There were Olympic games in Greece every four years until the year 394. After that there were no Olympic games until 1896. In that year people of many countries came together and decided to have an Olympic Games Committee.
There is Olympic Games Committee now, too. The members of the Committee decide the place of the Olympic games and the sports that the athletes will compete in. Every four years the Committee says what city and country will be the place for the games.
If you look at the years in the calendar, you can see that there were no Olympic games in 1916, 1940 and 1944. That is easy to explain. In those years there was war in the world – the First World War in 1916, and the Second World War 1940 and 1944.
After the October Revolution, more and more people in our country began to go in for sports. We think that sports are very important, and there are very good athletes in this country. We have very good football teams, and good volley-ball and basket-ball teams, too. Of course, not everybody can become a world champion. But many Soviet men and women athletes are the best in the world in some sports. The Olympic games showed that Vladimir Kuts was the best runner and Valery Brumel was the best high-jumper. We have many women Olympic champions in our country, too – Irina Press, Ludmila Shevtsova, Maria Gusakova, and many others. Botvinnik was not an athlete, but he was the best chess-player in the world.
In 1952 the Soviet Union sent athletes to the Olympic games for the first time. Then, four years later in Australia, the Soviet Union won more medals that the other countries. Our athlets won thirty-seven gold medals and twenty-nine silver medals.
The Olympic tradition is a tradition of peace and friendship.
Answer the questions on the text:
1. When did the people decide to have an Olympic Games Committee?
2. How often do the Olympic Games take place?
3. Why there were no Olympic Games in 1916, 1940, 1944?
4. When did the former Soviet Union send athlets to the Olympic Games for the first time?
5.
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