Olympic Games take place every four years. Thousands of from all over the world get together to in many different events. The games were first held in Greece in honor of Zeus. The modern games began in 1896 when Frenchman Pierre de Coubertin had the idea of spreading peace and through sports.

Today, Olympic Games are held every four years. Winter and summer games are two years apart from each other. In the opening athletes from the nations that take part in the Olympics march into the . The Olympic , a symbol of spirit and life, is brought into the stadium by who have brought it from the town of Olympia in Greece. It burns until the games are over about two weeks later.

A chosen athlete takes an and promises that all will give their best and compete fairly.

Athletes must qualify before they take part in the Olympic Games. They are chosen by the country in which they are . For many years only amateurs were able to compete in the Olympics but today most athletes are professionals who their money through sport.

In the history of the modern games have often played a major role. Adolf Hitler abused the 1936 Berlin games to how powerful Nazi Germany was.

In the Munich Olympics of 1972 Arab terrorists took Israeli athletes as . They died when German police forces tried to free them.

The USA and many western countries the 1980 Olympics in Moscow because the Soviet Union had Afghanistan a year earlier. Four years later, Communist countries stayed away from the games in Los Angeles.