The Greatest Olympic MomentsThe Olympic Games are an event that shook and changed the world, especially in difficult times, such as world wars and racial discrimination. The modern Olympics are based on the Greek games which were held every four years, with the word Olympiad meaning 4 years. The Olympic Games began in 776 BC until 393 AD, and continued for 12 centuries, when Emperor Theodosius decided to ban all pagan worship. The Olympic Games were dedicated to the Olympic gods, “they owed their purity and importance to religion” (olympic.org). Olympia, site of the Olympic Games, is part of the Peloponnese, the island of Pelops. Pelops is the founder of the Olympic Games and we owe him a lot. Olympia was not only a place of sport, it was also a place of worship, religious and political practices. The Olympic Games are held every four years, the modern Olympic Games began in 1896 in Athens, Greece. “The Summer Olympics have 38 sports in total” (Great Olympic Moments p. 4). After 28 years, they decided to create the Winter Olympics. The first Winter Olympics were held in Chamonix, France in 1924. Then, after another 24 years, in 1948, the Paralympics were established, where people with disabilities were able to compete. In this event, the world would come together for 2 weeks and watch their paisanos compete. There have been some awesome competitions throughout history that leave you wondering if these people are truly human. Like Usain Bolt, he broke the 100m running record and won the gold medal. Steve Redgrave winning a gold medal in 5 consecutive Olympics from 1984 to 2000 is very impressive. Michael Phelps has won 8 gold medals in 8 events, he won these medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and "has one more gold medal than anyone in history" (Great Olympic Moments). A...... middle of paper...... then. The last and most recent great moment in Olympic history took place in Beijing in 2008, when Phelps broke a record that will never be broken, but can be matched. He won 8 gold medals in his 8 events. He broke Mark Spitz's 36-year-old record. These moments are the ones we cherish even if they are linked to terrorism, boycotts, discrimination and political movements. The Olympic Games are an event where every 4 years the world comes together to compete and show that the human race is equal for all.BibliographyO'Connell, Caitlin and Shirley Li. "13 Olympic moments that changed history." Reader summary. Reader's Digest, and Web. May 7, 2014. “Ancient Olympic Games.” Olympic.org. Np, and Web. May 7, 2014. Hurley, Michael. Great Olympic moments. Chicago, IL: Heinemann Library, 2012. Print.