Olympic logo — The Olympic Games, or Olympics , events are sports multidisciplinary involving athletes from around the world, in ancient Greece were dedicated to the god Zeus and Aphrodite . There are two types of Olympics: the Summer Olympics and Winter Olympics , which take place in a range, including four years. The organization responsible for conducting them is the International Olympic Committee (for short, IOC).
The current Olympic Games were inspired by the eighth century BC, organized by the ancient Greeks in the city of Olympia , between 776 to. C. and 393 d. C. In the nineteenth century , the idea of making some events similar to those organized in antiquity, which mentally materialize thanks to the efforts of a noble Frenchman Pierre Fredy, Baron de Coubertin . The first edition of the so-called Olympics of the modern era was held in Athens , capital of Greece . Since that time, the Summer Olympics have been held every four years in various parts of the planet, the only exceptions being the editions of 1916 , 1940 and 1944 , due to the outbreak of the First and Second World War .
The Olympic symbol consists of five rings representing the five continents of the world: Africa , America , Asia , Europe and Oceania . Are intertwined to symbolize the friendship of all peoples sport.
The Winter Olympics were first held in 1924 in the town French in Chamonix . Originally performed as part of the summer event , the IOC considered them as a separate event retroactively, and from that date began to be held in the same year as the original games. Subsequently, in order to foster the development of winter events, the IOC decided to delay the implementation of the Winter Olympics from Lillehammer 1994 . Since then, the Winter Olympics are held in even years between two Summer Games. In 2007, the IOC decided to incorporate a new type of event: the Youth Olympic Games , which begin to take place from 2010 and 2012 editions of summer and winter, respectively.
The next Summer Olympics be held in London , United Kingdom , in the year 2012 , while the Winter Olympics will be held in Sochi , Russia , in the year 2014 .