Histories of the Olympic

According to legend, the ancient Olympic Games were founded by Heracles (the Roman Hercules), a son of Zeus. Yet the first Olympic Games for which we still have written records were held in 776 BCE (though it is generally believed that the Games had been going on for many years already). At this Olympic Games, a naked runner, Coroebus (a cook from Elis), won the sole event at the Olympics, the stade - a run of approximately 192 meters (210 yards). This made Coroebus the very first Olympic champion in history.

The ancient Olympic Games grew and continued to be played every four years for nearly 1200 years. In 393 CE, the Roman emperor Theodosius I, a Christian, abolished the Games because of their pagan influences.

Year	Countries		Year	Countries
1896	Athens		1948	London
1900	Paris		1952	Helsinki
1904	St. Louis		1956	Melbourne
1906	Athens ("Unoffficial")		1960	Rome
1908	London		1964	Tokyo
1912	Stockholm		1968	Mexico City
1916	World War I( not held)		1972	Munich
1920	Antwerp		1976	Montreal
1924	Paris		1980	Moscow
1928	Amsterdam		1984	Los Angeles
1932	Los Angeles		1988	Seoul
1936	Berlin		1992	Barcelona
1940	World War II(not held)		1996	Atlanta
1944	World War II(not held)		2000	Sydney