The first Games were held at a place called Olympia in Greece over 3000 years ago. The Games were ceremonies for the Greek god Zeus. Young men ran a race of about 184 meters-the length of a stadium-to see who would be crowned champion.
3000多年前，最早的奥林匹克运动会在希腊一个名为奥林匹亚的地方举行。那是一个祭拜希腊主神宙斯的典礼。青年男子会进行约184米的赛跑，看谁是冠军，这个比赛距离其后成为运动场标准跑道的长度。
The first recorded Olympic Games were held in 766 B. C. Although there was only one event-a running race-other events were added in later years. Men competed in chariot racing, wrestling, boxing, horse- riding, and many kinds of running races. In one race men had to run wearing a full suit of armor!
第一个有记录的奥林匹克运动会在公元前766年举行。当时只有一个比赛项目——赛跑，后来才加入了其它的项目，有赛战车、摔跤、拳击、赛马以及各种形式的赛跑。有种赛跑选手们还得穿着一整套盔甲上场！
The ancient Olympic Games were held in Greece for over 1000 years. But when the Romans conquered Greece the Games were banned, and battles between slaves and animals became a more popular competition. Fifteen hundred years were to pass before the Olympics would be born again.
古代奥林匹克运动会在希腊举行了1000多年。但罗马征服希腊后，运动会被禁止了，奴隶和动物之间的搏斗则成为更流行的比赛。过了1500年，奥林匹克运动会才得以重新举行。
The Modern Olympic Games 现代奥林匹克运动会
The modern Olympic Games were started by a Frenchman, Baron Pierre de Coubertin. During his travels around the world, he noticed that many people from many different countries liked sports. So in 1894 he arranged a meeting of people from nine countries to discuss holding a sports competition for athletes from all around the world.
现代奥林匹克运动会的创始人是法国男爵皮埃尔.德.顾拜旦。他在环游世界的时候发现许多国家的人都喜欢运动。于是，他于1894年召集了九国会议，商议举办一场由全世界运动员参与的运动比赛。
Two years later the first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens, with 311 men competing. At the next Olympic Games in 1900, 19 women joined the competition.
两年后，首届现代奥林匹克运动会在雅典举行，当时有311名男子运动员参加。在1900年举行的第二届奥运会有19名女运动员参加。
In the century to follow, the Olympics traveled to many countries around the world, meeting many different cultures and people, facing new challenges, growing and evolving. And now they have returned to Athens, the country of their birth.
在接下来的一个世纪里，奥运会在世界多个国家举行，与许多不同的文化和民族擦出火花，面对各种新的挑战、成长和发展。现在，奥运会又回到了它的发源地-——雅典。
