games
1896 Games
Changes and adaptations
Winter Games
Youth Games
Olympic Movement
Opening
Closing
Medal presentation
Sports
Amateurism and professionalism
Host nations and cities
Olympic Games host cities
Images for kids

Content: Ancient Olympic Games
Stadium in Olympia, Greece
The Olympics of Ancient Greece featured mainly athletic but also combat and chariot racing events. During the Olympic Games all struggles among the participating city-states were postponed until the games were finished. The origin of these Olympics is shrouded in mystery and legend According to legend, it was Heracles who first called the Games "Olympic" and established the custom of holding them every four years. The most widely accepted date for the beginning of the Ancient Olympics is 776BC; this is based on inscriptions, found at Olympia, of the winners of a footrace held every four years starting in 776BC. The Ancient Games featured running events, a pentathlon (consisting of a jumping event, discus and javelin throws, a foot race and wrestling), boxing, wrestling, and equestrian events. There is no agreement on when the Games officially ended, but many historians think it is 393AD, when the emperor Theodosius I declared that all Pagan religious practices should end. Another date might be 426AD, when the next emperor Theodosius II ordered the destruction of all Greek temples. After the Olympics stopped, they were not held again until the late 19th century. Modern Games
Baron Pierre de Coubertin
An attempt to copy the ancient Olympic Games was the L'Olympiade de la République, a national Olympic festival held annually from 1796 to 1798 in Revolutionary France.