A |
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Hockey |
Hockey was already practised in ancient Greece under the name of "keritizein". It evolved and was standardized into
its modern form at the end of the 18th century. It became an Olympic sport in 1908. Only
outdoor hockey is staged at the Olympic Games, with the participation of 12 men's teams
and 10 women's teams. |
| Aquatics 
|
Aquatics comprises four Olympic disciplines: swimming,
diving, water polo and synchronised swimming. swimming became an official Oympic sport at
the 1896 Oympic Games in Athens, followed by water polo at the London Olympic Games in
1900 and diving at the 1904 Olympic Games in St. Louis. Synchronised swimming was added in
the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games |
J |
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| Archery |
A special competition format called the Olympic
Round - Outdoor Target Archery at a single 70m distance - is the only archery event
included in the Olympic programme. Archery was first included in the Olympic competition
programme in the year 1900, but had fallen out of favour by 1920. It was not until 1972
that this bow&arrow sport was reinstated as an official Olympic Sport. |
Judo |
Dr Jigoro Kano first
introduced the sport of judo to Japan in 1882. Judo was first included in the Olympic
competition programme as a sport for male athletes in the 1964 Games in Tokyo. Female
athletes had to wait until 1992 and the Barcelona Games for their chance to compete in
judo. The objective in Judo is to defeat an opponent by scoring an "ippon" (one
full point). This can be achieved by throwing the opponent into his back with force, speed
and control. Other ways of scoring include grappling techniques, arm locks and strangle
holds to immobilise an opponent and gain submission. |
| Athletics 
|
At the of the revival
modern Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens, the following events were held: 100m,
1500m, 110m hurdles, marathon race, long jump, triple jump, pole vault, discus throw, shot
put and high jump.The year officially acknowledged as the starting date for athletics is 776 BC, the year of the first Ancient Olympic Games, consisting
of a single event called the 'One Stadium' race. |
P |
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| B |
|
Pentathlon |
The Modern Pentathlon is considered one of the most demanding Olympic
sports. The Modern Pentathlon is comprised of the following events: shooting (air-pistol), fencing (epee),
swimming (200m freestyle), riding
(showjumping) and (cross-country) running. All 5
events take place within the span of a day. It was first introduced in the
Olympics in 1912 in Stockholm. |
| Badminton |
Badminton involves the striking of a shuttlecock with a racket. The Games
competition programme includes: men singles, women singles, men
doubles, women doubles and mixed doubles.
Badminton made its first Olympic appearance as a demonstration sport at the 1988 Games in
Seoul. However, badminton had to wait until 1992 for its official introduction to the
Games competition programme at the Barcelona Games. |
R |
|
| Baseball |
This bat and ball game is a hugely popular sport in the U.S.A. The 1992
Games in Barcelona marked the official Olympic debut of
baseball. |
Rowing |
The sport of rowing has the privilege of having been on
the official program of the 1896 first modern Olympic Games in Athens.Rowing
competition boats are classified into two categories: sculling and rowing. The rowing
categories include teams of 2, 4 and 8. |
| Basketball 
|
Basketball made its Olympic debut as a
demonstration sport at the 1904 Games in Saint Louis, and was officially added to the
competition programme at the 1936 Games in Berlin. Modern basketball claims as its founder
James Naismith, a Protestant priest and physical
education teacher. He invented the game in 1891 as a new activity for his class at the YMCA International School in Springfield, Massachusetts. James
Naismith's idea was to put two baskets on opposite walls of an indoor hall and have two
opposing teams throw the ball into the hoops. |
S |
|
| Boxing |
Boxing was established as an Olympic sport in 668 B.C. during the 23rd ancient Olympiad. The first
boxing Olympic champion was Onomastos of Smyrna. The
modern rules of boxing were developed in Great Britain (18th century); The well known
"Queensbury Rules" set the duration of rounds
to three minutes and the count for knockdowns to ten. Boxing was first included in
the competition programme of the 1904 Games in Saint-Louis. |
Sailing |
Sailing made its Olympic debut in Paris in 1900, with the
inclusion of three classes. Events include board sailing, single-handed dinghy,
double-handed dinghy, high performance dinghy open, multi-hull open and keelboat.
There are both mens and womens competitions.
|
| C |
|
Shooting |
Shooting is among the nine sports included in the 1896 first modern
Olympic Games in Athens Seventeen shooting disciplines are included in the Olympics
programme. |
| Canoe/Kayak 
|
The Olympic Games includes only
the flatwater and slalom competitions of canoeing. The flatwater
racing event made its official debut at the 1933 European Championships in Prague.
Slalom was introduced in the 1972
Games in Munich. |
Softball |
Softball was introduced as an Olympic sport in the
1996 Games in Atlanta. Its Olympic form is "fast
pitch" and it is played only by women. |
| Cycling |
Olympic cycling competitions are track, road and mountain bike cycling.
Cycling was included in the Olympic Games competition programme in 1896. |
T |
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| E |
|
Tabletennis |
Table Tennis started in England in 1890 as an alternative to tennis.
The sport's worldwide spread was completed in the 1988 Games in Seoul with its
recognition as an official Olympic sport. |
| Equestrian |
Equestrian sports are those which involve horses. The
equestrian sport first appeared at the ancient Olympic Games in 648 BC, in the form of
chariot races. Since the 1912 Stockholm Games, the following are acknowledged as Olympic
equestrian disciplines: dressage, jumping, and eventing. |
Taekwondo 
|
Taekwondo was an Olympic demonstration sport at both the 1988
Games in Seoul and the 1992 Games in Barcelona, and it made its debut as an official
Olympic sport at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. There are two types of taekwondo,
the Technical Championships (POUMSE) and the Competition taekwondo, only one of which - Competition Tae Kwon Do - is a recognised Olympic sport. |
| F |
|
Tennis |
Tennis was included in the competition program of the Olympic Games from
1896 to 1924. It re-emerged in 1984 as a demonstration sport, and was officially
reinstated as an Olympic sport in 1988. |
| Fencing |
Fencing is regarded as a martial art. It made its debut at the first modern Olympic Games in Athens. Fencing is one of nine
sports to have been included in every modern Olympic competition programme. |
Triathlon |
Triathlon made its Olympic debut at the 2000 Sydney Games
where 500,000 spectators attended the two-day competition. The Olympic Games competition
schedule is the classic distance triathlon, which is made
up of a 1,500m swimming event, a 40 km cycling event, and a 10 km running event. |
| Football 
|
Football, also known as soccer, has its roots
in England, where the first "official" modern football competition took place in
the middle of the 19th century. Football was introduced as a demonstration sport at the
1896 Olympic Games in Athens, and became an official Olympic sport at the London Games in
1908. Nearly a century passed before women's football was included in the Competition
Programme at the 1996 Atlanta Games. |
V |
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| G |
|
Volleyball |
Volleyball originated in the United States, and is now just achieving the
type of popularity in the U.S. that it has received on a global basis, where it ranks
behind only soccer among participation sports. In 1964, Volleyball was introduced to the
Olympic Games in Tokyo. The Japanese volleyball used in the 1964 Olympics, consisted of a
rubber carcass with leather panelling. A similarly constructed ball is used in most modern
competition |
| Gymnastics 
|
Gymnastics is one of the most ancient Olympic Sports. Only three of these disciplines - artistic gymnastics, rhythmic
gymnastics and trampoline are included in the
Olympic Games programme. |
W |
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| H |
|
Weightlifting |
Weightlifting was included in the first Modern Olympics in
1896 as an official sport, but was left out of the 1900 Games. Weightlifting returned to
the Olympic stage in 1904, and became a regular event in 1920. Three lifts were standard
then, the press, clean-and-jerk and the snatch. Over the years, weigh classes were added
and the press was taken out of Olympic competition. Women competed in weightlifting at the
Olympics for the first time at the 2000 Sydney Games. |
| Handball |
Since the 1972 Munich Games, handball has been included in the Olympic
Games competition programme. It is played in a smaller indoor hall (20x40) by
7-player-teams. |
Wrestling |
The sport of wrestling dates all the way back to ancient times, where
there were tales of oiled bodies fighting in the sand in the Ancient Olympics. Thusly,
when the Modern Olympics resumed in Athens in 1896, wrestling became the focus of the
Games. Wrestling's original Olympic style -- Greco-Roman -- was derived from ancient Greek
and Roman wrestling. |
