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The Olympic Games (network varies)
official website; TV Tropes; Wikipedia

The ancient Olympics began in Olympia, Greece, in 776 B.C., occuring once every four years. They were abolished in A.D. 394. That, I probably needn't tell you, was before my time. And I certainly wouldn't have been interested in the event anyway, because the athletes were all naked. Centuries later, the Olympics were revived as an international event, in which the athletes, thankfully, wear clothes. The first modern Olympics were held in 1896, in Athens, Greece. This, too, was before my time. The Olympics are separated into two parts, the Winter Games (first held in 1924) and the Summer Games. While the Summer Games tend to be more popular in general, I personally favor the Winter Games. The Olympics are held every four years, each time in a different host city in countries all around the world. In 1928, the Olympic Torch was introduced. The flame is ignited in Olympia, and carried by runners to the current host city, wherever it may be. Initially, the Winter and Summer games would be held the same year. However, in 1994, a "bonus" Winter Olympics was held, when the games began to be staggered. From then on, the Summer and Winter Games would each be held every four years, but the different seasons were now held two years apart instead of the same year. So we now get one or the other every two years.

I was born in 1975, and I first became aware of the Olympics as a child in the 1980s. While I've never really been a fan of sports, I do appreciate the idea of nations coming together for peaceful, friendly competition. (Though I'm sure some fans of the games are more nationalistic than patriotic, which makes them not so friendly. I think most athletes are friendly about it.) Um... there are any number of things I should probably say. Like the fact that there were a few Olympics that were cancelled (on account of World Wars I and II). And that even now the Olympics are often a target for terrorist threats. And that while the games are supposed to be limited to amateur athletes, in recent decades some professionals have been allowed to compete, which I feel is a mistake. And... well, I don't watch the games as much as I'd like to. I do at least try to watch the opening ceremony of each Olympics (and possibly the closing ceremony). I should also say that there are unrelated Olympic events, such as the Special Olympics, but such things are, I regret to say, of no interest to me. I'm glad they exist, though.

Anyway, I'm going to talk a bit here about each Olympics that I remember watching any of at all. (But as for who actually won any of the medals, you'll have to look that up yourself, on the links I've provided. Results tend not to be as important to me as the competition itself, especially for artistic events like figure skating. I mean, it matters to me at the time I'm watching the events, but looking back years later, I can't manage to care much at all.) And I only mention a few of the many competitors from each year, since I never learn the names of the vast majority, in the first place. And those I do learn, I mostly eventually forget. Which I feel bad about, but hey... it's not like they do this so that David Ward will remember them. (There are also plenty I don't mention just because they've slipped my mind, and some I don't mention because I think of them more as professional athletes than as Olympic athletes.) I also watch very few events in any given year. As I said before, I prefer the Winter Games over the Summer Games, probably because the events held in summer are things you're more likely to see played professionally all the time. And while I've nothing against athleticism, it's less important to me than artistry, and I feel like winter events, such as figure skating, have greater potential for artistry. (Which is by no means to suggest artistic events aren't athletic, because they most assuredly are.) But even things like downhill skiing, speed skating, hockey, luge, etc., can be exciting to watch. And there are some summer events that are less common to see outside the Olympics (it's not all basketball and such), so there are things of some interest to me even then. Artistry is still most important to me, so the most important event in summer, I feel, would be gymnastics, but things like diving, swimming, canoeing, etc. can also be interesting. But in both winter and summer, there will always be events that just don't interest me as much as I wish they did.