Olympic Games and India by Dr. Gaurav Garg
Olympic Rings
● Each ring is for each continent on Earth.
● Blue - Europe.
● Black - Africa.
● Red - America (North America and South America).
● Yellow - Asia.
● Green - Australia.
History of Olympics
● The first Olympic Games took place in the 8th century B.C. in Olympia, Greece .
● First ancient Olympic Games were held in 776 B.C. in honour of Greek God Zeus.
● They were held every four years for 12 centuries. Then, in the 4th century A.D., all pagan festivals were
banned by Emperor Theodosius I and the Olympics were no more.
● However, the athletic tradition was resurrected about 1500 years later.
Modern Olympic Games
● First modern Olympic Games were held in 1896 in Athens , Greece.
● The Olympic Games are so called because they were held in the city of Olympia.
● The person known as the father of modern Olympic Games is Pierre de Coubertin .
● The International Olympic Committee which was formed by Pierre de Coubertin in 1894 has its headquarters at
Lausanne, Switzerland.
● The Olympic flag was first flown during the 1920 Olympic Games at Antwerp,
Belgium.
● The Olympic symbol appears on the Olympic flag which has a white background .
● Olympic games were not held in 1916 , 1940 and 1944 years due to the two world wars.
● The first Olympic Games to feature female athletes was the 1900 Games in Paris.
● Hélène de Pourtalès of Switzerland became the first woman to compete at the Olympic
Games and became the first female Olympic champion.
● The Olympic flame made its first appearance at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympic Games.
● The cities which have held the summer Olympics twice are Athens (1896 & 2004), Paris (1900 & 1924), and Los
Angeles (1932 & 1984).
● The city which has hosted the summer Olympics thrice is London ( 1908, 1948 and 2012 ).
● Paris will host the 2024 Olympics and Los Angeles will host the 2028 Olympics.
● The country which has hosted the summer Olympics the maximum number of times is the United States - Los Angeles
(1932 & 1984), St. Louis (1904) and Atlanta (1996).
Olympic Motto
● Olympic Motto is “ Citius-Altius-Fortius ”.
✓ Citius – Faster.
✓ Altius – Higher.
✓ Fortius - Stronger.
Summer Olympics and Winter Olympics
● Both the Olympics are organised by the International Olympic Committee and occur every 4 years .
● The Summer Olympics is a more significant event, as it also holds a broader variety of five categories of sporting
events. These include athletics, badminton, basketball, rugby, boxing, cricket, cycling, swimming, gymnastics,
football, table tennis, hockey, handball, wrestling, and water motorsports, among many others.
● The Winter Olympics hosts fewer sports broken down into three main groups. These events include ice hockey,
snowboarding, figure skating, bobsleigh and ski jumping, among others.
● The Summer Olympics hosts 300 events covering 28 sports, while the Winter Olympics has 102 sporting events over
15 sports. By having more sporting events, as well as competitions, the Summer Olympics has a more significant
number of athletes participating.
Indian History of Olympics
● India first participated in the Olympics in 1900 in Paris.
● The country was represented by Norman Pritchard , an Anglo Indian who was holidaying in Paris during that time.
● Norman Pritchard participated in the 1900 Olympics on an individual basis, He did not represented India.
● Although we can not say that India participated in the 1900 Olympics as Norman Pritchard went individually to
participate but the International Olympic Committee consider the two silver medals which were won by him as India's
medal.
● The seeds for creation of an organisation for coordinating the Olympic movement in India was related to India’s
participation in the 1920 and 1924 Olympics, when Sir Dorabji Tata suggested the need for a Sports body at National
level for promoting Olympic Sport in united India.
● After the 1920 Games , the Committee sending the team to these Games met, and, on the advice of Sir Dorabji Tata,
invited Dr. A.G. Noehren (Physical Education Director of YMCA India) to also join them.
● Subsequently, in 1923-24, a provisional All India Olympic Committee was set-up, which organised the All India
Olympic Games (that later became the National Games of India) in February 1924.
● Eight athletes from these Games were selected to represent India at the 1924 Paris Summer Olympics, accompanied by
manager Harry Crowe Buck.
● This gave impetus to the development and institutionalization of sports in India, and, in 1927 , the Indian Olympic
Association (IOA) was formed, with Sir Dorabji Tata as its founding President and Dr. A.G. Noehren as Secretary.
The same year as it was formed, 1927, the Indian Olympic Association was officially recognised by the International
Olympic Committee.
● India first participated at the Olympic Games in 1900, with a lone athlete ( Norman Pritchard ) winning two medals-
both silver- in athletics.
● The nation first sent a team to the Summer Olympic Games in 1920, and has participated in every Summer Games
since then.
● India has also competed at several Winter Olympic Games beginning
in 1964.
India’s Performance at Olympics
1928-1956 (6 Olympics)
● Hockey – 6 Gold Medals consecutively.
1952 Helsinki Olympics - K D Jadhav – Bronze in Wrestling.
● K D Jadhav was the first Indian to win an Individual Medal at
Olympics.
● [extra info - Maharashtra was very famous for wrestling at that time,
Kolhapur in Maharashtra was known as City of Wrestlers and
wrestlers were given title of Kesari in Maharashtra].
1960 Rome - Indian hockey team – Silver (Lost to Pakistan in the final).
1964 Tokyo - Indian hockey team – Gold .
1968, Mexico city - Indian hockey team – Bronze .
1972, Munich - Indian hockey team – Bronze .
1980 Moscow - Indian hockey team – Gold .
1996 Atlanta - Leander Paes – Bronze , Tennis.
2000 Sydney - Karnam Malleshwari – Bronze , Weight Lifting.
(Karnam Malleshwari was the first woman to win Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna
Award).
2004 Athens - RR Rathore – Silver , Double trap shooting.
2008, Beijing
● 1 st ever Individual gold medal – Abhinav Bindra Shooting, Men's 10 m air rifle.
● Vijender Singh , Boxing 75 kg, Bronze .
● Sushil Kumar (Haryana), Bronze , Wrestling Men's freestyle 66 kg.
India at the 2012 London Olympics :-
** Sushil Kumar is the only Indian to win individual medals in two Olympics (2008 Beijing and 2012 London).
India at the 2016 Rio De Janeiro Olympics :-
Winter Olympics
● The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held in Chamonix , France .
● India competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, from 9 to 25 February 2018.
● The Indian team consisted of only two male athletes competing in two sports.
✓ Jagdish Singh (Cross-country skiing).
✓ Shiva Keshavan (Luge).
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