History and origin of the Games

Baron Pierre de Coubertin was the founder of the modern Olympic Games. Inspired by the ancient Olympic Games held in Olympia, Greece, which ended in 393 AD, Frenchman Pierre de Coubertin decided to pursue his project to revive the Olympic Games. A man who devoted his life to education, history and sociology, in 1894 he founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to help build a peaceful and better world by educating young people through sport. The first Olympic Games of the modern era were held in 1896 in Athens.

Born in Paris in 1863, Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin, came from an aristocratic family. He was a very keen sportsman, who enjoyed boxing, fencing, horse-riding and rowing. He firmly believed that sport was the key to developing mental energy. He was behind the creation of the five-ring Olympic symbol in 1913, the Olympic Charter and protocol, the athletes’ oath and the main components of the Games opening and closing ceremonies. It was also he who said: “The important thing in life is not the triumph but the fight; the essential thing is not to have won, but to have fought well.”

Between 1896 and 1925, he was IOC President. He died in Geneva, Switzerland, on 2 September 1937. In accordance with his last wishes, his heart was laid to rest in Olympia, Greece, in the marble stele which commemorates the revival of the Olympic Games.

Learn more:

• Educational series: The modern Olympic Games, p. 4
• Pierre de Coubertin

The history of the Games goes back around 3,000 years, to the Peloponnese in Ancient Greece. Sports contests organised at Olympia took place every four years and acquired the name Olympic Games.

We do not know exactly when they started, but the date of 776 BC is often cited in written sources. The exact reasons for the birth of the Games are still unknown, as history has become mixed up with mythology.

The four-year interval between the Ancient Games editions was named an “Olympiad”, and was used for dating purposes at the time: time was counted in Olympiads rather than years. 

In 1894, Pierre de Coubertin launched his plan to revive the Olympic Games, and in 1896 the first Games of the modern era were held in Athens.

Learn more:

• Factsheet: the Olympic Games of Antiquity
• Education series: The Olympic Games in Antiquity

Women competed for the first time at the 1900 Games in Paris. Of a total of 997 athletes, 22 women competed in five sports: tennis, sailing, croquet, equestrianism and golf.

The IOC is committed to gender equality in sport. The Olympic Charter, Chapitre 1, Rule 2.8, states that the IOC's role is: “to encourage and support the promotion of women in sport at all levels and in all structures with a view to implementing the principle of equality of men and women.”

With the addition of women’s boxing to the Olympic programme, the 2012 Games in London were the first in which women competed in all the sports on the programme. Since 1991, any new sport seeking to join the Olympic programme must have women’s competitions.

At the 2016 Games in Rio, 45 per cent of the participants were women.

Learn more:

• Factsheet: Women in the Olympic Movement
• Women in Sport Commission 
• Reference documents on the history of sports at the Summer Games
• Reference documents on the history of sports at the Winter Games

The first Winter Games were held in Chamonix (France), in 1924. Initially called the “International Winter Sports Week”, this event was renamed the “1st Olympic Winter Games” only in 1926 at the IOC Session in Lisbon.

The decision to create a separate Winter Games cycle was taken at the 1925 IOC Session in Prague.

Learn more:

• Factsheet: The Olympic Winter Games

At the time, the programme featured only individual events: running, boxing, wrestling, pankration, equestrianism, and the pentathlon (running, discus, javelin, long jump, wrestling).

Learn more:

• Educational series: The Olympic Games in Antiquity (pp. 8-10)
• Ancient Olympic Games - The Sports Events

At its 1986 Session in Lausanne, the IOC decided to introduce this change. From 1924 to 1992, the Summer and Winter Games were each held in the same year, every four years. This four years period is called "Olympiad". The last Summer and Winter Games held in the same year were in Barcelona (Summer) and Albertville (Winter) in 1992. Since then, the Summer and Winter Games are each still held every four years but the Summer Games are celebrated during the first year of an Olympiad and the Winter Games held in the third year.

Learn more:

• Factsheet: The Games of the Olympiad 
• Factsheet: The Olympic Winter Games  
• Educational series: The Modern Olympic Games

To respect the ancient origins of the Olympic Games, which were held every four years at Olympia.

The four-year interval between the Ancient Games editions was named an “Olympiad”, and was used for dating purposes at the time: time was counted in Olympiads rather than years.  

In 1894, Pierre de Coubertin launched his plan to revive the Olympic Games, and in 1896 the first Games of the modern era were held in Athens. Today, an Olympiad begins on the first of January of the first year and ends on the thirty-first of December of the fourth year.

Learn more:

• Factsheet: The Games of the Olympiad
• Factsheet: the Olympic Games of Antiquity
• Educational series: The Olympic Games in Antiquity

The IOC headquarters have been in Lausanne, on the shores of Lake Geneva, since 1915.

It was Pierre de Coubertin who chose this city. He explained later that not only did he see Lausanne as an ideal location for the administrative headquarters, but also that in the midst of the First World War the city could offer the stability that had become essential for Olympism.

Learn more:

• "La Cérémonie de Lausanne", Bulletin du Comité International Olympique, n°2, Lausanne, 1915, p.2 (in French only)
• Pierre de Coubertin, "Olympic Memoirs – XVI", Olympic Review, n. 123, January 1978, p.53 (first published in 1931)