The Olympic Games What are the Olympics?
The Opening Ceremony
The Opening Ceremony
The Opening Ceremony attracts hundreds of millions of television viewers worldwide, as well as tens of thousands of delighted and enthralled spectators inside the Olympic stadium. It is also – first and
foremost – a majestic show, through which each host nation exhibits its culture, history, achievements and, often, its sense of humour!
The spectators also get to see all the countries taking part with their flag bearers and Olympic team parade around the stadium!
The Opening Ceremonies at the Olympic Games are an extraordinary and intricately choreographed extravaganza, featuring an amazing explosion of colour and music, which allow the host nation scope
to showcase its uniqueness.
The Opening Ceremony
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5F64CC0D24B809F9
If you want to watch the variety of clips from the London 2012 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, then follow the link:
The Olympic Flame
The Olympic Flame is a symbol used to show the continuity between the the ancient and modern Olympic
Games. The lighting of the Olympic cauldron signifies the opening of the
games and it is lit until the closing ceremony.
The Olympic Games
Where did it all begin?
The Olympic Games are thought to
have started in 776BC in Greece.
The Games were part of a very
important religious festival.
The Greek Olympics inspired the modern
Olympic Games which began in 1896.
The Games were held every four years at
Olympia, a valley in southwest Greece.
The Games were held in honour of the
king of the gods, Zeus.
People from all over the Greek world
travelled to watch and take part.
Ancient Olympics
Messengers were sent out from Elis, a city near Olympia, to announce
a ‘sacred truce’ lasting one month before the games began.
This allowed people to travel to the Olympics in safety.
The truce was always honoured as the Olympic Games were a
religious festival and was much more important than war.
The city-states of Greece were very often at war, which made
travelling around the country dangerous.
The Sacred Truce
The first Olympic Games only lasted a day, and
the only event was a short race from one end of
the stadium to the other.
Gradually, more events were added to make four days
of competitions. The events included boxing, chariot,
racing, discus, javelin, long jump and wrestling.
One of the toughest events was the race for the hoplites,
men wearing armour and carrying shields.
Winners were given a wreath of leaves and a hero’s
welcome back home. Winners might have been allowed
to marry rich women, and enjoy invitations to parties, free
meals and the best seats in theatres.
Events at the Olympics
It was very hot and overcrowded, with a
very poor water supply, but this did not stop
people from coming!
The games ended with a large feast.
Traders came to do business, politicians
made speeches to the crowds and
entertainers such as acrobats and jugglers
performed.
The stadium could hold around 50,000
people. Away from the arena, most
spectators had to find somewhere to pitch
their tents or sleep rough, but athletes and
important people had hotel rooms.
Spectators
Only men, boys and unmarried girls were
allowed to attend the Olympic Games. Any
women caught sneaking in were punished!
Women could compete in races,
though only unmarried girls were allowed to
take part.
Unmarried women had their own festival at
Olympia every four years. This was called
the Heraia, held in honour of Hera, wife of
Zeus.
The winners were awarded crowns of
sacred olive branches, the same as men.
Women at Olympia
The Ancient Olympics were only held in Olympia, whereas now it is
held in a different country around the world every 4 years.
The Olympics Today
To symbolise the Ancient Olympics, the Olympic torch is carried
around the country which is hosting the Games.
The Olympic Torch
The Olympic Torch
In 2012, when the Olympic games were
held in London. The Olympic Torch made its
way through Swindon!
Mr Westman was there that day to see
Drogba hold the torch!
Former Chelsea Football Club Legend,
Didier Drogba, is pictured here holding the
Olympic Torch in the town centre!
In the Ancient Greek
Olympics there were
only ten sports.
In the Modern
Olympics there are more than twenty
different sports.
Did you know?
Sports at the Olympic Games
Running
Sports at the Olympic Games
Jumping
Sports at the Olympic Games
Throwing
Sports at the Olympic Games
Swimming
Sports at the Olympic Games
Cycling
Sports at the Olympic Games
Gymnastics
What other sports do you recognise?
Olympic Medal Table
The Rio 2016 Olympics was the most recent Summer Olympic Games, let’s check
out the medal table…
Medal Table – Top 10
Medal Table – 11 to 20
Choose an Olympic country to research…
?Which country will you pick?
Try to link your facts to sport and the Olympics!
Draw the country’s flag in the middle of the page,
then use your research to create a brainstorm of
interesting facts