The games were first recorded in 776 BC, though they likely started at least 500 years before that. They began as part of a festival honouring the Greek gods. Over time as more participants came, the number of events grew as well.
With the rise of Roman power the Olympics faded. In 393 AD, they were outlawed by Emperor Theodosius I, in an attempt to eliminate pagan rituals.
Pierre de Coubertin, a French baron began in 1892 proposing that the Olympics be brought back as a permanent event to take place every for years. In 1894 a body of seventy-nine delegates from nine countries voted unanimously to hold the first games in Athens. The International Olympic Committee was founded and by 1896 had elected Coubertin as President. In 1924, winter games were added and women began taking part.
Now the Olympics have become a competition amongst cities and countries just for who will get to host them. Millions of dollars are invested to improve and build new sporting arenas. Many events have been added, with each Olympics seeming to see more. The 2010 Winter Olympics, held in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia, saw eighty-two nations send 2,566 athletes to compete in eighty-six events. The 2008 Summer Olympics, the largest yet, consisted of 302 events participated in by 11,028 athletes, from 204 nations.
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