According to an estimate the history of Olympics goes as far as 776 B.C. Ancient Olympic Games were first started from Greece. In the beginning these games were of fundamental religious importance. In ancient times the winners of these games were awarded with a crown of olive leaves.

Olive branches are considered as a symbol of peace and hope. With the beginning of 5th century B.C. the number of games increased to twenty and from then the celebrations were last for several days. When the Romans gain powers in Greece these games lost their original importance. When the Roman Empire proclaimed Christianity as its religion in 393 A.D. the Olympics games were banned along with other festivals consider to be pagan.
These games remained unseen until the 16th century A.D. With the passage of time global popularity of Olympics increased. Now modern Olympics are held in different countries of the world. Among the celebrations of modern Olympics, there are several ceremonies which are held but they were not included in ancient Olympics. For example lightning of torch in the opening ceremony. The symbol and the flag of Olympics was not a part of these games in ancient times either. The five inter-connecting rings is the symbol of Olympics which was first introduced in 1913 A.D. and was adapted for the first time in 1914 A.D. This flag was first time flown in 1920 A.D. 1916 A.D. Olympics were cancelled because of the First World War. The 1920 Olympics were held in Belgium. These games were to be held in Germany in 1916 but they held in Belgium in 1920 because Germany lost the war and was thus banned from these games. In 1920 Olympics doves were released for the first time as a symbol of peace.

After the First World War some countries for example Turkey, Hungary, Germany, Austria and Bulgaria were banned from participating in Olympics. Germany remained banned from these games until 1925 A.D. Since Germany was not allowed to participate in summer Olympics so instead Germany hosted winter series of games in the year 1922 A.D. This was later recognized as the first winter Olympics.

The modern Olympic are a very much improved form of ancient Olympic games. Now-a-days people from all around the world participate in these games. In opening and closing ceremony the culture and traditions of the host country are presented. In the opening ceremony athletes of different countries, one country after other march into the stadium. While in the closing ceremony the countries do not march in different groups instead the flag bearer athletes walk in a single group while all the participants walk in one group. In closing ceremony national flags of three countries are hoisted, the national flag of Greece in the center, honoring it to be the birth place of Olympics, flanked by the flag of host country on the left. And flag of the next host on the right. Summer Olympics have a four year cycle occurring in leap-year. Last time in 2004 Olympics were held in Athens (Greece). Following this schedule these games are held in Beijing (china) this year (in 2008).

The Beijing Olympics 2008 which are officially called the games of 29th Olympiad are held in china. There are more than 10,000 athletes participating in these games. 28 sports are included in Beijing Olympics with more than 300 events.

The opening ceremony of Beijing Olympics was held in the national stadium of Beijing on 8th August. More than 15,000 people performed in the opening ceremony. The structure of the national stadium resembles the shape of nest of a bird so it is commonly nick-named as bird-nest stadium. This stadium has capacity of about 91,000 people. Closing ceremony of Olympics will also be held in this stadium on 24th August at 8 p.m. (according to china’s standard time).

Beijing Olympics 2008 are one of the most successful Olympics in the history. Chinese have tried their best to make these Olympics the best Olympics ever. Their management and the presentation of different events in the opening ceremony, was clearly defining that how much harder they were working. Their organization in various events was really spectacular. According to estimate they have a cost of about $58.5 billion, making it the most expensive Olympic ever.