In ancient Greece,there were four major athletic meetings and the Olympian meeting played the most important part in the lives of the people. As time passed,the Olympian meeting gradually lost its local character and became first a national event and then international. No one knows exactly how far back the Olympic Games go but some official records date from 776 BC.  The Games took place every four years on the plain by Mount Olympus. Thousands of people came from all parts of the Greek world to watch the games. The winner of the foot race had the great honor of giving his name to the year of his history. After a long history of almost 1,200 years,the Games were stopped for religious  reasons. It was then decided in 1896 to start the Olympic Games again. The meeting was held in Athens and 311 athletes from 13 countries took part in it but the idea of such an international meeting attracted the world's attention. After the 1908 London Olympics,many nations sent their best athletes. Although the Games have been time and again threatened by some unfavorable political events, the Games have taken place every four years.  Nowadays, the Games are held in different countries in turn. As the biggest international gathering of any kind in the world,athletes from different countries play games together and this provides them with good chances to learn to live together. The friendly feelings in the Olympic Village make people think of the world as one big family. The Olympic Games will be hosted in Beijing in 2008. It is believed that the Games will be a wonder of the world. The Olympic Games meeting finally formed   _  .
a local event a national event an international event an official event