1Hi, it's Jay.
2What are you best at on the playground?
3Are you a fast runner,
4awesome at hand-clapping games,
5a hula hoop hero?
6Well, think about this,
7whatever you love to do most, there are probably other kids around the world who love doing that too.
8What if you could get all those kids together to play in one place?
9Then you could try your skills against the best runners, hand clappers, or hula hoopers out there.
10I wonder who would win.
11Someone named Aija has a question about something a little like this.
12Let's call Aija now.
13Hi, Jay.
14Hi, Aija.
15I have a question for you.
16Why are the Olympic Games so popular?
17That's a great question.
18Every few years, the best athletes from around the world gather together in one city
19to compete in sports that test speed, strength, and skill.
20These games are called the Olympic and Paralympic Games,
21and they are a big deal.
22Any city hosting the games prepares for years.
23Crowds flock from all over to watch thousands of athletes compete in dozens of events.
24The athletes who compete here are the best in the world at their sports.
25The best swimmers, the best long jumpers,
26the best weightlifters,
27and more.
28The winner of each event gets a medal:
29gold for first place,
30silver for second,
31and bronze for third.
32Right now, athletes all over the world are getting ready to go to the Olympics.
33Imagine what it would be like to be one of them.
34If you were getting ready to compete in the Olympics,
35how do you think you'd feel?
36If you were about to compete in the Games,
37you might be pretty nervous.
38What if you mess up in front of thousands of people?
39What if your competitors are really good?
40It's a lot of pressure.
41But you'd probably be pumped too.
42You get to meet amazing athletes from all over the world.
43You get a chance to compete against the very best for gold medal glory.
44Sounds pretty fun!
45Okay, but what if instead of heading to the Games today,
46you were heading to the first Olympic Games a long, long time ago?
47How would that be different?
48The earliest Olympic Games took place in ancient Greece thousands of years ago.
49If you were an Olympic athlete back then,
50you'd be getting ready to travel to a place in Greece called Olympia,
51where the Games were held.
52That's where the Olympic Games get their name.
53Once you got there, you'd compete in sports like foot races or chariot racing.
54You probably wouldn't have much special equipment or clothing.
55Runners ran barefoot.
56And if you won, you wouldn't get a gold medal.
57Instead, you might get one of these:
58a crown of wild olive branches.
59Still, even back then, winning at the Olympics was a huge deal.
60Thousands of people traveled from all over Greece to compete or watch the Games.
61Winners sometimes had statues made of them in their hometowns.
62Poets wrote songs about their accomplishments.
63The Olympics today are a tribute to those ancient Greek Olympic Games.
64But that doesn't mean they are exactly the same as they were thousands of years ago.
65Back in ancient Greece, only some Greek men were allowed to compete in the Olympics, mostly soldiers.
66Today, women and men from more than 200 different countries can and do compete.
67Athletes with disabilities also compete in games alongside the Olympics called the Paralympics.
68The Paralympics did not begin in ancient Greece.
69The games that became the Paralympics began in the 1940s
70when a hospital in Europe held a competition for athletes who used wheelchairs.
71Over the years, this competition grew and grew and became more and more popular and competitive.
72Until it became such a big deal that it started being held alongside the Olympics.
73Because of these changes and more,
74the way athletes compete at the Games also looks really different now than it did in ancient Greece.
75Runners don't run races barefoot anymore, far from it!
76Check out these specially designed shoes for Olympic sprinters.
77They help runners grip the track, run faster, and keep from getting injured.
78Similarly, some Paralympians use specially designed prosthetic legs like these to help them run fast.
79The Olympics and Paralympics today also include some sports that the ancient Greek Olympics didn't have at all.
80One of the biggest changes they've made over the years is this:
81winter sports!
82Back in ancient Greece,
83sports were only included if you could play them outdoors in the summer.
84Today, the Olympics and Paralympics have a whole separate competition in the winter for snowy and icy sports
85like figure skating,
86skiing,
87and snowboarding.
88Also, every few years, the organizers of the Olympics and Paralympics consider brand-new sports to add to the Games,
89even in the summer.
90Some sports have been added that the ancient Greeks never imagined:
91from surfing
92to this sport called breaking
93or this one called goalball.
94So in summary, the Olympics and Paralympic Games are international athletic competitions.
95The Olympics today are a tribute to the huge athletic competitions held thousands of years ago in ancient Greece.
96But who plays and how we play has changed a lot since then.
97Those changes have made the Games more interesting and more competitive.
98That's why so many people still love watching them today.
99What changes would you want to see in the future?
100That's all for this week's question!
101Thanks for asking Aija.