Question:1.Who designed the Olympic symbol of five linked rings?

              2.At the first Olympics, why did men take part in foot races?

Summer Olympics

    The first Olympic competition was held in the ancient Greek city of Olympia more than two thousand seven hundred years ago. The modern day summer Olympics begin today in the Greek capital, Athens. Gwen Outen tells us more about the Olympic Games.

    GWEN OUTEN: At the first Olympics, men took part in foot races during celebrations to honor the Greek god, Zeus. More races and sports were added later.

    Greece held these Olympic games every four years for the next one thousand years. The ancient Romans banned them in the fourth century.

    The modern Olympic games began more than one hundred years ago. Baron Pierre de Coubertin of France proposed a world celebration of sports like the ancient games of Greece.

    The first modern Olympics were held in Athens in eighteen ninety-six. Athletes from eight countries competed in ten sports. The purpose was to help athletes develop strength and values through competition. It also provided a way for athletes of all nations to become friends.

    The Olympic symbol of five linked rings represents this friendship. Baron de Coubertin designed it in nineteen thirteen. The rings represent the linking through sports of the major populated areas of the world-Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and the two American continents, represented by one ring. The colors of the rings are blue, yellow, black, green and red. The flag of each nation competing in the games has at least one of these colors. Under the rings is the Olympic saying in Latin: "Citius, Altius, Fortius". The words mean "Swifter, Higher, Stronger".

    The Olympic flame links the old and new games. In ancient Olympia, a fire burned for the god Zeus during the sports competitions. Now, runners bring a flame from Olympia, Greece to every new Olympics. That flame opens the summer games today in Athens. They end August twenty-ninth.

    About ten thousand athletes from more than two hundred nations will compete in the world's most important international athletic event.