Let the Games Begin!
Once every four years,the greatest athletes from all over the world gather together in one city to take part in the biggest sporting event on earth--the Olympic Games.
Winning a gold medal is the aim of every competitor in each of the many events.Athletes spend only a short time at the Olympic Games competing the best of the best.
However,besides this,each of them has to overcome particular difficulties on their way to success.Some of the greatest Olympians of all time will be remembered in history.
The first Olympic Games happened nearly 3,000 years ago,in 776BC.From then on,every four years for a thousand years,men would come to Olypmia,not for Greece itself,but from Greek cities in modern Turkey,Egypt,Libya,Spain,France and Italy.Women were not allowed at the Games,either as spectators or competitors.The punishment for breaking this rule was severe--and seems cruel to us today--any woman discovered there was thrown off a nearby cliff.
Now,when the Olympic Games begins,there is much we can predict.And we can probably expect some form of scandal,either about money or drugs or both.There may be political protests,and possibly violence.But there will also be some performances from individual athletes which will fix those Games for ever in the minds of those who watch.
