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Modern History of Olympics

1896 Athens, Greece

The very first modern Olympic Games were held in the first week of April 1896 at Panathenaic Stadium in Athens. The people of Athens greeted the Games with great enthusiasm. Pole vaulting, sprints, shot put, weight lifting, swimming, cycling, target shooting, tennis, marathon and gymnastics were all events at the first Olympics. The swimming events were held in the Bay of Zea in the Aegean Sea.  The American James Connolly won the triple jump to become the first Olympic champion in more than 1,500 years. Winners were awarded a silver medal and a crown of olive branches.

1900 Paris, France

The Games of 1900 were held in Paris as part of the Exposition Universelle Internationale - the Paris World’s Fair. The years Olympics were poorly organized and poorly publicized, because of the fair.  It was in this Olympic Games that women first participated as contestants. The first female champion was in tennis, Charlotte Cooper of Great Britain. In athletics, different nations competed on the same team in five categories.

1904 St. Louis, USA

The venue fixed at Chicago was later changed to St. Louis, to coincide with the city’s International Trade Fair. They  were the first at which gold, silver and bronze medals were awarded for first, second and third place. Events like Boxing and freestyle wrestling were introduced for the first time. As the venue of the games was far away from Europe, international participants were comparatively less because of the huge distance and the expenses for the journey by ship. One of the most remarkable athletes was the American gymnast George Eyser, who won six medals even though his left leg was made of wood.

1908 London, Great Britain

The 1908 Olympics originally awarded to Rome, were reassigned to London. At the Opening Ceremony, the athletes marched into the stadium by nation, as most countries sent selected national teams. It was in the 1908 Olympic Games that the exact distance of a marathon was established as 26 miles and 365 yards. Diving and field hockey was added to the events that year.

1912 Stockholm, Sweden

The 1912 Olympics at Stockholm was very well organized. The Swedish hosts introduced the use of unofficial electronic timing devices for the track events, as well as the first use of a public address system. Boxing contests were banned in this Olympics. Women's events in swimming and diving were introduced. The most popular hero of the 1912 Games was Jim Thorpe of the United States. Thorpe won the five-event pentathlon and shattered the world record in the ten-event decathlon. After the games, the International Olympic Committee decided to limit the power of host nations deciding the Olympic program. 

1916 Berlin, Russia

Though the 1916 Olympic Games were scheduled to be held in Berlin, World War I caused the Olympic Games to be cancelled. 1920 Antwerp, Belgium

The 1920 Olympic Games followed soon after the ending of World War I. Since the war had ravaged throughout Europe, funding and materials for the Games was difficult to acquire. The number of spectators were very low, mainly because people could not afford tickets after the war.  The Opening Ceremony was notable for the introduction of the Olympic flag and the presentation of the Athletes’ Oath. The United States turned in the best overall team performance, winning 41 gold medals. A  23-year-old distance runner Paavo Nurmi of Finland became the star of the games by winning 3 gold medals in the 10km and  8km cross country and cross-country team event. He also won silver in the 5km event. 

1924 Paris, France

At the 1924 Paris Games the number of participating nations jumped from 29 to 44, signaling widespread acceptance of the Olympics as a major event. Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi, won five gold medals to add to the three he had won in 1920. Women’s fencing made its debut as Ellen Osiier of Denmark earned the gold medal without losing a single bout. After much debate, winter sports were added to the Olympic Games this year. The winter events were held in January and February, creating a tradition that the winter events would be held a few months before the summer events. 

1928 Amsterdam, Netherlands

The Olympic flame was introduced at this Olympic games. The track and field events and gymnastics for women were also introduced even though there was too much resistance to these additions. At the Opening Ceremony, the team from Greece led the Parade of Nations and the host Dutch team marched in last. Greece first, hosts last would become a permanent part of the Olympic protocol. For the first time, Asian athletes won gold medals. Mikio Oda of Japan won the triple jump, while his teammate, Yoshiyuki Tsuruta, won the 200m breaststroke. 

1932 Los Angeles , USA

For a time being it seemed like that no one was going to attend the 1932 Olympic games as it was held in the middle of the 'Great Depression' and in the comparatively remote city of Los Angeles. Then a few Hollywood stars offered to entertain the crowd and ticket sales picked up. But the level of competition was extremely high and 18 world records were either broken or equaled. Los Angeles had constructed the very first Olympic Village for the Games which consists bungalows, hospital, post office, library and a large number of eating establishments. 1932 Olympic games introduced  the first photo-finish cameras as well as the victory platform. Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi, who had been one of the Olympic heroes in the past several Olympic Games, was considered to have turned professional and was not allowed to compete.

1936 Berlin, Germany

The 1936 Olympics, held in Berlin, are best remembered for Adolf Hitler’s failed attempt to use them to prove his theories of Aryan racial superiority. The Nazis saw the event as a way to promote their ideology. They built four grandiose stadiums, swimming pools, an outdoor theater, a polo field, and an Olympic Village that had 150 cottages for the male athletes. Throughout the Games, the Olympic complex was covered in Nazi banners. 1936 saw the introduction of the torch relay, in which a lighted torch is carried from Olympia to the site of the current Games. These Games were the first ones televised and were the first to use telex transmissions of the results. The most popular hero of the Games, was the African-American sprinter and long jumper Jesse Owens, who won four gold medals.

1940 Tokyo, Japan

The 1940 Olympic Games were originally scheduled to be held in Tokyo, Japan. But the start of World War II in 1939 caused the Games to be cancelled.

1944

The 1944 Olympic Games were also not held because of World War II.

1948 London, Great Britain

 The 1948 London Games were the first to be shown on home television. Though World War II was over, Europe was still ravaged from the war. To limit England's responsibility to feed all the athletes, it was agreed that the participants would bring their own food. Surplus food was donated to British hospitals. Germany and Japan, the aggressors of World War II, were not invited to participate. Though there had been much debate as to whether or not to hold the 1948 Olympic Games, the Games turned out to be very popular and a great success.

1952 Helsinki, Finland

The 1952 Olympic Games held at Helsinki were largely a reflection of the Cold War. The games began as Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi, carried the torch into the stadium and handed it to Hannes Kolehmainen, who lit the cauldron. The Soviet Union entered the Olympics for the first time. Although their athletes were housed in a separate 'village', warnings that Cold War rivalries would lead to clashes proved unfounded. The competition of East versus West dominated the atmosphere. Particularly impressive were the Soviet women gymnasts who won the team competition easily, beginning a streak that would continue for forty years until the Soviet Union broke up into separate republics.

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