The idea of Modern Olympic Games was conceived by Baron de Coubertin and Pierre Fredi in 1894. They endeavored to propagate international understanding and world peace through sporting events of unimaginable magnitude and Modern Olympics fitted into the bill perfectly.
The smooth running of Modern Olympic Games received a setback shortly after it was introduced. Keeping up with the tradition, the very first edition was held in the first week of April in Athens, Greece. In fact the first of Modern Olympic Games owes a lot to a rich Greek architect named Georgios Averoff. This man donated a real hefty amount of one million drachmas (more than $100,000) as the Greek government struggled to raise money for the event. With the selfless and generous contribution of Georgios Averoff the historic Panathenaic, which was set up in 330 B. C., was renovated with an alabaster-look.
Needless to mention, the hypes surrounding an Olympic event were not as great in those days as they are now. So the participation was rather modest in the earlier versions of the Modern Olympic. The participants came at their own expenses and took part in the events. The interesting thing is that many of the participants just happened to be at the venues as mere tourists. They had no intention whatsoever to take part in the games. All the athletes put on their club uniforms instead of the national ones.
The first Olympics had a noticeably lesser number of events. The events included sprints, pole vaulting, cycling, gymnastics, weight lifting, target shooting, marathon, swimming and shot put. The swimming events took place in the Bay of Zea in the Aegean Sea. It was incredible really that an Olympic swimming event was held amidst twelve-foot waves and horrendously cold water.
The first edition of the Modern Olympic Games saw a participation of three hundred odd contestants that represented a handful of nations. In fact thirteen countries altogether took part in the introductory year.
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