Why does it take 4 years for the Olympics?

Games. As the decision-making body, the IOC is responsible for choosing the host city for each Games, and organises and funds the Games according to the Olympic

Charter. The IOC also determines the Olympic programme, consisting of the sports to be contested at the Games. There are several Olympic rituals and symbols, such

as the Olympic flag and torch, as well as the opening and closing ceremonies. Over 13,000 athletes compete at the Summer and Winter Olympic Games in 33 different

sports and nearly 400 events. The first, second, and third-place finishers in each event receive Olympic medals: gold, silver, and bronze, respectively.

The Games have grown so much that nearly every nation is now represented. This growth has created numerous challenges and controversies, including boycotts,

doping, bribery, and a terrorist attack in 1972. Every two years the Olympics and its media exposure provide athletes with the chance to attain national and sometimes

international fame. The Games also constitute an opportunity for the host city and country to showcase themselves to the world.

The Ancient Olympic Games were religious and athletic festivals held every four years at the sanctuary of Zeus in Olympia,

Greece. Competition was among representatives of several city-states and kingdoms of Ancient Greece. These Games

featured mainly athletic but also combat sports such as wrestling and the pankration, horse and chariot racing events. It has

been widely written that during the Games, all conflicts among the participating city-states were postponed until the Games

were finished. This cessation of hostilities was known as the Olympic peace or truce.[5] This idea is a modern myth because the

Greeks never suspended their wars. The truce did allow those religious pilgrims who were travelling to Olympia to pass through

warring territories unmolested because they were protected by Zeus.[6] The origin of the Olympics is shrouded in mystery and

legend;[7] one of the most popular myths identifies Heracles and his father Zeus as the progenitors of the Games.[8][9][10]

According to legend, it was Heracles who first called the Games "Olympic" and established the custom of holding them every four years.[11] The myth continues that

after Heracles completed his twelve labours, he built the Olympic Stadium as an honour to Zeus. Following its completion, he walked in a straight line for 200 steps and

called this distance a "stadion" (Greek: στάδιον, Latin: stadium, "stage"), which later became a unit of distance. The most widely accepted inception date for the Ancient

Olympics is 776 BC; this is based on inscriptions, found at Olympia, listing the winners of a footrace held every four years starting in 776 BC.[12] The Ancient Games

featured running events, a pentathlon (consisting of a jumping event, discus and javelin throws, a foot race, and wrestling), boxing, wrestling, pankration, and

equestrian events.[13][14] Tradition has it that Coroebus, a cook from the city of Elis, was the first Olympic champion.[15]

The Olympics were of fundamental religious importance, featuring sporting events alongside ritual sacrifices honouring both Zeus (whose famous statue by Phidias

stood in his temple at Olympia) and Pelops, divine hero and mythical king of Olympia. Pelops was famous for his chariot race with King Oenomaus of Pisatis.[16] The

winners of the events were admired and immortalised in poems and statues.[17] The Games were held every four years, and this period, known as an Olympiad, was

used by Greeks as one of their units of time measurement. The Games were part of a cycle known as the Panhellenic Games, which included the Pythian Games, the