Background

The Olympic Games is the world's most important amateur sports competition. It is said that the first games was held in 776BC, in the Olympia, Greece. The one-day event for the early games just included race. Later the games were held regularly, with more events added, including race, discus throw, javelin throw, jumping, boxing, wrestling, trotting race, and pentathlon. The winners of the sever-day games supplemented with religious rites were honored as national heroes. The Games were ordered to a halt by the Roman Emperor Theodosius I (345-395) in AD393, when Greece was conquered.

In late 19th century, French Baron Pierre de Coubertin advocated the restoration of the games, and the first modern Olympic Games, sponsored by the then Greek king, was held in Athens in 1896. From then on, the games were held every four years, until this year's 26th Games. However, the games were canceled during the two World Wars period, and the first Winter Olympic Games was held in Chamonix, France in 1924.

Headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is in charge of guiding the modern Olympic sports and organizing the Games.

The main events of the modern Olympic Games include: archery, basketball, boxing, owing, ycling, orsemanship, sport fencing, soccer, gymnastics, handball, track and field events, hockey, judo, pentathlon, canoeing, shooting, swimming, diving, water polo, volleyball, weight lifting and wrestling.

Before 1949, China had sent delegations to take part in the Games for several times, but without winning a medal. For various reasons, the New China did not participate in the IOC until late 1970s. Xu Haifeng won the first ever gold medal for China in the men's free pistol shooting event in the 23rd Olympic Games in 1984.

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