History of the Olympics The Olympics originally started in Ancient Greece in 776 B.C. It was such an important event that all wars were put on hold until after the Olympics finished. The original sports of the Olympics contained, track, track with armor, the discus throw, boxing, wrestling, and the javelin throw. The Olympics were held every four years in Olympia, right near Mount Olympus, the place where the 12 Olympians were thought to of lived. the Olympics were originally mnade to honor the Gods, and went on for over 700 years until the Roman Empire rose. The Romans worshipped the Roman Gods, and then later Christianity, so cancelled the Olympics. It wasn't until 1896 that the Olympics started again in Athens, Greece. Over 14 nations and 241 athletes competed in over 43 events. Since, then the Olympics haven't changed much, except for new Winter Olympics, held inbetween each four years of the Summer Olympics.
Sucesses in the 2012 Olympics There are over 204 countries that compete every four years in the Olympics. Many of the countries proved to be highly successful in the 2012 Summer Olympics, while other countries didn't rally nearly as much medals as others. America succeeded in getting 104 medals 46 of which were gold. China ended up getting over 87 medals, 38 of which were gold. Russia came third with over 82 medals, 24 of which were gold. Britain ended with 65 medals, 29 of which were gold. Many countries in the Olympics won only two bronze medals, such as Greece and Singapore. Other countries only won one medal, like Afghanistan and Morocco. Over 100 countries, though, failed to even get one for their country. The London Olympics left a handful of countries in honor, as they set new records for their countries, but the rest were not so lucky and didn't go back to their countries bad.