Greek Sports (III)

Greece at the Olympics:

Greece has a long presence at the Olympic Games, as they have competed at every Summer Olympic Games, one of only four countries to have done so and the only one of them to compete under its national flag in Moscow, despite the Greek government's support for an American-led boycott of the 1980 Games, and most of the Winter Olympic Games. The National Olympic Committee for Greece is the Hellenic Olympic Committee, created in 1894 and recognized in 1895.
Greece has hosted the Games twice, both in Athens. As the home of the Ancient Olympic Games it was a natural choice as host nation for the revival of the modern Olympic Games in 1896, while Greece has also hosted the 2004 Summer Olympics. During the parade of nations at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, Greece always enters the stadium first due to its status as the birthplace of the Olympics. Before the Games the Olympic Flame is lit in Olympia, the site of the Ancient Olympic Games, in a ceremony that reflects ancient Greek rituals and initiates the Olympic torch relay. The flag of Greece is always hoisted in the closing ceremony, along with the flags of the current and the next host country.
Greek athletes have won a total of 110 medals in 15 different sports and the country currently ranks 31st in the all-time Summer Olympics medal count. Athletics and weightlifting have been the top medal-producing sports for the nation and in the latter Greece is placed among the top 10 countries overall. Gymnastics, shooting and wrestling are the other sports that have produced ten or more medals for Greece. In the inaugural 1896 Olympics, Greece finished second in the medal counts, but won the most medals in total, in their best Olympic performance. The Greeks finished third in the 1906 Intercalated Games with 8 gold, 14 silver and 0 bronze medals (35 in total), which were considered Olympic at the time but are not officially recognized by the IOC today.