The Olympic Games originated in Ancient Greece around 776 BCE as a religious festival honoring Zeus. In Greek society, religion was deeply intertwined with everyday life and could not be separated from politics or culture. As Kerry Lefebvre explained, “You really can’t separate religion and worship of the gods from any other element of ancient Greek society–there was no separation of church and state like we have today.” Because of this, athletic competitions functioned as acts of worship rather than simple entertainment. According to Lefebvre, “The Olympic Games were always held in honor of Zeus, at Olympia, which was a sacred site where temples and athletic spaces existed together as part of the same religious complex.” 

Athletics were also important because they allowed Greek city-states to gather while maintaining individual pride, similar to the unity created by the Olympics today. Lefebvre noted that “athletics were a way for Greek city-states, which were not unified, to come together while still expressing pride in their individual cities.”

The modern Olympics were reintroduced in 1896 and initially focused on summer sports. However, as interest in cold-weather athletics grew, winter sports such as figure skating and ice hockey were added to the Summer Olympics in 1908 and 1920. These events acted as trial additions, testing whether winter sports deserved a larger platform. 

That platform emerged in 1924 with the International Winter Sports Week in Chamonix, France, later recognized as the first Winter Olympics. Since then, the Winter Olympics have expanded to showcase highly specialized and technically demanding sports. As Lefebvre emphasized, the endurance of the Olympics lies in continuity rather than change: people still gather to celebrate human excellence, competition, and shared identity, values that connect the ancient and modern games.