New Delhi: The online search engine giant Google celebrates the 120th anniversary of the first modern Olympic Games with a doodle.
The doodle on the homepage shows four different scenes from the historical game and each of them can be seen by refreshing the homepage. It is designed by Olivia Huynh.
On clicking the doodle, a google search page opens up and shows parts of a Wikipedia article, which reads, "The 1896 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad, was a multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece, from 6 to 15 April 1896. It was the first international Olympic Games held in the Modern era."
There are four variations by professional Google Doodler Olivia Huynh and can all be seen by refreshing the Google homepage. The main event was the marathon, which was won by Greek champion athlete Spyridon “Spyro” Louis.
The second doodle shows the weightlifting event, which was a tie between Scotland’s Launceston Elliot and Denmark’s Viggo Jensen. Both contenders lifted equal weight, but Jensen was declared the winner by the judges for doing it with more style.
The rules for the event have changed since then. The third doodle shows Switzerland’s Louis Zutter on the pommel horse. The fourth doodle shows American Robert Garrett who won the gold medal for shot put as well as discus throw. Greek athletes were expected to win both events.
This year's Summer Olympics are going to be hosted by Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. More than 10,500 athelets will compete for 306 medals in 28 sports.
As per the tech giant, the 1896 games included 9 different sports and 43 events. Most noteworthy was the marathon, which had the greatest number of international athletes ever.
Google further said that equally noteworthy was its winner, Spyridon 'Spyro' Louis, the only Greek champion in the athletics division, and a national hero for the host country. His monumental victory on that historic day continues to inspire Greek pride.
Since the first modern Olympics were held 120 years ago, they have continued to be staged over every four years with the exception of 1940 and 1944 due to World War II. London is the only city to have hosted the event on three occasions.
