Top 10 Facts About Olympics For Children

Bonus: Tokyo Olympics And Paralympics 2021 Update

The Olympic Games began in Ancient Greece as many as 3,000 years ago. It was revived in the late 19th century and today it has become the world’s most popular and preeminent sporting competition. From the 8th century B.C. to the 4th century A.D., the games were organized once every four years particularly in Olympia, located in the western Peloponnese peninsula to commemorate the great god Zeus. The first-ever Olympics took place in 1896 in Athens, the grand event witnessed around 280 participants from 12 different nations. Due to the unforeseen crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2020 Summer Olympics, was delayed by 1 year, and it was conducted this year from July 23 to August 8, in 2021 in Tokyo, Japan.

The First Olympics Game Was Held in Ancient Greece

The first written records of the ancient Olympic Games can be traced back to 776 B.C. when a cook named Coroebus won the only event- which was a 192-meter footrace and he also became the first-ever Olympic champion in the world. Well, it is generally believed that the games had been in existence even before the mentioned date. As per some legends, it is believed that Heracles who was the Roman Hercules, the son of Zeus, founded the Games, which also by the end of the 6th century B.C had become the most popular Greek sporting festival.

Now let’s take a look at some of the noteworthy facts revolving around the Game of Olympics.

1. The First-Ever Olympics Game Began in 776 BC

The first-ever Olympics first began as part of an Ancient Greek festival, which celebrated Zeus, who was the Greek God of Sky and weather. The competition lasted for around 6 months, and it included games like wrestling, boxing, discus, and chariot racing.

2. After Cancellation, the Olympics Game Didn’t Start for Over 1,500 years

Back in 393 AD, the Olympic games were canceled and it didn’t happen for the next 1,500 years. Emperor Theodosius regarded the Olympics as a pagan festival, which had no significance in his Christian country. Hence, it was the end of the Olympics until 1896, when an individual named Baron Pierre de Coubertin was the man who revived the game. He proudly called the new event the ‘modern Olympics’- and it is still in existence today.

3. The Olympics Torch is the Reminder of the Game’s Greek Origin

During ancient times, a flame used to burn throughout the Games as a tribute to the goddess Hestia. Since 1928, this tradition has continued even in the modern games, nut rather than an altar, the flame burns as a special torch. The torch flame is always lit by the sun in Olympia, Greece, as that is the first place where the Greece games were held.

4. The Olympic Symbol was Designed to Include All

Everyone is aware of the common Olympic rings symbol. The Olympic rings were first produced in 1913, from the design that was created by the founding father of the game- Baron Pierre de Coubertin! The rings are made using 5 different colors against the white background. The colors used in the rings reflect an amalgamation of different colors found on the flags of all the participating nations, thereby, ensuring that every nation is represented. The overlapping rings also signify international cooperation, and the coming together of all the athletes from around the world.

5. Some Exquisite Olympic Sports

Did you know that motor sailing, hot-air ballooning, and tug-of-war all used to be an important component of the Olympic sport? In fact, over some time, different sports and events were either voted into or out of the Olympic Games. Some of the sports such as golf, and rugby may have disappeared now but, other sports events like running, or pistol shooting can never go out of fashion.

Related Article: 5 Benefits of Sports for Kids

6. Even Artists Were a Part of the Olympics

This is a quite surprising fact that from 1921-1948, even artists were a part of the Olympics. In these games, painters, sculptors, architects, writers, and even musicians were a part of the event. All the talented and hard-working artists competed for medals by creating some amazing art pieces. The artists had officially stopped competing in 1948, and even to date most of the artist’s design posters and other official merchandise for the games.

7. Women Were First Allowed to Participate in the Game in 1900

During the first game of the Olympics game, the only participants that were involved in the game were the guys. But, even women have been working their way into and winning events since then. It’s been a pretty much slow process. Well, women weren’t allowed to take part in volleyball and luge until 1964, and they could not even participate in weight lifting until 2000. For female boxers, they could not take part in the Olympics until 2012,

8. The U.S. has Won the Most Medals

The United States is the only country in the world that has won nearly 2,800 medals. However, it does lag behind Norway when it comes to the overall medal tally that was awarded during the winter Olympics.

9. The Old Tradition of Biting Olympic Medal

Have you ever seen Olympians biting their medals during the ongoing award ceremony and pondered that why they do that? Well, this fact is linked to an amazing incident in the past where the merchants would check a coin and this was an indeed precious medal. However, a lead coin would leave teeth marks. Hence, Olympic medals are not made of gold but they have a finishing of gold. Most of them are made of silver. The last time when they were purely made of gold was in the 1904 Olympic Games.

Related Article: How to Make Your Kid A Chess Champion

10. Winner Names are Engraved on the Stadium Walls

Athletes and players who win a medal at the Olympics, their names are not only inducted into their nation’s history but are also honored at the Olympic stadium. Therefore, their names are engraved on the walls of the stadium thereby, allowing their legacy to be written in stone.

Quick Facts on the Tokyo Olympics 2020

The 32nd edition of the Olympics took place in Tokyo, Japan from 23rd July 2021 to 8th August 2021. Well, the Japanese emperor Naruhito declared the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics open, and Japanese Women Tennis players lit up the Olympic Cauldron.

The Indian Flag Bearers for Tokyo Olympics 2020

a) Opening Ceremony

Talking about the official Indian flag bearers for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Mary Kom and Manpreet Singh were the 2 sportsmen who were responsible for carrying the National Flat at the opening ceremony.

b) Closing Ceremony

For the closing ceremony, Bajrang Punia who finished the Olympics with a Bronze medal in the men’s freestyle 65kg wrestling event was the official flag bearer for the closing ceremony.

The Pride of India at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics

Neeraj Chopra from India created history by winning a gold medal at the Javelin Throw event. There were many other great athletes who not only represented India but also won several medals for the nation. Mentioned below is a table of the players who won medals for India at the Tokyo Olympics 2020.

The Pride of India at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics

The Indian team won a total of 19 medals with 5 Golds, 8 Silvers, and 6 Bronze medals. The 19 medal count is higher than the total number of Paralympics medals won by India since its first appearance in the 1968 Paralympics game.

Final Thoughts

There is a multitude of inspirational sporting stories and unique traditions that the Olympics have given us over the years- hence, making it one of the world’s most prestigious, exciting, and eventful sporting events in the history of mankind. PiggyRide has always focused on educating the children as well as the parents on all the important topics by creating awareness.
Let your little kids immerse themselves in the world of knowledge.