the olympic games (often referred to simply as the olympics or the games) is an international multi-sport event subdivided into summer and winter sporting events. the summer and winter games are each held every four years. until 1992, they were held in the same year. since then, they have been celebrated two years apart.
the original olympic games began in 776 bce in olympia, greece, and were celebrated until ce 393. in 1896, the ancient olympic games were revived at the initiative of a french nobleman, pierre frédy, baron de coubertin, thus beginning the era of the modern olympic games.since the first modern games, in athens, greece, participation in the olympic games has increased to include athletes from nearly all nations worldwide.
with the improvement of satellite communications and global telecasts of the events, the olympics are consistently gaining supporters.the most recent summer olympics were the 2004 games in athens and the most recent winter olympics were the 2006 games in turin. the upcoming games in beijing are planned to comprise 302 events in 28 sports. as of 2006, the winter olympics were competed in 84 events in 7 sports.