20 Olympic facts you probably didn't know
The Rio Olympics start on 5th August.
With just a few days until the Olympics in Rio start we have gathered together some fun facts about the games.
Ancient Olympics
- The Ancient Olympics are thought to have originated in 776 BC. 2. Originally the games only took place on one day, by the time the Ancient Olympics ended they latest for five days. 3. An Olympiad is a period of four years and was originally the four-year interval between the Ancient Olympic games. 4. Olympia is the site of the ancient Olympic Games. 5. Fire was a divine element to ancient Greeks, fires were kept alight in front of their principal temples and in front of Olympia - hence the Olympic Flame. 6. In the ancient Olympics there were three criteria for an athlete, male, of Greek origin and free born. 7. There were only individual sports - no team events. 8. Only one person was crowned the winner of the ancient Olympics and given a wreath of olive leaves and a red woolen ribbon called a taenia. 9. In 393 AD the Olympics were banned and Olympia was left abandoned. 10. It wasn't until 1776 that Richard Chandler from the UK discovered the location of the ancient Olympics.
Modern Olympics
- A French man named Pierre de Coubertin was the founder of the modern Olympics, although others had tried before him. He founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894 in Paris and the first Olympics was held a couple of years later. 2. The first modern Summer Games were held in 1896 in Athens (Greece) and the first Olympic Winter Games in 1924 in Chamonix (France). 3. During the Opening Ceremony all of the countries' delegates join the procession in alphabetical order, except for Greece which goes first, and the host country which goes last. 4. The rings represent the union of five continents, but NOT the continents themselves. The colours (including the white background) were chosen by Pierre de Coubertin because they represent the colours of the flags of all nations at the time. 5. The Olympic motto is three Latin words: Citius - Altius - Fortius meaning Faster - Higher - Stronger. 6. The Olympic Anthem was composed by Spiros Samaras, to words by Kostas Palamas, for the first Games in Athens in 1896. In 1958 it was officially adopted by the IOC for the 1960 games. It is now sung, or played during the opening ceremony as the Olympic flag is hoisted. It is also played after the Olympics have finished during the closing ceremony as the flag is lowered. 7. Today the official duration of the Olympics is no more than 16 days. 8. The first ever Modern Olympics only saw men compete, women had to wait until 1900 when they were allowed to compete in tennis and golf. 9. From 1896 til 1928 the medals ceremony traditionally took place during the Closing Ceremony of the Games, after that they have taken place after each event. 10. The names of all the medallists are engraved on the walls of the main stadium where the Olympic Games take place.