Olympics

Olympics : 

Olympics Presented by:- Mark Evans

Introduction : 

Introduction In ancient Greece it was a Panhellenic festival held every fourth year and made up of contests of sports, music, and literature. Since 1896 the name has been used for a modified revival of the ancient Games, consisting of international athletic contests held at four-year intervals. The original Games included footraces, the discus and javelin throws, the long jump, boxing, wrestling, the pentathlon, and chariot races. After the subjugation of Greece by Rome, the Games declined; they were finally abolished about AD 400. They were revived in the late 19th century through efforts led in part by Pierre, baron de Coubertin; the first modern Games were held in Athens. The first Winter Games were held in 1924. The direction of the modern Olympic movement and the regulation of the Games are vested in the International Olympic Committee, headquartered at Lausanne, Switz. Until the 1970s the Games adhered to a strict code of amateurism, but since that time professional players have also been allowed to participate. Programs for the Summer Games include competition in archery, baseball, basketball, boxing, canoeing, cycling, diving, equestrian sports, fencing, field hockey, football (soccer), gymnastics, handball, judo, the modern pentathlon, rowing, sailing, shooting, softball, swimming, table tennis, tennis, track and field (athletics), the triathlon, volleyball water polo, weightlifting, and wrestling. The program for the Winter Games includes the biathlon, bobsledding, ice hockey, lugging, skeleton sledding, snowboarding and numerous ice skating and skiing events. Events are periodically added and dropped.

Pythian games : 

Pythian games In ancient Greece, various athletic and musical competitions held in honor of Apollo, chiefly those at Delphi. The games were held from before the 5th century BC to the 4th century AD. They took place in August of the third year of each Olympiad (the four-year period between Olympic Games). Events were similar to those of the ancient Olympics.

Special Olympics : 

Special Olympics International sports program for people with intellectual disability. It provides year-round training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type summer and winter sports for participants. Inaugurated in 1968 through the efforts of Eunice Kennedy Shriver and the Chicago Park District, the Special Olympics was officially recognized by the International Olympic Committee in 1988. Games are held every two years, alternating between winter and summer sports. International headquarters are in Washington, D.C.

Pan American Games : 

Pan American Games Quadrennial sports festival. The games, conceived in 1940 as an event for the nations of the Western Hemisphere, were first held in 1951. Patterned after the Olympic Games and sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee, the games are conducted by the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO), or Organización Deportiva Panamericana (ODEPA), headquartered in Mexico City. All major international sports and several more specialized events are included in the regular program. They are held the year preceding the Olympics, in various host cities.

Athletics : 

Athletics Variety of sport competitions held on a running track and on the adjacent field. It is the oldest form of organized sports, having been a part of the ancient Olympic Games from c. 776 BC to AD 393. Modern events include various sprint and middle- and long-distance races, relay races, hurdling, steeplechase, high jump, pole vault, long jump, triple jump, shot put, discus throw, hammer throw, javelin throw, decathlon, pentathlon, and heptathlon. Cross-country running, marathons, and speed walking, which are rarely held on a track, are usually considered adjuncts of athletics. Events are held indoors and outdoors, and records are kept separately; some events are modified or eliminated for indoor competition.

Shot Put : 

Shot Put Field event in which a metal ball is heaved for distance. It derives from the ancient event of “putting the stone”; later a shot (cannonball) was substituted. A 16-lb (7.3-kg) shot was adopted for men in the first modern Olympic Games (1896); an 8.8-lb (4-kg) weight is used by women.

Heptathlon : 

Heptathlon Women's athletics competition. Contestants take part in seven different track-and-field events: 100-m hurdles, shot put, high jump, long jump, javelin throw, and 200- and 800-m runs. The two-day event replaced the women's pentathlon in the Olympic Games after 1981.

Windsurfing : 

Windsurfing Sport of riding a sailboard, a modified surfboard with a movable mast. Steered from a standing position, sailboards are capable of moderately high speeds and are usually used on lakes, or close to shore—sometimes within the surf zone—on the ocean. The sport originated in the U.S. in the late 1960s and quickly grew in popularity. It was introduced at the Olympic Games in 1984.

Show Jumping : 

Show Jumping Competitive riding of horses through an obstacle course. Horses run the course one at a time, and the winner is judged according to jumping ability and speed. Individual and team jumping events have been part of the Olympic Games since 1912. The President's Cup is the world team championship.

Pole Vault : 

Pole Vault Track-and-field event consisting of a vault for height over a crossbar with the aid of a long pole. It became a competitive sport in the mid-19th century and was included in the first modern Olympic Games. In competition, each vaulter is given three chances to clear a specific height. The bar is raised progressively until a winner emerges.

Pentathlon : 

Pentathlon Athletic contest entailing five distinct types of competitions. In the ancient Olympic Games, the pentathlon included a sprint, the long jump, discus throw, javelin throw, and a wrestling match. A modified version (with a medium-distance race substituted for the wrestling match) was included in the revived Olympic Games (1912–24). The modern, or military, pentathlon, included in the Olympics from 1912 and made a team event in 1952, includes an equestrian steeplechase, fencing, pistol shooting, a freestyle swim, and a cross-country run. Women's pentathlon competition (shot put, high jump, hurdling race, sprint, and long jump) was replaced in 1981 by the heptathlon.

Javelin Throw : 

Javelin Throw Track-and-field sport of throwing a wooden or metal spear for distance. It is hurled after a short run and must land point-first. The men's javelin is 8.5 ft (260 cm) long, the women's 7.2 ft (220 cm). Included in the ancient Greek Olympic Games as part of the pentathlon, the javelin throw has been part of the modern Olympic program since its inception in 1896. A women's event was added in 1932. See also decathlon; heptathlon.

Long Jump : 

Long Jump Track-and-field sport consisting of a horizontal jump for distance. It was formerly performed from both standing and running starts, as separate events, but the standing long jump is no longer included in major competitions. The running long jump was an event in the Olympic Games of 708 BC and in the modern Games from 1896. In 1948 the women's long jump became an Olympic event.

Gymnastics : 

Gymnastics Competitive sport in which individuals perform optional and prescribed acrobatic exercises, mostly on special apparatus, in order to demonstrate strength, balance, and body control. Part of the ancient Olympic Games, gymnastics was virtually reinvented in the modern era by the German Friedrich Jahn (1778–1852). The sport became part of the revived Olympics in 1896; women's gymnastics was instituted in 1936. Men's events include the horizontal bar, parallel bars, pommel horse, vaulting, rings, and floor exercises. Women's events include the balance beam, uneven parallel bars, vaulting, floor exercises, and rhythmic sportive gymnastics.

Diving : 

Diving Sport of plunging into water, usually headfirst and often following the execution of one or more acrobatic maneuvers. It emerged as a competitive sport in the late 19th century and became part of the Olympic Games in 1904. Dives are performed from a firm platform 5 or 10 m (16.4 or 32.8 ft) above the water, or from a springboard 1 or 3 m (3.3 or 9.8 ft) above the water. In Olympic contests, only the 10-m platform and 3-m springboard are used. Contestants are required to do certain dives, as well as dives of their own choice, each rated according to its degree of difficulty. Judges score each dive, and the total score is multiplied by the degree of difficulty.

Marathon : 

Marathon Long-distance footrace run on an open course of 26 miles 385 yards (42.2 km). First held at the revived Olympic Games in 1896, it commemorates the legendary feat of a Greek soldier who is said to have run from Marathon to Athens in 490 BC, a distance of about 25 mi (40 km), to report the Greek victory at the Battle of Marathon, after which he dropped dead. Marathons today are usually open events for both men and women, often run by thousands of participants, including the venerable Boston Marathon (established 1897). The women's marathon became an Olympic event in 1984.

Weightlifting : 

Weightlifting Sport in which barbells are lifted competitively or as an exercise. The two main events are (1) the snatch, in which the barbell is lifted from the floor to arm's length overhead in a single, continuous motion; and (2) the clean and jerk, in which it is lifted first to the shoulders and then, after a pause, to arm's length overhead. Contestants are divided into 10 body-weight categories ranging from flyweight to superheavyweight. Lifts may range to over 1,000 lbs (455 kg) in the heavyweight divisions. The origins of modern competition are to be found in 18th- and 19th-century strongman contests. The first three Olympic Games (1896, 1900, 1904) included weight lifting, as have all games after 1920.

Olympia : 

Olympia Ancient sanctuary and site of the Olympic Games, northwestern Peloponnese, southern Greece. Located 10 mi (16 km) inland from the Ionian Sea, it was on the northern bank of the Alpheus River. A centre of Greek religious worship, it held the primarily athletic contests in honor of Zeus every four years, beginning in 776 BC. In the temple of Zeus, built c. 460 BC, was the statue of Zeus by Phidias, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Excavations have uncovered many ruins, including temples and the stadium.

Thank You And Good Day : 

Thank You And Good Day