Footnote 1 – When the Games Began

There are startling differences as well. Whereas the ancient festival was held in Olympia over a period of about 1,200 years, the modern games move around the world from city to city. The modern games, too, are much larger and more extravagant, probably the greatest secular gathering of peoples in the history of mankind. At the 2000 games in Sydney, Australia, for example, 10,651 athletes from 199 countries competed in 300 events, for which 6.7 million tickets were sold. And 3.5 billion people watched the games on television!