- First ancient Olympic Games were held in 776 B.C. in honour of Greek God Zeus.
- First modern Olympic Games were held in 1896 in Athens, Greece.
- Olympic Games are so called because they were held in the city of Olympia.
- The person known as the father of modern Olympic Games is Pierre de Coubertin.
- The International Olympic Committee which was formed by Pierre de Coubertin in 1894 has its headquarters at Lausanne, Switzerland.
- Olympic Motto is “Citius-Altius-Fortius”(swifter, higher, stronger).
- The colours of the five rings on the Olympic symbol representing five continents (The Americas are treated as one continent) are Red, blue, green, yellow, and black.
- The Olympic flag was first flown during the 1920 Olympic Games at Antwerp, Belgium. The Olympic symbol appears on the Olympic flag which has a white background.
- The Olympic oath was written by Pierre de Coubertin. One athlete recites the oath on behalf of all the athletes at the opening ceremony. The Olympic oath was first taken during the 1920 Olympic Games by Belgian fencer Victor Boin.
- The first opening ceremonies were held during the 1908 Olympic Games in London.
- The Greek team always leads the procession of athletes in the opening ceremony followed by all the other teams in alphabetical order in the language of the hosting country. The last team is always the team of the hosting country.
- Olympic games were not held in the following years due to the two world wars 1916, 1940 and 1944.
- Women participated for the first time at the Paris Olympic Games of 1900.
- The country which won the most medals at the first Olympic Summer Games in 1896 – Greece (47)
- The Olympic flame made its first appearance at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympic Games.
- The cities which have held the summer Olympics twice are Athens (1896 & 2004), Paris (1900 & 1924), London (1908 & 1948) and Los Angeles (1932 & 1984)
- The city which has the hosted the summer Olympics thrice is London (1908, 1948 and 2012)
- The country which has hosted the summer Olympics the maximum number of times is the United States – Los Angeles (1932 & 1984), St. Louis (1904) and Atlanta (1996)
- To qualify as an Olympic sport, that sport must be widely played by men in at least 75 countries and on four continents, and by women in at least 40 countries and on three continents.
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Famous Personalities of Olympic Games