A magnificent sports competition, the XXI Olympic Winter Games are taking place in Vancouver, Canada from 12 to 28 February 2010.
Inspired by the example of the ancient Olympic Games which had been held at the site of Olympia in Greece, the French nobleman and educational reformer Baron Pierre de Coubertin proposed the revival of the Games in a modern form. On 23rd June 1894 Coubertin’s proposal became reality when delegates at a Congress at the Sorbonne in Paris voted to both establish the modern Olympic Games and what would later be named the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The first Olympic Games of the modern era were held in Athens, Greece in 1896.With the exception of during the First and Second World War they have been held every four years, with cities from around the world being chosen to host them.
As part of VIII Olympic Games, a “ Winter Sports Week” was held in Chamonix, France in 1924. The following year the IOC decided to establish a separate cycle of Winter Games and in 1926 the Sports Week, held in Chamonix in 1924, was retroactively recognized as the first Olympic Winter Games.
The most famous symbol of Olympic Games is the Olympic rings which can be found on the Olympic flag. The Flag was first introduced at the 1914 IOC Session in Paris. Coubertin chose five interlaced rings to represent the union of the five continents: Africa, America, Australia, Asia and Europe. At least one of the colors of the five rings (blue, yellow, black, green and red) or the white background color of the Olympic flag can be found on the flag of each nation.
