The history of the Summer Olympics starts with the Greek testament to the human body. It was a time to celebrate the ultimate glory that the gods bestowed upon mankind. The Summer Olympic Games, also historically called the “games of Olympiad” was an international event with a combination of many different sports. The name “Olympiad” defines the four year period of time between one Olympic Games to the next. The summer games are held every four years during the months of August and September. Medals were given in every event for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place with Gold being reserved for 1st place, silver for 2nd and Bronze for 3rd.
There is documentation that in 776 BC a man named Coroebus won a sprint race in Olympia. This race was called a “Stade” which is about 200 meters. Instead of a medal the winner received a crown wreath of olive branches. The race involved sprinting back and forth between the two walls of the stadium it was held in. Even though this has been documented many experts believe there could have been competitions of this type for a couple hundred years previous to this. The first Arguably legitimate Summer Olympic games was held in 1896 in Athens, Greece after a French teacher named Baron Pierre de Coubertin spearheaded the idea of making the Summer Olympics an international, permanent event and the rest as they say is history.
Here is a list of the sports played in Summer Olympic Games:
Aquatics
Archery
Basketball
Boxing
Canoeing
Cycling
Equestrian (Riding Horses)
Fencing
Field Hockey
Gymnastics
Handball
Judo
Rowing
Shooting
Soccer
Tennis
Track And Field
Volleyball
Water Polo
Weight Lifting
Wrestling
Yachting