• It was designed by Baron Pierre de Coubertin.

OLYMPICS OLYMPIC MOTTO

• Olympic Motto ‘Citius, Altius, Fortius’ is the
• The Olympic Games were held for the first time by Latin motto meaning ‘Faster, Higher and
the Greeks in 776 BC on Mount Olympus, in Stronger’ composed by Father Didon in 1897.
honor of the Greek God, Zeus. They were stopped • The motto was introduced in 1924 at the Olympic
by a royal order of the Roman Emperor Games in Paris.
Theodosius in AD 394.
• These games were revived in 1894 by the efforts OLYMPIC FLAME
of a French Baron Pierre de Coubertin and the
first modern Olympic Games were started in • The Olympic flame symbolizes the continuity
Athens the capital of Greece on 6th April, 1896. between ancient and modern games. It was at the
Separate winter Olympic Games began in 1924. Amsterdam Games in 1928 that for the first time
Women have been participating in the Olympics an Olympic flame was ceremonially lighted and
since 1900. burned in a giant torch at the entrance of the
• The Olympic Games are organized after every stadium. The modern version of the flame was
4-years. adopted in 1936 at the Berlin Games.
• The idea of Olympic Flame was given by Dr. Carl
FOUNDER AND GOVERNING BODY Diem of Germany.

• on 23rd June1894, Baron Pierre de Coubertin OLYMPIC MEDALS

founded the International Olympic Committee
(IOC) to govern the Olympic Movement • Olympic champions are rewarded with medals
(comprising International Sports Federations and certificate. The winning athlete or sports
(ISF’s), National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and persons receive a Gold Medal which, is 60 mm in
Organizing Committees for each specific games). diameter and 3 mm thick and is made of 92.5%
• IOC chooses the host city and the games to be silver plated with 6 gm of gold.
contested organization and funding is made by the • Gold, Silver and Bronze medal were introduced in
host city. 1904, hosted by USA.
• International Sports Federation (ISF) determines
the qualification rules for each Olympic. OLYMPIC MASCOT
• The Head office of International Olympic
Committee (IOC) is at Lausanne (Switzerland). • The Olympic Mascot(s) is/are a character, usually
an animal native to the area or occasionally
OLYMPIC SYMBOL human figures, who represents the cultural
heritage of the place, where the Olympic and
• It contains five rings or circles linked together to Paralympic Games are taking place.
represent the sporting friendship of all people. • Since the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble,
Each ring is of a different colour i.e., blue, yellow, France, the Olympic Games have had a mascot.
black, green and red. The rings are meant to The first major mascot in the Olympic Games was
represent five continents viz Africa (Black), Misha in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.
America (Red), Asia (Yellow), Australia (Green) • The first official Olympic mascot was Waldi, the
and Europe (Blue). dachshund, at the 1972 Games in Munich.

OLYMPIC FLAG THE WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES

• The Olympic Flag was created in 1913 at the • These are a major international sporting event that
suggestion of Baron Pierre de Coubertin. It was occurs once every 4 years.
adopted in Paris in June, 1914, but it was raised • Unlike the Summer Olympics, the Winter
over an Olympic stadium for the first time at the Olympics feature sports practiced on snow and
Antwerp games (Belgium) in 1920. There is also ice.
a second Olympic Flag, which is used for the • The first Winter Olympics, the 1924 Winter
Winter games. These flags are made of white silk Olympics, was held in Chamonix, France.
and contain five intertwined rings of the Olympic • The games were held every 4 years from 1924 until
Emblem. 1936, after which they were interrupted by World
• From left to right the rings are Blue (Europe), War II.
Yellow (Asia), Black (Africa), Red (America) and • The Olympics resumed in 1948 and was again
Green (Australia). At least one of these colors is held every 4 years.
found on the flag of every country. • Until 1992, the Winter and Summer Olympic
• The flag is 3 m long and 2 m wide. The emblem Games were held in the same years, but in
placed in the center is 2.06 m by 60 cm. accordance with a 1986 decision by the
International Olympic Committee (IOC) to place • Swimmer Michael Phelps of USA is the most
the Summer and Winter Games on separate 4- decorated Olympian with 28 medals including 23
year cycles in alternating even-numbered years, Gold. The Soviet Gymnast Larisa Latynina is
the next Winter Olympics after 1992 was in 1994. second with 18 medals.
• In 2014 Olympic games were held at Sochi, • Greek Gymnast Dimitros Loundras is the
Russia. youngest Olympian to compete in Olympics.
• The 2018 winter Olympic games were held in • Oscar Swahn holds records as the oldest
Pyeongchang County, South Korea. Norway Olympian at the time of competition, the oldest
topped the medal tally by winning 14 Gold, 14 person to win gold, and the oldest person to win
Silver and 11 Bronze. an Olympic medal.
• The 2022 Winter Olympics was held in Beijing, • 1960 Olympics were the first to be televised on TV.
China. • The highest recorded total cost was the
2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, costing
PARALYMPICS HISTORY approximately US$55 billion. The 2016 Rio de
Janeiro Summer Games experienced the biggest
• The Stoke Mandeville Games later became the loss recorded at approximately $2 billion (USD).
Paralympic Games which first took place in • A total of 40 sports are in the Olympics, including
Rome, Italy, in 1960 featuring 400 athletes from 32 in the upcoming Paris 2024 Summer Olympics
23 countries. Since then, they have taken place and eight in Milano Cortina 2026, the next Winter
every four years. Olympics.
• In 1976 the first Winter Games in Paralympics • Beijing Is the First City to Host Both Summer and
history were held in Sweden, and as with the Winter Olympics.
Summer Games, have taken place every four • In 1908, Rugby athlete Daniel Carrol won a gold
years, and include a Paralympics Opening medal for Australia, and then later won a second
Ceremony and Paralympics Closing Ceremony. gold for the United States. In the 1992 games,
• Since the Summer Games of Seoul, Korea in weightlifter Kakhi Kakhiashvili won a gold medal
1988 and the Winter Games in Albertville, France as part of the Unified Team and then later won
in 1992 the Games have also taken part in the another gold for Greece in 1996 and 2000.
same cities and venues as the Olympics due to an • Helene de Pourtale was the first female Olympian
agreement between the IPC and IOC. and first woman to win an Olympic medal.
• The ninth International Stoke Mandeville Games,
considered the first Paralympic Games, * took 1896 Athenes, Greece
place from 18 to 25 September 1960 in Rome, 1900 Paris, France
six days after the closing ceremony of the Olympic 1904 St Louis, France
Games. 1906 Athenes, Greece (Games were not recognised by IOC)
1908 London, Great Britain

FACTS AND FIGURES ABOUT 1912

1916
Stockholm, Sweden
Games not held due to World War I
OLYMPICS GAMES 1920 Antwerp, Belgium
1924 Paris, France
• From 1924-1992, the Winter and the Summer 1928 Amsterdam, Netherlands
Olympics took place in the same year. Now, they’re 1932 Los Angeles, USA
on separate cycles and alternate every two years. 1936 Berlin, Germany
• Only six athletes have won medals in both the 1948 London, Great Britain
1952 Helsinki, Finland
Winter and the Summer Olympics. Only one of
1956 Melbourne, Australia
them, Christa Ludinger-Rothenburger, won
1960 Rome, Italy
medals in the same year.
1964 Tokyo, Japan
• The official languages of the games are English
1968 Mexico City, Mexico
and French, complemented by the official 1972 Munich, West Germany
language of the host country. 1976 Montreal, Canada
• The 2016 Games in Rio will mark the first time the 1980 Moscow, Russia
Olympics are held in South America. 1984 Los Angeles, USA
• The modern Olympics have been hosted by 23 1988 Seoul, South Korea
countries. US leads with 8 hosting; four summer 1992 Barcelona, Spain
and four winter. 1996 Atlanta, USA
• London is the only city to host the Olympics three 2000 Sydney, Australia
times. 2004 Athenes, Greece
• US has won most No. of medals in Summer 2008 Beijing, China
Olympics History with total of 2985 with Germany 2012 London, Great Britain
on 2nd spot with 1083 medals. 2016 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

• Norway had won the most no. of medals with tally 2020 Tokyo, Japan (Scheduled)
2024 Paris, France (Scheduled)
of 405.