Here is the Olympic Games History Ancient Olympic Games and Modern Olympic Games.
Once every four years, men from all over Greece came to compete in a great athletic festival in Elis, in western Greece (Women were not allowed to compete). This was called the Olympic games because the place was called Olympia. It was a religious festival to honor the Greek gods Zeus and Hera.
2016 Summer Olympics (XXXI Olympiad) host city has not yet been determined, various cities have begun a bidding process for that honour. The International Olympic Committee will select the host city at its meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, on October 2, 2009. The 2016 Summer Paralympics will also be held in the same city and organized by the same organizing committee.
The Olympic Games have been the competition grounds for the worlds greatest athletes.
Until 1920 only the summer games were held. In 1924 the winter games began in Chamonix, France. The summer and winter games are each held every four years. Until 1992, they were both held in the same year. Since then, the summer games are held during the first year of an Olympiad, the winter games during the third year.
( Image : High Priestess Maria Nafpliotou lights a flame pot. Photo credit: torchrelay.beijing2008.cn)
The Beijing Olympic Flame began the “Journey of Harmony“, a 130-day, 85,128-mile (approx 137,000 kilometres) journey on March 24 2008, from the site of ancient Olympia in Greece to Beijing (China) where the 2008 summer games will begin in August 8 2008.