Olympic Games



The Olympic Games, or Olympics, are an international multi-sport event taking place every four years and comprising summer and winter games. Originally held in ancient Greece, they were revived by a French nobleman, Pierre Frèdy, Baron de Coubertin in the late 19th century. The Summer Olympics have been held every fourth year since 1896, except in 1916, 1940, and 1944 due to the World Wars.

A special edition for winter sports, the Olympic Winter Games, was first held in 1924. The first winter Olympics competitions were originally held as a non-Olympic sports festival, but were declared to be official Games by the International Olympic Committee in 1925. Originally these were held in the same year as the Summer Olympics, but since 1994 the Winter Games and the Summer Games have been held two years apart.

Animal was the mascot of the U.S. Snowboarding Team for the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. This was the first year that snowboarding was recognized by the Olympics, and the team adopted Animal as their mascot. The drummer also made a television appearance in Nagano with CBS reporter Kennedy, who stapled his feet to a snowboard.

Appearances

 * The Coca-Cola Polar Bear made appearances at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Connections

 * Amanda Beard appeared with Miss Piggy, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, and Beaker at the 2008 ESPY awards.


 * Dominique Dawes has appeared on Sesame Street and is part of the advisory board for Sesame Workshop's "Healthy Habits for Life."


 * Mitch Gaylord has appeared in Muppet Magazine


 * Magic Johnson appeared with Kermit to launch the Ford E85 Escape Hybrid.


 * Greg Louganis appeared in both Muppet Magazine and Sesame Street Magazine


 * Julianne McNamara appeared in Muppet Magazine


 * Michael Stich has appeared on Sesamstrasse


 * Picabo Street appeared on Sesame Street.


 * Rosalynn Sumners has appeared in Muppet Magazine


 * Kristi Yamaguchi has contributed for In the Kitchen with Miss Piggy