The first written records of the ancient Olympic s date to 776 BC. The ancient Olympics were held every four years between August 6 and September 19 during a religious festival honoring Zeus (宙斯). The first modern Olympics were held in Athens, Greece, in 1896. The Olympic symbol consists of five interlaced rings of equal dimensions, representing the union of the five continents and the meeting of athletes from throughout the world at the Olympic s. The Olympics truly took off as an international sporting after 1924, when the 8th Olympic s were held in Paris. Some 3,000 athletes from 44 nations competed that year, and for the first time the s featured a closing ceremony. The Winter Olympics debuted (问世) that year, including such s as figure skating, ice hockey, bobsledding and the biathlon. Eighty years later, when the 2004 Summer Olympics returned to Athens for the first time in more than a century, nearly 11,000 athletes from 201 countries competed, breaking the then record of participating countries.