Related: 24 Historical Pictures From Every Winter Olympics That Are Honestly Mind-Blowing When You See How Far The Games Have Come The record goes on to note that "this astonishing figure equates to 70% of the population, or roughly two out of every three people on the planet."

The word "Olympics" is rooted in ancient Greece. In Greek mythology, the gods would descend from Mount Olympus into the town of Olympia to gather and socialize with humans, according to Matthew Llewellyn, co-director of the Center for Sociocultural Sport and Olympic Research at California State University, Fullerton.

The timing of the games originated with the first Olympics, which were believed to have been held in 776 BC in ancient Greece, according to the International Olympics Committee. Time was then measured in “Olympiads,” which demarcated a four-year period. The Olympics were held at the beginning of each Olympiad to honor the Greek god Zeus.

The ancient Olympic games were crowded with male athletes, but were there opportunities for females to compete in sports?

A view of the ancient ruins of the Stadium at Olympia with its centerpiece 210-yard track. Roger Wood/Corbis In the hills above Olympia, I awoke before dawn, feeling bleary-eyed from the Greek wine I’d drunk with some rowdy archaeologists the night before.

As the 2026 Winter Olympics command global attention in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, a quieter but historically charged moment is unfolding a few nations to the north. Denmark’s Bruun Rasmussen is bringing to auction a first-place silver medal from the 1896 Athens Games —the first Olympics of the modern era.

The 2026 Winter Olympics ended as the twin flames in co-host cities Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo were extinguished during a closing ceremony inside ancient Verona Arena.