Rio Olympics Special: Olympic sport or not?

Swimming Olympic Sport

The whole world has been buzzing about this summer’s Olympic Games held in Rio de Janeiro and rightly so! Athletes from around the world are given the chance to shine and we have seen so many of them do just that. 11,551 athletes have been competing in Brazil in 306 contests in 28 sports from 206 nations including first time entrants Kosovo, South Sudan, and the Refugee Olympic Team.

Our modern Olympic Games have been inspired by the ancient Games held in Olympia, Greece, every four years between the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD featuring mostly athletic sports but also combat (such as wrestling) and exciting horse and chariot racing events – wouldn’t it be great if these races still happened? Amazingly it was said that all conflicts among the participating city-states were postponed until the Games were finished although this is questionable!

Watching the footage has got me thinking about Olympic sports and the wide range of sports on show at the Games. This year will see 28 different sports contested which is two more than 2016, with every year seeing changes in the line up. In fact amazingly enough only five sports have been a consistent feature at every summer Olympic Games since 1896: Athletics, Cycling, Fencing, Gymnastics and Swimming. Rio 2016 has seen the debut for rugby sevens at the summer Olympics, though rugby union did briefly make an appearance in 1924!

With such chopping and changing of the sports featured it’s easy to forget which sports are actually included in the summer Olympic Games so when I came across this Olympic Sport or Not game it was great fun to test my knowledge and I recommend you give it a go! To play you just have to identify which one of the two sport options have historically been “official” games.

The Olympic Games has a historical beginning and has seen many changes and have evolved into the world’s leading sports competition. Thousands of athletes participate in a variety of sports from 200+ nations around the world – something certainly worth celebrating. For more information about the Games and all the latest results check out the official Rio 2016 website.

What is your favourite summer Olympics sport?

Swimming Olympic Sport

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