Olympic Games Evangelos Zappas, a wealthy Greek-Romanian philanthropist, first wrote to King Otto of Greece, in 1856, offering to fund a permanent revival of the Olympic Games. Zappas sponsored the first Olympic Games in 1859, which was held in an Athens city square. Athletes participated from Greece and the Ottoman Empire. Zappas funded the restoration of the ancient Panathenaic Stadium so that it could host all future Olympic Games. The stadium hosted Olympics in 1870 and 1875. Thirty thousand spectators attended that Games in 1870, though no official attendance records are available for the 1875 Games. In 1890, after attending the Olympian
Istanbul bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics knockout stage of the 2010 Basketball World Championship as well as the final. Istanbul was chosen as European Capital of Sports for 2012. The 2011 WTA Tour Championships and 2012 Euroleague Final Four will be hosted in Istanbul. The Abdi İpekçi Arena hosted the Final of EuroBasket 2001, and was also the venue for the 1992 Euroleague Final Four. The venue also hosted 2004 Eurovision Song Contest. Istanbul will be bid 2032 Summer Olympics. Venues would have been located in four zones and seven clusters around the city. The Olympic City Zone on the European side and the Olympic City