Quick Facts:
Held at Olympia in Greece
776 B.C. to 393 A.D. (1176 years)
Only free-born Greek men and boys could compete
The footrace was the sole event for the first 13 Olympiads.
The pentathlon and wrestling events were the first new sports to be added, in the 18th Olympiad.
Events - Boxing, Equestrian (Chariot races, Riding), Pankration (combination of boxing and wrestling), Pentathlon (Discus, Javelin, Jump, Running, Wrestling), Running
Part of a major religious festival honoring Zeus, the chief Greek god
Athletes traveled hundreds of miles, from colonies of the Greek city-states (colonies were as far away as modern-day Spain, Italy, Libya, Egypt, the Ukraine, and Turkey.)
An international truce among the Greeks was declared for the month before the Olympics to allow the athletes to reach Olympia safely.
Ancient athletes competed as individuals, not on national teams, as in the modern Games.
After the 2nd century A.D., the Roman empire brought even more competitors to the Olympic Games.
Greek mythology tells us that it was Hercules, the
strongest of all men, who challenged his four
brothers to a race before the Gods in the fields of
Olympia and so began the Olympic Games, which took
character of a festival of sport. The recorded
history actually begins in 776 B.C. a point at
which the Greeks marked their calendars in four-year
periods called Olympiads.
In ancient Greece, the Olympic Games became one of the worlds most enduring and hallowed institutions. They were celebrated continuously for almost 1,200 years. The athletes who won were lauded as heroes for life, and often elevated to the status of royalty in their hometowns. Statues were erected in their honor around the extraordinary Temple of Zeus, near the Sacred Grove of Altis and the stadium at Olympia.
In 393 A.D., the Roman Emperor Theodosius declared the Olympic Games corrupt and put an end to them. Earthquakes and floods buried Olympia and the temple of Zeus until the German excavations of the 1870's. When the statues emerged from the vaults of antiquity and the overwhelming cultural beauty of Greek sport was put on display Europe went into a frenzy for all things classical.
A young Frenchman, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, found the sacred ground of Olympia particularly fascinating. In his inspiration, he conceived the idea of Modern Olympic Games and successfully proposed it to a gathering of the worlds leading sports authorities on 23 June 1894 in the Grand Hall of the Sorbonne in Paris.
Coubertins dream of creating the worlds greatest sporting event - a truly international spectacle that would travel among the capitals of the world every four years was always a means to a far greater end. Coubertin and his colleagueslike their heirs in the Modern Olympic Movementbelieved that global sport could become a global platform for peace.
During the last century, the Olympic Movement has
succeeded in many ways beyond Coubertins dream. It
has survived the traumas of two World Wars, endured
the horrors of modern terrorism, suffered political
boycotts and overcome economic hardships that
threatened its very existence. Today, the Olympic
Movement is stronger and healthier than ever.
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