The games were first held in 776 BC by the Greeks in honour of God Zeus at Olympic Mount in Greece, hence the name and they continued till 394 AD. They were held after every four years. These festivals included competitions in literature, arts, drama, music and gymnastics.

The games were revived by the French Baron, Pierre de Coubertin in 1894; the modern series started in 1896 at Athens, and since then they are being held every fourth year. Barcelona – Spain was the venue of 1992 Olympic games and Atlanta for 1996 games. Olympics in the year 2000 were held in Sydney in Australia. Athens will host the 2004 Olympics and Beijing will host in 2008.

India held the Olympic championship will host in Hockey from 1928 (Amsterdam) to 1960, She lost the championship to Pakistan at the Rome Olympics in 1960, and regained the same at Tokyo in 1964; India lost in Olympics Hockey championship at Mexico City, it was won by Pakistan. At the Montreal Olympics, gold medal for hockey was won by New Zealand.

The 20th Olympics were held at Munich in 1972. 21st Olympics took place at Montreal (Canada) in July, 1976, 22nd at Moscow in 1980. The 1984 Olympics were staged in Los Angeles, 1988 in Seoul, 1992 in Barcelona, 1996 in Atlanta, 2000 in Sydney, 2004 in Athens and 2008 Olympics take place in Beijing.

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Commonwealth Games: The Commonwealth Games are a unique, world class, multipart event held once every four years amongst the member countries and territories of the Commonwealth.

The Games, formerly known as The British Empire Games, were first held in 1930 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The name changed to British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1954, and later to British Commonwealth Games in 1970. Since 1978, they have been known as the Commonwealth Games.

Asian Games: Asian Games are held on the lines of Olympic Games once in tour years. Entries are limited to Asian countries only. 1994 Asian Games were “eld at Hiroshima, 1998 Asiad at Bangkok and 2002 at Pusan (South Korea).