The Olympics

Instructions: Read the text below to find the answers to the questions on
your worksheet.

The modern Olympic Games were not started by the Greeks but by a
member of the French aristocracy, Baron de Coubertin, in 1896. Of course
he took the idea from the ancient Greeks who had held annual
competitive games at a place called Olympia as early as 776 B.C.
Originally it was just a local competition but it wasn't long before people
from all over Greece began to gather to compete. The competition
expanded from being just a one-day competition in 776 B.C. to being a
five-day long festival by 472 B.C. At the start it had involved only athletics
and wrestling but by 472 B.C. it had become a festival of various sports
including chariot-racing and discus-throwing. Surprisingly, the modern
prizes of bronze, silver and gold medals do not date from the original
Greek games. In those days the winners received wreaths made from olive
branches. The games were stopped in 393 A.D. by the Emperor
Theodosius. When the Games were re-started in 1896 sportsmen from
more than 10 countries worldwide went to Athens to compete in events
both traditional (such as wrestling) and modern (such as cycling and
tennis). The Games were stopped only by the two World Wars but they
have continued ever since, at four-yearly intervals. The Winter Olympic
Games were started in 1924 and are held two years after the Summer
Games. 1924 also saw the introduction of the Olympic motto "Citius,
Altius, Fortius" (from Latin), which means "Swifter (Faster), Higher,
Stronger". Four years later athletic events for women were introduced.

Quick Quiz

1. The first modern Olympic Games were held in __________.

2. The Olympic motto is not in Greek but in __________.

3. When the Games were re-started in 1896 sportsmen from

__________ than 10 countries worldwide went to Athens to compete.

4. The competition expanded from being just a one-__________

competition in 776 B.C. to being a five-day long festival by 472 B.C.

5. The games were stopped in 393 A.D. by the __________

Theodosius.