OLYMPIC SPORTS OLYMPIC SPORTS

Fun facts

• Olympic sports are sports contested in the Summer and Winter Olympic Games. The 2012 Summer Olympics will include 26 sports, with two additional sports due to be added to the 2016 Summer Olympics. The 2014 Winter Olympics will include seven sports.

• The number and kinds of events may change slightly from one Olympiad to another. Each Olympic sport is represented by an international governing body, namely an International Federation.

• Women were first allowed to participate in 1900 at the second modern Olympic Games.

• The winter Olympic Games were first held in 1924, beginning a tradition of holding them a few months earlier and in a different city than the summer Olympic Games. Beginning in 1994, the winter Olympic Games were held in completely different years (two years apart) than the summer Games.

• Because of World War I and World War II, there were no Olympic Games in 1916, 1940, or 1944.

• Stadium

• The first recorded ancient Olympic Games were held in 776 BCE with only one event - the stade. The stade was a unit of measurement (about 600 feet) that also became the name of the footrace because it was the distance run. Since the track for the stade (race) was a stade (length), the location of the race became the stadium.