Olympic Games Overview

The Olympic Games are one of the foremost platform of sports offering summer and winter sports with a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games become the leading sports tournament of the world with participation of more than 200 nations. The Olympic Games take place every four years in which each Summer and Winter Games alternate after two years. Idea of modren Olympic Games was taken from Ancient Olympic Games which used to take place in Olympia of Greece from the 8^th century BC to the 4^th century AD. International Olympic Committee is the governing body of the Olympic Movement which created Olympic Charter to define its structure and authority. The Winter Olympic Games, the Paralympic games for disable people and the Youth Olympic games for teenage athletes have been included in the Olympic Games due to evolution of the Olympic Movement during the 20^th and 21^st centuries.

The IOC has made adjustments to different economic, political and technological variations. These changes have caused Olympic games to move from pure amateurism to professionalism. The 1916, 1940 and 1944 games were not held due to World wars. The Olympic Movement comprises of International Sports Federation, National Olympic Committees and organization committees for each specific Olympic Games. The host city of games is choosen by IOC which also manages funds according to Olympic Charter. Sports to be included in the Games are also decided by IOC. Over 13,000 athletes participate in 33 different sports and nearly 400 events of Summer and Winter Olympic Games. First, second and third place winners are awarded with Gold, silver and bronze medals respectively.