Through the years, the Olympic Games have managed to win their rightful place in history. They are still the highest ambition of athletes all over the world. Though the olive branch has been replaced by a gold medal and the exalting songs of the ancient world by tempting prizes for “the winners of the modern Games, the glory that comes from an Olympic victory remains exactly the same.

The modern history of the Olympic Games begins in 1896, and from then to now it has lasted through both difficulties and moments of sheer magnificence. The only Olympiads not to have been held were those scheduled for 1916, 1940 and 1949 due to the outbreak of the two World Wars. The honour of hosting the Games has always been great, but the task extremely difficult. The undertaking of the countries who organize the Games offers, each time, the opportunity for a different country to play host and thus promises a different dimension to the games. There have been many times when there were notable failures, but the creation of the Winter Olympics, along with the Paralympics for disabled athletes, brought the institution of the Games back to its initial form, giving it the breath of equality, social justice and human sensitivity. In addition, long before the introduction of these Games, the participation of female athletes had been established which came as a victory parallel to the, by then, still fresh appearance of the feminine movement.

Slowly, the concept of marketing and advertising came to complete and complement the organization of the games. It is said that the winners of ancient Greece, as well as the olive wreath, also received an amount of oil, the origin of which was announced loudly to the people of the area so that the victory of the athlete remained in the minds of the spectators along with the quality of the oil he was awarded.

Through glorious moments and critical comments the Olympic Games have never ceased to represent only one thing: Man. His life. His story.

Learn more about Athens Greece and take a look at some of the most wonderful Ancient Athens Pictures and the Map of Plaka Area, the most ancient neighborhood of Athens.

There are a lot of reasons why Atlanta Olympics proved to be one of the most memorable, not to mention controversial, events ever in Olympic history. Firstly, a number of people felt that Athens should have been awarded the right to host the Olympics because it was in their city that the modern phase of the event was born exactly one hundred years ago. The privilege nevertheless went to Atlanta in the end, and the city was able to raise as much as $1.8B from private funding and sales alone for the Olympics.

How to Have a Complete Set of Atlanta Olympics Memorabilia
There are various ways for you to have a “complete” set of Atlanta Olympics memorabilia. You can do so, for instance, by having memorabilia for each and every nation - a record-breaking 197 - that participated in the Olympics.

Another way to achieving a complete set of Atlanta Olympics memorabilia is by having one of each and every event making up the Olympics: equestrian, diving, cycling, canoeing, basketball, fencing, archery, football, athletics, gymnastics, baseball, handball, badminton, softball, hockey, synchronized and traditional swimming, judo, table tennis, modern pentathlon, tennis, rowing, volleyball, sailing, water polo, shooting, wrestling, and weightlifting.

If, however, you’re concerned about your budget, photographs are probably the most affordable way to obtain Atlanta Olympics memorabilia. The best scenes to have photographs of would be when Muhammad Ali carried the torch all the way to the top or when he received a replacement medal for his first place win in the 1960 Olympics, Leon Stukelj receiving recognition as one of the oldest living athletes at age ninety-seven, Celine Dion belting out “The Power of the Dream”, Gloria Estefan singing “Reach” in the closing ceremony, and Gladys Knight crooning out “Georgia on My Mind”.

If you’re interested in people, however, then you should concentrate on obtaining replicas, autographed pictures, or any other type of memorabilia related to the following athletes have proven to be most notable during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics:

Andre Agassi - The suave tennis player was able to manage a Career Golden Slam by winning first place in the Olympics.
Kurt Angle - Although he is nowadays more known for being a WWE wrestler, his first shot to fame was winning a gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
Lee Lai Shan - This athlete was the first to give golden glory to his city Hong Kong when he won a medal in sailing.
Michael Johnson - He won two medals and set a new world record.
Naim Suleymanoglu - This athlete was the first to win three gold medals in weightlifting
USA Dream Team - Composed of the best NBA players, this team still hasn’t stopped dominating the world of basketball.

Tips for Buying, Collecting, and Keeping 1996 Atlanta Olympics Memorabilia
Always look for a certificate of authenticity before purchasing any such memorabilia.
If there is no certificate provided but you are purchasing from a trusted and reliable source, you can have one made by approaching any of the authenticity-testing organizations in the country.
Label each and every memorabilia in your collection carefully and completely. Make sure that you list the name or title (if any) of the memorabilia, where and when you’ve bought it, and don’t forget to keep the receipt.
Cover all memorabilia with the appropriate package to keep its original condition.

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For more information about authentic autographed sports memorabilia and collectibles, visit http://www.sportscollectionz.com . Read articles from contributing writers in our blog site at http://sportscollectionz.wordpress.com

Children love to play all different kinds of sports and they especially love the ones that are different than normal. You can plan an Olympic party game and take all the help that you can from your kids and plan the different games with them, after all its going to be a fun time for them and their friends.

Suitcase Relay

You can arrange this race as your Olympic party game in your backyard. You need to have two suitcases and the suitcases will be filled with clothes like a hat, a scarf, a mitten, sweater, a pant, a wig and a pair of boots. Then you need to ask the kids to get in two lines and let two of the kids in the beginning of each row hold the suitcase full of clothes. You have a start mark and another mark about 15 paces from the start and the kids at that point need to put the suitcases down and wear everything in the suitcase and pick the suitcase up and run back to the starting line. The kid who will finish the race the quickest, will be the winner of the race.

Olympic Race

This event is going to be a great addition to your Olympic party games. Ask all the kids to gather on the starting line and tell them that they are going to run the Olympic race around the block. This race needs to be supervised by two elders on the bike, one in the front and the other at the back, just to prevent that none of the kids get hurt. The kids would run the block and the one who will arrive first will be the winner. At the end of the race, you need to give all the kids the Olympic medals, which you can buy from a store, so that every kid feels honored and part of such an interesting event. Get the pictures of the event and hand it out to the kids, which will be a wonderful gift from you.

It is always very creative to come up with ideas of games that kids would love and have a time that they would remember forever and Olympic Party Games is one such event.

Mrs. Party… Gail Leino takes a common sense approach to planning and organizing events, celebrations and holiday parties with unique ideas for Olympic party supplies and fun free educational party games. She explains proper etiquette and living a healthy life while also teaching organizational skills and fun facts. The Party Supplies Shop has lots of party ideas with hundreds of free holiday printable games and free birthday party activities. Over 100 adorable Party Themes to fit your birthday celebration, holiday event, or “just because” parties is at the Party Theme Shop. Party themes include cartoon characters, sports, movie, TV shows, luau, western, holidays, and unique crazy fun theme ideas.

Olympic Games were born in ancient Greece. Every four years, during summer time, athletes from all over Greece gathered in Olympia, which is in Peloponese, to take part in Olympic Games. Only Greek men could participate and the winners gained a wreath of olive tree leaves and glory. It is an important fact that has to be mentioned that in ancient Greece during the period of Olympic Games all wars and disputes had to stop. It was the only time in history that Olympic Games were actually accompanied by real Olympic Truce. The end of Olympic Games came when the Christian religion prevailed in the Greek mainland.

Back 1896 a revival of Olympic games took place. The 1896 Olympic Games in Athens have been the first Olympic Games in modern times. But the Olympic Spirit has by that time become worldwide, and as a result the Olympic Games have become international. In the years that followed many countries undertook the organization of the summer Olympic Games, England, Italy, Germany, USA, Russia, Mexico, Spain. That proved the internationally spread Olympic Spirt. Unfortunately nobody can claim that Olympic Truce is still combined with the games.

Olympic Games returned to their birthplace 4 years ago. Athens has hosted the 2004 Olympic Games. The organization has been successful and everyone was impressed by what, the small country that has hosted the games, has managed. Athens during the Olympic Games in August 2004 has been a colorful, vivid and happy metropolis hosting visitors from all over the world. Though governments nowadays seem incapable of respecting any kind truce, people prove that friendship and understanding cannot be divided by boarders - you could see that in case you found yourself in Athens by that time. People from different backgrounds met in Athens and strong friendships were built.

They may now be miles away one from the other, but they have memories and photos of the Olympic Games to remind them that, at least every four years, people can forget their cultural differences and be united.

Olympic Games in Beijing 2008 will succeed the Athens Olympic Games. We all hope that next year, in the biggest country that has ever hosted these games, Olympic spirt will be promoted, people will be united and Olympic Truce will become again, after 2000 years, a reality!

Hi World! I am Pavlos Mirmigakos. What about talking a bbit about the Olympic Games?
photos of the Olympic Games