‘To be the best’ that was the ultimate Greek Goal. Every other aspect of life, including athletics, revolved around this belief of theirs. For them, it was one of the greatest honours to win at the Olympia. It is believed that the Olympics traces its history back to 776 BC in Olympia, Greece, when Heracles, the creator of the Olympic Games built the Olympic stadium as an honour to his father, Zeus. The tradition of celebrating the Olympic Games went on till AD 393, after which they were banned.

In 1833, Greek poet newspaper editor Panagiotis Soutsos in his poem, 'Dialogue of the Dead', spoke about the interest in reviving the Olympics.
In 1894, the International Olympic Committee was founded on the initiative of, Pierre Frédy, Baron de Coubertin, a French nobleman. The Olympics were revived, and made international in 1896.

On April 6, 1896, also the anniversary of the Greek War of Independence, the first International Olympic Games were officially held at the Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens.

Attended by 80,000 spectators, the audience also included King George I of Greece, his wife Olga, and their sons. The Marathon was the highlight of the competition, which was won by Spiridon Louis, a water carrier. The only Greek athletics champion, Spiridon then became a national hero.
When Ray C. Ewry contracted polio at a young age, he was feared to have become paralysed for life. But he later went on to become the most successful Olympic athlete of all-time as he won 8 gold medals in the 1900, 1904, and 1908 Games.

PARIS 1900

The 1900 Olympics games were held in Paris as part of the Paris World’s Fair. Women made their first appearance in the Olympics. The first to compete was Mme. Brohy and Mlle. Ohnier of France in croquet. The first female champion was in tennis: Charlotte Cooper of Great Britain.

ST LOIUS 1904

1904 was another long drawn event as the organisers ensured that the Olympic games were spread out over four and a half months. Of the 94 events generally considered to have been part of the Olympic program, only 42 included athletes who were not from the United States. It was here that the system of giving gold, silver and bronze medals were awarded for first, second and third place was institutionalised. Also Boxing and freestyle wrestling made their debuts. Marathon runners Len Tau and Jan Mashiani became the first Africans to compete in the Olympics. American gymnast George Eyser, who won six medals even though his left leg was made of wood.

The preparations for the 1908 Olympic Games by the Italian authorities were going at a steady pace, but on April 7, the Mount Vesuvius erupted, destructing Naples. It called for an immediate selection of a new venue, and London was chosen.

Built in a short-time for the games, the White City Stadium in London, where the 1908 Olympics were finally held, was considered a technological marvel.
One of the most famous incidents was the Marathon, in which Dorando Pietri of Italy, first entered the stadium, and collapsed a little behind the finishing line. Two authorities then took him by the arm and brought him to the line, for which he was disqualified and the medal went to Johnny Hayes of America. However, since Dorando did not make the mistake himself, he was awarded a gold cup the next day, by Queen Alexandra.

STOCKHOLM 1912

In the 1912 Olympics, it was the first time in Olympics history when an athlete died during a competition when Francisco Lazaro of Portugal, while running the marathon, died of heat. The marathon witnessed a man named Felix Carbajal, from Cuba, running in street clothes, with his pants cut around the legs to make them look like shorts.

The Olympics also held the world's longest wrestling match- lasting 11 hours and 40 minutes. Art found its way in the Olympics as well, when art competitions were held for the very first time, a tradition that went on until 1948. Walter Winans of America was the only person to have ever won both, an athletic and art competition.

Doves were released in the 1920 Olympic Games to mark the end of the bloody war fought just before these games. The Olympic flag bearing the five interlaced rings, representing the five continents, was flown for the first time. "We swear. We will take part in the Olympic Games in a spirit of chivalry, for the honour of our country and for the glory of sport"- these were the words uttered by Victor Boin as the Olympic Oath for the first time.

In the 1924 Olympic Games the Olympic Motto was used for the first time- "Citius, Altius, Fortius", meaning "Faster. Higher. Stronger". The motto was a reflection of Coubertin's ideals, illustrated also in the Olympic Creed that says, "The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well."

The tradition of the Olympic Flame and parade of nations started in the 1928 Summer Olympic Games, held at Amsterdam. Coca-Cola became the first sponsor for the games. India made the beginning of its winning streak by winning its first ever gold in field hockey, and continued doing so until 1956. Germany, which had been banned from participating in the Olympics in 1920 and 1924, ranked second in the medal count.

The Great Depression kept away cities from making a bid to host the 1932 Summer Olympics, which were finally held in Los Angeles, U.S. Many nations were unable to pay for the trip to Los Angeles, which resulted in less than half the number of athletes compared to last Olympics, participating in the competition.
However, it is believed that the games made a profit of 1 million US dollars. It was for the first time when, to provide accommodation to the participants, an Olympic Village was built. It was also the first time when a victory podium was used. The 1932 Olympics were the first to last 16 days. The duration of the Olympics has remained between 15 and 18 days ever since. Also, official automatic timing was introduced for the track events, as was the photo-finish camera making it the first truly tech supported games.

At a time when racial discrimination was a norm in parts of America, Jesse Owens participation in the 1936 Summer Olympics held at Berlin, led to many controversies. After he almost failed to qualify for the long jump, Jesse's German competitor, Lutz Long, who later became a long-time friend, offered him some advice. Jesse Owens went on to win four gold medals in the sprint and long jump competition.

And Lutz Long was posthumously awarded the Pierre de Coubertin medal for sportsmanship. Adolf Hitler, though present at the Olympics, never shook hands with any of the Olympic participants.

It happened to be a bright sunny day, the morning of July 29, when the 1948 Summer Olympics opened after a 12 year long wait, at the Wembley Stadium in U.K. The Second World War had led to the cancellation of the Olympics in 1940 and 1944.

Lord Burghley, chairman of the British Olympic Council, said in his welcome speech, "The hour has struck. A visionary dream has today become a glorious reality. At the end of the worldwide struggle in 1945, many institutions and associations were found to have withered and only the strongest had survived. How, many wondered, had the great Olympic Movement prospered?"

At the 1952 Summer Olympics held in Finland, marked the debut of Israel which could not participate earlier due to the War of Independence. One of the most outstanding display of victory was when Hungary, a country of a mere 10 million inhabitants won 42 medals at the games, thereby coming in third place behind the USA and the USSR. This was also Soviet Union’s first Olympics. Emil Zapotek of Czechoslovakia won the 5,000m marathon and followed it with defending his 10,000m title and a third gold medal in his first-ever marathon race to complete a triple which remains unique in Olympic history.

Melbourne won the right to host the 1956 Olympics but since Australian quarantine laws were too severe to allow the entry of foreign animals, the equestrian events were held separately in Stockholm in June. Hence the joint hosts! But besides this quirky bit of trivia, the 1956 games were rather uneventful. The US Basketball team produced an overwhelmingly dominant performance, winning each of their games by at least 30 points.

It was an historic event as the matches were held in amidst ancient yet majestic buildings. The Basilica of Maxentius held the Wrestling competition while the Caracalla Baths and the Arch of Constantine housed gymnastics and the marathon respectively. Muhammad Ali (then called Cassius Clay) gained international prominence here by winning the light-heavyweight gold medal.

It was for the first time in 1964 when the Olympics were being held by a non-Western nation- Japan. It also led to the introduction of Judo and Volleyball, both popular sports in the host nation, as a part of the Olympics. According to the official motto, they were "the Happy Games" (frankly we don’t know the reason why!). It was poignant to watch the final torchbearer Yoshinori Sakai, who was born in Hiroshima the day it was destroyed by the atomic bomb, carry the historical flame.

The 1972 Summer Olympics was to be remembered for the most tragic event in the history of Olympic Games. In 1972, 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostages, and later killed by Palestinian terrorists. The event led to suspension of the games on September 5, popularly known as 'Black September'. However, the games continued from the next day onwards as the IOC President Avery Brundage believed that, "the games must go on". As an aside to the tragic events that rocked Munich and the world, the 1972 Games were also the first to have a named mascot: Waldi the dachshund.

Political statements were made as the third world asserted its identity on in a post colonial world. African nations boycotted the games to protest the fact that the national rugby team of New Zealand had toured South Africa, which had legalised racism with the Apartheid regime. Also women’s events were included for the first time in basketball, rowing and team handball. Besides this the games saw the emergence of Romanian teen sensation Nadia Comaneci as she was awarded the first-ever perfect score of 10.0 for her performance on the uneven bars.

Following the protests against the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the 1980 Summer Olympics, held at Moscow, were boycotted by the United States, followed by 64 other countries. In the absence of any competition Aleksandr Dityatin earned medals in every men's gymnastics event to become the only athlete ever to win eight medals in one Olympics. Swimmer Vladimir Salnikov broke the 15-minute barrier for the 1,500m. The fact that the no of participating nations was lowest since 1956 made the 1980 games one of the most boring.

This can be called the tit-for-tat games as the Soviet block decided on a ‘revenge boycott’, which almost depleted the field in certain disciplines like Gymnastics. Despite this fact a record 140 nations participated in the LA ’84 games which saw the emergence of Carl Lewis, arguably the most influential athlete since Jesse Owens in 1936. Lewis won both sprints and the long jump and earned a fourth gold in the 4x100m relay. Golden girl of India’s athletics team PT Usha participated in the 400m hurdles but missed the Bronze medal by 1/ 100th of a second. Archer Neroli Fairhall was the first paraplegic athlete to take part in a medal event. She competed in a wheelchair.

SEOUL 1988

1988 Olympic Games, held at Seoul in South Korea, was rocked by scandals as ten athletes, including star sprinter Ben Johnson, were disqualified after drug tests revealed steroid abuse. Tennis’ glam girl Steffi Graff concluded her Grand Slam tennis season by winning Olympic gold. One of the major success stories of the Seoul games was Matt Biondi who won seven medals, including five golds.

Following the split of the Soviet Union in 1991, the 1992 Summer Olympics witnessed no more Soviet teams. Its former republics sometimes had teams sporting the old Soviet Uniforms, representing the newly formed independent states. This increased the number of participating countries and also ensured that the erstwhile USSR’s medal tally will be depleted. But the most enduring image of the games came when Derartu Tulu of Ethiopia and medallist Elana Meyer, a white South African took a ‘victory lap’ together after winning the Gold and Silver medal respectively in the 10, 000 m run. Tulu was also the first female black African Olympic champion.

Muhammad Ali lit up the Olympic torch to declare the games open and this was the games where a staggering 79 nations won medals with 53 wining gold. Despite a terror threat looming large the Atlanta games brought alive the old spirit and even India, which didn’t win any medal for quite some time got a creditable Bronze, Leander Paes being the winner.

The Sydney Games were grand to say the least. A total of 10,651 athletes competed in across 300 events and despite the humongous size everything was well organised. Birgit Fischer became the first woman in any sport to win medals 20 years apart with her hard earned gold medals (two of them!) in Kayak. India again came back with a solitary Bronze medal. This time a woman weightlifter, Karnam Malleshwari, making India proud.

The games returned to its spiritual and historical home and for the first time the number of participating nations crossed the 200 mark. Even India bettered its performance amidst this euphoria. Although it still won only one medal, this time it was silver. Major Rajyawardhan Singh Rathore the winner. Extensive television and internet coverage ensured that as many as 3.9 billion people had access to the games coverage. Swimmer Michael Phelps came close to equalling Mark Sptiz’s seemingly immortal record of 7 golds in a single Olympic with 6 gold medals. He ended up setting a single-Games record with a total of 8 medals. Just for the record, Indian hockey team disappointed again.