The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (French: Jeux olympiques[1]) are leading international

sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes
from around the world participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games are held
every four years, with the Summer and Winter Games alternating by occurring every four years
but two years apart. The Olympic Games, which originated in ancient Greece as many as 3,000
years ago, were revived in the late 19th century and have become the worlds preeminent
sporting competition. From the 8th century B.C. to the 4th century A.D., the Games were held
every four years in Olympia, located in the western Peloponnese peninsula, in honor of the god
Zeus. The first modern Olympics took place in 1896 in Athens, and featured 280 participants
from 13 nations, competing in 43 events. The Olympic Movement uses symbols to represent the
ideals embodied in the Olympic Charter. The Olympic symbol, better known as the Olympic
rings, consists of five intertwined rings and represents the unity of the five inhabited continents
(Africa, America, Asia, Oceania, Europe). The coloured version of the ringsblue, yellow,
black, green, and redover a white field forms the Olympic flag. These colours were chosen
because every nation had at least one of them on its national flag. The flag was adopted in 1914
but flown for the first time only at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium. After the
success of the 1896 Games, the Olympics entered a period of stagnation that threatened their
survival. The Olympic Games held at the Paris Exposition in 1900 and the World's fair at St.
Louis in 1904 were side shows. The Games in Paris did not have a stadium, but were notable for
being the first time women took part in the Games. When the St. Louis Games were celebrated
roughly 650 athletes participated, but 580 were from the United States. The Winter Olympics
was created to feature snow and ice sports that were logistically impossible to hold during the
Summer Games. In 2010, the Olympic Games were complemented by the Youth Games, which
give athletes between the ages of 14 and 18 the chance to compete. The Olympic Games are
considered the world's foremost sports competition with more than 200 nations participating.[2]