For History/Sociology of Sports

1. Olympic History Map
By: Katie Lehane

2. Introduction
• The Modern Olympic Games began from the year 1896 and were held in Athens,
Greece, the place of birth of Olympics. It was the efforts of French educator Baron
Pierre de Coubertin and others that led to the revival of the Olympic event.The
Olympic Games have since been held successfully twenty five times, with the last
Olympic Games also happening in Athens in 2004.The Games were successfully
held after a gap of four years but it was only on three occasions that the Olympic
Games could not be held.These were the warring periods in the history of modern
world. In the year 1916, 1940 and 1944 the Olympic Games could not take place due
to the destruction and devastation caused by the 1st and 2ndWorldWars.The XXIX
Olympiad is now all set to take place in Beijing from 8th August 2008 to 24th August
2008. Given below is the chronology of the modern Olympic Games.

3. Athens, 1896
• The first Modern Olympic Games were held in the place of birth of the Olympics.

4. Paris, 1900
• Women took part for the first time in the history of modern Olympics.

5. St Louis, 1904
• These were the first modern Olympic Games, where gold, silver and bronze
medals were awarded for first, second and third prize respectively.

6. London, 1908
• Athletes from 22 nations represented their respective countries at the Olympic Games.

7. Stockholm, 1912
• At these games, for the first time competitors came from all five continents
symbolized in the Olympic rings.

8. Antwerp, 1920
• The Olympic Games at Antwerp, Belgium had several firsts. For the first
time the Olympic oath was uttered, the Olympic flag hoisted and doves
released to symbolize peace.

9. Paris, 1924
• TheVIII Olympiad were the last ones to be organized under the presidency
of Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of modern Olympics.

10. Amsterdam, 1928
• These games were the first to bear the name SummerOlympic Games and
the Olympic torch was also lit for the first time.

11. Los Angeles, 1932
• Colombia and the Republic of China made their first appearances at the
Olympic Games.

12. Berlin, 1936
• Jesse Owens, an African-American athlete in the times of racial
discrimination, became the star of the Games and won four gold medals in
the sprint and long jump events.

13. London, 1948
• The XIV Olympiad was officially opened by King GeorgeVI.

14. Helsinki, 1952
• At the 1952 Olympic Games, for the first time a team from USSR
participated.

15. Melbourne / Stockholm, 1956
• The Olympic Games were celebrated in Melbourne, Australia. However the
equestrian events were held five months earlier in Stockholm, Sweden due
to quarantine regulations in Australia.

16. Rome, 1960
• At the Rome Olympics, Soviets won 15 of the 16 possible medals in women's
gymnastics.

17. Tokyo, 1964
• Sixteen nations made their first appearance in theTokyo Olympics.

18. Mexico, 1968
• These are the only Olympic Games held in Latin America. Also at these
games, East andWest Germany send their separate teams for the first time.

19. Munich, 1972
• The Games were marred by the Munich massacre. On September 5, 1972
Palestinian terrorists belonging to the Black September Organization abducted
eleven Israeli athletes from the GamesVillage and subsequently killed them.

20. Montreal, 1976
• The Games were officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II and several of the
members of the royal family of Britain were present on the occasion. Also owing
to the Munich massacre, the security arrangements were very tight.

21. Moscow, 1980
• The USA boycotted the Games as a protest to USSR's invasion of
Afghanistan.

22. Los Angeles ,1984
• Owing to the American boycott of the 1980 Olympic Games, Soviet and
other Eastern bloc countries including Cuba, East Germany and others also
boycotted the Los Angeles Games.

23. Seoul, 1988
• Guam, Maldives, Cook Islands, Aruba, American Samoa,Vanuatu, Saint
Vincent, Grenadines and SouthYemen participated in the Olympic Games
for the first time at the Seoul Olympics.

24. Barcelona ,1992
• With the exception of Afghanistan, it was for the first time since 1972
Munich Olympics that all the IOC countries participated in the Games.

25. Atlanta, 1996
• Twenty four countries made their Olympic debut this year.The Games were
also affected by violence as on July 27, 1996 the Centennial Olympic Park
was bombed killing two and wounding 111 others.

26. Sydney, 2000
• The 'Millennium Games' or the 'Games of the New Millennium' generated
much interest world wide and the host city Sydney also won the 'Pierre de
CoubertinTrophy', in recognition of the collaboration and happiness shown
by the people of Sydney during the event.

27. Athens, 2004
• At the Athens Olympic Games all the 202 nations affiliated to the
International Olympic Committee participated at the Games.The Athenians
put up a spectacular cultural show and fireworks during the opening and
closing ceremonies.

28. Beijing, 2008
• The Beijing Olympics are due to be held fromAugust 8th to August 24th.
The Games will be co-hosted by six other cities of People's Republic of
China.

29. London, 2012
• The London Olympics 2012, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad, is going
to occur in London, England, United Kingdom and is scheduled from 27 July to 12
August 2012. London has the pride to become the first city in the world to host
the modernOlympic Games the third time, first being in 1908 and then in 1948.

30. Work Cite
• http://olympics.sporting99.com/olympics-history.html