FiveThis summer, spectators from all over the world will gather to watch athletes compete at the Paris Olympic Games. It's been four years since they last watched gymnasts, swimmers and cyclists compete. The Summer and Winter Olympic Games are held every four years, a tradition that dates back to when the Olympic Games first began in Ancient Greece.
According to the International Olympic Committee, the Olympic Games date back to the first Olympic Games, which was held in ancient Greece in 776 BC. The Olympic Games are measured in four-year periods called “Olympiads”, which were held at the beginning of each Olympic Games to honor the Greek god Zeus.
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The ancient Olympic Games continued to be held in Olympia, Greece for over 1,000 years, but were abolished in 393 AD after the Christian Emperor Theodosius I banned pagan festivals, including the Olympic Games.
There were several attempts to revive the Olympic Games in the late 19th century, but none were successful until Pierre de Coubertin, a French educator and founder of the modern Olympic Games, began campaigning to revive the Olympics in 1892. Coubertin drew inspiration from the ancient Olympic Games, including the timing of the games.
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From 1924 to 1992, the Summer and Winter Olympic Games They used to be held in the same year until the International Olympic Committee decided to change it and hold the Summer Olympics in the first year of the Olympics and the Winter Olympics in the third year.
There have only been a handful of occasions when the Olympics have not been held in a four-year period, including in 1916 during World War I and when the 2020 Tokyo Olympics were postponed to 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
