Why is the Olympics held only once in four years?

The Olympics is one of the world's biggest sporting events, where top athletes compete against each other to finish on the podium. The quadrennial event is usually held after a gap of four years, but Tokyo Olympics 2021 will be held five years after the previous edition in Rio due to the pandemic.

Here's a detailed explanation as to why the Olympics is held only once every four years.

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Ancient Olympics

The history of the Olympics dates back to 3,000 years. It was organized in Olympia, Greece and was contested once in four years. The four-year period came to be known as 'Olympiad', and the duration of a year was counted as 'Olympiad' rather than years.

The competitions in the Ancient Olympics were quite different as they had events like Music, Oratory among others. Things have changed since then and currently, athletes participate in sporting events like Wrestling, Badminton and Boxing, thereby maintaining international relations and also promoting sports.

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Revival of the Olympics

The Ancient Olympics stopped after 393 AD, and it was the French educator Pierre de Coubertin who took the initiative and formed the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894. As a sign of respect to the ancient origins, it was decided that the Olympics would be held every four years.

The first modern Olympic Games took place in 1896 in Athens and saw participation from 14 countries. Many demanded that Athens be the host for the Olympics, but the IOC was very keen on a rotation of the host countries. The 1900 Olympics was, therefore, held in Paris and since then every four years the host nation has changed.

1896 Athens Olympics

The Olympics in Athens had around 241 athletes competing against each other, out of which around 200 were Greek. However, America had 11 athletes who finished as champions as compared to the 10 from Greece.

Women were not allowed to compete in Athens, but Greek woman Stamata Revithi insisted that she be allowed to run. Revithi ran one day after the men's marathon and completed the race in 5 hours 30 minutes, but she was not given entry into the Pananthinaiko Stadium.The event was a great success and set the tone for a great future for the Olympics to become one of the biggest sporting events in world history.