The Olympic Games are competitions between athletes individual or team events. They bring together athletes designated by their respective NOCs and whose entries have been accepted by the NOC. They compete under the Technical direction of the International Federations concerned. The final authority on any questions concerning the Olympic Games lies with the International Olympic Committee. The Olympic games consist of the Games of the Olympiad and the Olympic Winter Games .

The OCOGs' budgets are funded by the sales of broadcast rights (TV, radio and new media), international and national sponsorships and the sale of tickets and licensed products. The International Olympic Committee directly provides around a considerable amount to organising committees from the sales of broadcast rights and international sponsorship. In recent years, OCOG budgets for running the Games have been balanced or have generated a small surplus.

When Pierre de Coubertin revived the Olympic Games (called the Games of the Olympiad) in 1896, they only involved summer sports. In the 1920s, the popularity of snow and ice sports increased spectacularly. In 1924, as a trial, an International Winter Sports Week was organised in Chamonix (France), bringing together 258 athletes from 16 countries (mainly European and North American).

The development of the volunteer programme and the hiring of volunteers are the responsibility of the Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (OCOG). Therefore, any questions concerning the volunteer programme should be addressed to these committees.

The athlete taking the oath promises, in the name of all the other competitors, to respect the rules and participate in the competitions in a spirit of sportsmanship. The oath has been part of the Opening Ceremony since the Games of the Olympiad in Antwerp in 1920. Its text was modified at the 2000 Sydney Games and now includes a phrase confirming the will of the athlete to avoid doping. Since 1972, a referee has made the same undertaking on behalf of all the judges and officials.

We welcome your involvement. Please contact UC Davis marketing analyst, Kelly Harris at (530) 752-0185 or email at kelharris@ucdavis.edu for more information.

Information about previous Olympic Games is found at Olympic Spirit, which can be accessed using the navigation bar on the left side of the homepage. Visitors will find information on previous Olympic Games; medalists; Olympic records; notable figures in Olympic history; International Sports Federations (IFs), as well as the latest information on the emblem, mascots, and more about the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Our official website has a section dedicated to education. Select the "course resources" section on the Education Channel to download reading material. The curriculum column not only offers downloadable, informative reading material about the Olympic Games but also offers an array of educational video resources and stylish, education-themed Olympic wallpaper.

The IOC's position is that the Olympic Games should be Smoke-Free. Smoking is deeply incompatible with Sport and physical activity. The IOC is not responsible for the implementation or the creation of a Smoke-Free policy at the Olympic Games. This is the responsibility of each individual Olympic Organising Committee (OCOG). The first Smoke-Free Games were held in 1988 in Calgary. Since that date, all subsequent Olympic and Winter Olympic Games have been held under the Smoke-Free banner.

Each athlete must be a citizen of the country of the National Olympic Committee which he/she represents, and must also meet the eligibility requirements of his/her respective sport's International Federation, in accordance with the Olympic Charter. No competitor in the Olympic Games may allow his/her person, picture or sports performance to be used for advertising purposes during the Olympic Games.

The respective organizing committee from each Olympic Games host city is the organization responsible for hiring the volunteers for each Games.

The next Winter Olympic Games will be held in Turin, Italy, Feb. 11-26, 2006. The Paralympic Winter Games will be held in Turin, March 9-18, 2006.

Countless books and articles have been published on the Olympic Movement and specific topics within Olympic sports. To get started, go to www.usolympicteam.com to find information on the history and tradition of the Olympic Games, as well as an extensive resource list of print and web materials.

Visit the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games section to find out more about London's plans for 2012 and the Games' benefits for London, Londoners and the rest of the UK.

You will find the rule established by the International Olympic Committee on the issue of doping in the Olympic Charter: The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) was created in 1999, following the World Conference on Doping in Sport, organised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). This independent agency's mission is to promote and coordinate, on an international level, the fight against doping in all its forms.

After a detailed evaluation of the candidate cities, the International Olympic Committee Session awards a city the right to organise an edition of the Olympic Games or the Olympic Winter Games in its country.

Mr. Jean Drapeau, the mayor of Montréal at the time. To learn more, read our History of the 1976 Olympic Games section.

The e-map literally puts the Olympic Games in your control. You will find a plethora of information ranging from Olympic Games Competition Venues; Olympic Games Licensed Products Stores; Olympic Mascot Sales Points; Beijing Tourist Attractions and much more. Visitors can use the Olympic Games Map section (http://www.beijing2008.cn/emap/) to access the e-map system.

A storm of construction, driven by the fervor of war and tapping every resource the U.S. government could muster or finagle, transformed three East Tennessee valleys into the state's fifth-largest city within a matter of months. Yet, the city didn't have a name, at least not officially, or appear on any map.

The host city's Olympic Organizing Committee's responsibilities include, but are not necessarily limited to: Financing the preparation and construction of all athletic facilities; housing, feeding and transporting the athletes at the site of the Games; providing separate, but equal, housing accommodations for the print and electronic media; designing and striking the medal and diploma prizes; providing separate housing and meeting facilities for the IOC and IFs holding Congresses at the site of .

Official posters of the Olympic Games are produced by the Local Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games and are available in the United States when the Games are held in this country, or when an agreement has been signed by the respective LOC and the USOC for sale of such posters in this country to benefit the U.S. Olympic Team. Posters from past Olympic Games are not available for sale. The IOC owns the rights to artwork produced from past Olympic Games. To arrange for a U.S.

The USOC controls the use of all Olympic footage within the United States. If you would like to obtain Olympic footage, you must submit a request in writing to the USOC. Please visit www.usolympictema.com/footage and complete the required form to request the desired footage. Support your US Olympic Event with a great selection of tees and sweatshirts! Click here to buy your gear today!

Fall 2003 - A new Board of Directors is established for the Vancouver 2010 OCOG. The OCOG will be responsible to run the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

The 2010 Winter Games will need some 25,000 volunteers to help run the Games. The 2010 Bid Corporation was fortunate to have collected more than 50,000 names of those who are interested in volunteering in 2010. The list of names will be turned over to the Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (OCOG) which will develop a formal volunteer program, likely in 2008. There will be a competition for volunteer positions, much like applying for a job.

One of the roles of the Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (OCOGs) is to provide for the Games logistics. Ticketing, accommodation and access are therefore their responsibility. Anyone wanting to attend the Olympic Games can thus contact the Organising Committee concerned for any logistical questions of this nature.

The International Sports Federations' technical responsibilities during the Games are stipulated in the Olympic Charter:

For the modern Olympic, Pierre de Coubertin adopted the Greek tradition which is to inclue art and culture. On his initiative, architecture, sculpture, painting, literature and music competitions were part of the Olympic Games in 1912 and continue until the 1948 Games.

Canada won five silver medals and six bronze. To learn more, visit the International Olympic Committee site.

We have a special Volunteers section. The Volunteer Application Guide, recruitment policy and other related information is all at your fingertips. Volunteers also has links to the volunteer application websites for specific recruitment data. For example, volunteer applicants from the Beijing area can click on the Recruitment from Beijing link, sending you to the application websites for each of the 18 counties in the Beijing area.