The Games have always brought people together in peace to respect universal moral principles. The upcoming Games willfeature athletes from all over the world and help promote the Olympic spirit. The Olympic Games, or Olympics, is aninternational multi-sport event taking place every two years and alternating between Summerand Winter Games. Originally held in ancient Greece,they were revived by a French nobleman, Pierre Fredy, Baron de Coubertin in thelate 19th century.

Games of the Olympiad, better known as the Summer Olympics, have been held every fourth year since 1896, with the exception of the years during the World Wars. A special edition for winter sports, the Olympic Winter Games, was established in 1924. Originally these were held in same year as the Summer Olympics, but starting with 1994 the Winter Games are in between, two years after the Games of the Olympiad.

Ancient Olympics
The Olympic Games as we know them today have a long history that dates back to Antiquity. It all started in Greece,in the Peloponese 3000 years ago.

Growth
From the 245 participants from 15 nationsin 1869, the Games grew to more than 10 500 competitors from 200 countriesat the 2000 Sydney Olympics. The number of competitors at the Winter Olympicsis much smaller than at the summer editions, 2 400 athletes competed atthe 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt  Lake City in 78 events.

War
Despite what Coubertin had hoped for, the Olympics did not stop wars from happening. In fact, three Olympiads had to pass without Olympics because of war, due to World War I the 1916 Games werecancelled, and because of world War II the games of 1940 and 1944 were alsoskipped.

Olympic Movement
A number of organizations are involved inorganizing the Olympic Games. Together they form the Olympic Movement. Therules and guidelines by which these organizations operate are outlined in theOlympic Charter. At the heart of the Olympic Movement is the International Committee (IOC), currently headed by Jacque Rogge. It can be seen as thegovernment of the Olympics, as it takes care of the daily problems and takesall important decisions, such as the host city of the Games and the program of the Olympics. Three groups of organizations operate on amore specialized level:

· International Federations (IFs),the governing bodies of a sport
· National Olympic Committees(NOCs), which regulates the Olympic Movement within one country
· Organizing Committees for theOlympic Games (OCOGs) which take care of the organization of a specific celebration of the Olympic