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A Brief History
In 776 B.C. the first
Olympics were held in
Europe at Olympia,
Greece. Olympia was a
sanctuary dedicated in
honor of Zeus, the father
of all Greek Gods and
Goddesses. The games
were part of a religious
festival.
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• The Olympic Games were held at Olympia in ancient Greece.
GREECE
Olympia
That is why
they were
called
‘Olympic’.
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The earliest myths regarding the origin of the games
are recounted by the Greek historian, Pausanias.
According to the story, Herakles (not to be confused
with the son of Zeus) and four of his brothers,
Paeonaeus, Epimedes, Iasius and Idas, raced at
Olympia to entertain the newborn Zeus.
He crowned the victor with an olive tree wreath,
(which thus became a peace symbol) which also
explains the four year interval, bringing the games
around every fifth year (counting inclusively).
The other Olympian gods (so named because they
lived permanently on Mount Olympus), would also
engage in wrestling, jumping and running contests.]
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• The Olympic Games were held at Olympia in ancient Greece.
• They were part of a religious festival to worship the god Zeus.
The statue of Zeus
at Olympia was one
of the seven
wonders of the
ancient world.
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The ancient Olympic Games
• The Olympic Games were held at Olympia in ancient Greece.
• They were part of a religious festival to worship the god Zeus.
• The first Games were held in 776 BC.
There was just one
event, a race of
one stadium length
(about 192 m).
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The ancient Olympic Games
• The ancient Olympic Games were held to worship the god Zeus.
• They took place every four years at Olympia, in ancient Greece.
• The first Games were held in 776 BC.
• The last Games were in AD 394.
Later, much of
Olympia was
destroyed by an
earthquake.
Olympian assembly, from left to right: Apollo, Zeus and Hera.
Etruscan red-figure calyx-krater, 420–400 BC. From Etruria.
Late Archaic terracotta statue of Zeus and Ganymede,
Olympia Archaeological Museum
Ancient Olympics
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Way of honoring their
gods
A religious celebration
on honor of Zeus
Olympia – ancient
temple
Modern Olympics
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1500 years after last
ancient Olympics held
Frenchman, Pierre de
Coubertin – wanted a
way to promote peace
and friendship and to
promote a healthy
sporting competition
Zeus wielding thunderbold in his right hand and an eagle in the other
Detail of an Attic red-figure amphora, 480-470 BC from Vulci. Used with permission
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Free-born Greeks
and those who
spoke Greek
Separate men’s and
boys’ divisions
Divisions based on
chronological age
and physical size
and strength
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1st modern
Olympics, 1896 – no
women
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To be in the games, the athletes had to qualify
and have their names written in the lists. It
seems that only young people were allowed to
participate, for one Greek writer reports that
one young man was rejected for seeming
overmature, and only after his lover, who
presumably vouched for his youth, interceded
with the King of Sparta, was he permitted to
participate.
Before being able to participate, every
participant had to take an oath in front of the
statue of Zeus, saying that he had been in
training for ten months.
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Originally Olympics lasted only one day
Later extended to five days.
Originally only one event: the stadion (or "stade")
race, a short sprint measuring more or less 180
metres (590 and 790 ft), or the length of the
stadium.
The DIALOUS, or two-stade race, was introduced in
724 BC, during the 14th Olympic games. The race
was a single lap of the stadium.
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Over the years, more events were added:
BOXING (pygme/pygmachia), WRESTLING (pale) in 708
BC, and PANKRATION, a fighting competition combining
both elements.
Wrestling was also the final decisive event in the ancient
pentathlon. Boxing became increasingly brutal over the
centuries. Initially, soft leather covered their fingers, but
eventually, hard leather with metal sometimes was
used.[The fights had no rest periods and no rules against
hitting a man while he was down. Bouts continued until one
man either surrendered or died- however, killing an
opponent wasn't a good thing, as the dead boxer was
automatically declared the winner.
Other events include CHARIOT RACING, as well as a
PENTATHLON, consisting of wrestling, stadion LONG
JUMP, JAVELIN THROW, and DISCUS THROWN).
In the chariot racing event, it was not the rider, but the
owner of the chariot and team who was considered to be the
competitor, so one owner could win more than one of the
top spots.
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Enjoyed a brilliant wrestling career and won
many victories in the most important athletic
festivals of ancient Greece. In addition to his
athletic victories, Milo is credited by with
leading his fellow citizens to military triumph
over neighboring city of Sybaris in 510 BC.
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Milo's career at the highest level of competition
must have spanned 24 years
Milo was defeated (or tied) in his attempt at a
seventh Olympic title in 516 BCE by a young
wrestler from Croton who practiced the
technique of akrocheirismos—literally,
'highhandedness' or wrestling at arm's
length—and by doing so, avoided Milo's
crushing embrace.
Anecdotes about Milo's almost superhuman
strength and lifestyle abound. His daily diet
allegedly consisted of 20 lb of meat, 20 lb of
bread, and eighteen pints of wine
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The winner of an Olympic event was awarded
an OLIVE BRANCH and often was received
with much honour throughout Greece,
especially in his home town, where he was
often granted large sums of money (in Athens,
500 drachmas, a small fortune) and prizes
including vats of olive oils.
Sculptors would create statues of Olympic
victors, and poets would sing odes in their
praise for money.
The first games began as an annual
foot race of young women in
competition for the position of the
priestess for the goddess, Hera and a
second race was instituted for a
consort for the priestess who would
participate in the religious traditions
at the temple.
Hera was the Queen of the gods in the
Greek Pantheon and the protector of
wives and marriages.
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Could not compete –
married women
barred under penalty
of death
Only if an owner of a
Chariot team or horse
owner
Maidens allowed to
attend games
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Three separate foot
races to honor Hera –
queen of the gods, in a
separate location
3 races – categories:
girls, teenagers, young
women
Bronze image of Spartan girl running, photo credit: British Museum
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Cynisca was born in 440 BC in the ancient city of Sparta
and was the daughter of the king of Sparta, She is said
to have been a tomboy, an expert horserider and very
wealthy. She was exceedingly ambitious to succeed at
the Olympic Games and the first woman to breed
horses and win an Olympic victory.
Her name means 'female puppy' in Ancient Greek
Cynisca was honored by having a bronze statue of a
chariot and horses, a charioteer and a statue of herself
in the Temple of Zeus in Olympia, and an inscription
written declaring that she was the only female to win
the wreath in the chariot events at the Olympic Games
Kings of Sparta are my father and brothers
Kyniska, victorious with a chariot of swift-footed horses,
have erected this statue. I declare myself the only woman
in all Hellas to have won this crown.
When and where were the
First Modern Day Olympics?
In 1896, the first modern day Olympics were held in Athens, Greece.
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Various uses of the term "Olympic" to describe
athletic events in the modern era have been
documented since the 17th century. The first
such event was the COTSWOLD GAMES or
"Cotswold Olympic Games", an annual held in
England, involving various sports.
It was first organized by the lawyer ROBERT
DOVER between 1612 and 1642, with several
later celebrations leading up to the present day.
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L'Olympiade de la République, a national
Olympic festival held annually from 1796 to
1798 in France also attempted to emulate the
ancient Olympic Games.
The competition included several disciplines
from the ancient Greek Olympics. The 1796
Games also marked the introduction of
the metric system into sport.
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Between 1862 and 1867, Liverpool held an
annual Grand Olympic Festival.
These games were the first to be wholly
amateur in nature and international in outlook,
although only 'gentlemen amateurs' could
compete.
The program of the first modern Olympiad in
Athens in 1896 was almost identical to that of
the Liverpool Olympic
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It was Baron PIERRE DE COUBERTIN of France who
dreamt up this ambitious project. Drawing
inspiration from the ancient Olympic Games, plus
from the above-mentioned competitions Coubertin
decided to create the modern Olympics and founded
the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894
in Paris. This new committee set itself the objective
of organising the first modern games.
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The first modern Olympic Games in 1896
featured many references to the original
Greek Games
They were held in Athens as a reminder that
the Olympic Games originated in Greece.
Most of the sports on the programme of the
ancient Olympic Games were echoed in the
modern Games. The organisers even went as
far as to invent the MARATHON
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The marathon is a long-distance running event with
an official distance of 42.195 kilometres (26 miles and
385 yards), that is usually run as a road .
The event was instituted in commemoration of the
fabled run of the Greek soldier PHEIDIPPIDES, a
messenger from the Battle of Marathon to Athens.
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The traditional story relates that Pheidippides (530
BC–490 BC), an Athenian herald or hemerodrome
(translated as "day-runner“, "courier“, "professionalrunning courier" or "day-long runner" , was sent
to Sparta to request help when the Persians landed
at MARATHON. He ran about 240 km (150 mi) in two
days.
He then ran the 40 km (25 mi) from the battlefield near
Marathon to Athens to announce the Greek victory
over Persia in the BATTLE OF MARATHON (490 BC)
with the word nikomen "We have won", as stated by
Lucian chairete, nikomen ("hail, we are the winners") to
then collapse and die.
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\some scholars have suggested that the story
is likely a "romantic invention.“
They point out that Lucian is the only classical
source to which all the elements existed of the
story known in modern culture as the
"Marathon story of Phillipedes": a messenger
running from the fields of Marathon to
announce victory, then dying on completion of
his mission.
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De Coubertin liked the way that sport was
organised in Britain and visited lots of events
including the Henley Regatta – this combined
with the discovery of the ruins of the original
stadium in Olympia gave him the push to start
the Olympics.
He believed that the games would promote
world peace and harmony as seen in his quote
which is still displayed on the scoreboards at
each games
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“The most important thing in the Olympic
Games is not to win but to take part. Just as
the most important thing in life is not the
triumph but the struggle”
The IOC which was originally chosen by the Baron is
now huge and has representatives from all the
countries who take part. They decide where the
games will take part and chose the city 6 years
before the event.
 At first not many cities wanted the ‘honour’ as the
games are extremely expensive and usually made
a loss.
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This changed after 1984 when because of
marketing and sponsorship the games
resulted in a ‘surplus’
It now costs nearly as much to make a bid as host
the games!
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Rings, motto and flame —Transmitting
the values of Olympism through
symbols : universality, excellence, peace
and openness to others.
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The Rings
Five interlacing rings to illustrate the
universality of the Olympic Movement
and the Olympic Games — Rings and
flag proposed by Pierre de Coubertin in
1914 — Presence of the rings and flag at
the Olympic Games — Symbol
recognised all over the world.
Rings represent the five continents and
the colours are in every flag in the
world.
The Olympic motto is made up of three Latin
words :
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Which means :
FASTER — HIGHER — STRONGER
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The Flame
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The Motto
Link between the Games of antiquity
and the modern Games — Message of
peace and friendship — Lighting of the
flame and organisation of the relay.
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The Olympic games were the first major
international sporting event and they are still the
most important and successful of all the events that
take place.
However, things have not always run smoothly and
nearly all of the recent one have been affected by
problems of one sort or another.
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This was a games dominated by
politics – Hitler was in power and
wanted the games to be a propaganda
exercise for his ideals and beliefs. One
of these was that the Aryan master
race – that people who were blond,
fair and true Germans – were
superior to all others.
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However Jesse Owens a black USA
athlete won 4 gold medals and this
along with many other black athletes
winning medals foiled Hitler's plans.
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The USA team nearly hadn’t gone to
the games because they were
concerned about what was happening
to Jews and Black people in Germany
under Hitler but this ended up being
the best way to counteract his ideas to
the world at large.
It did make the IOC think much
more carefully about who to let host
the games from then on.
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Mexico was a very controversial
games for several reasons. Firstly it
was the first one to be held at high
altitude – helps athletes who train
at altitude and those in short
explosive events.
Secondly Mexico was a very poor
country and people worried that
they would not be able to afford the
games – they were still paying the
money off many years later.
There were also several black
American athletes who gave a black
power salute during their medal
ceremonies. This was to protest at
the way black people were treated
in America. Two athletes were sent
home by the American team.
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On the morning of September 5, with
six days left in the Games, the worst
tragedy in Olympic history hit. Eight
Arab terrorists stormed into the
Olympic village and raided the
apartment building that housed the
Israeli contingent. Two Israeli
athletes were killed and nine more
were seized as hostages. They
demanded the release of over 200
Palestinians serving time in Israeli
jails, along with two renowned
German terrorists.
After a day of unsuccessful
negotiations, the terrorists collected
the hostages and headed for the
military airport in Munich for a flight
back to the Middle East. At the
airport, German sharpshooters
opened fire, killing three of the
Palestinians. A horrifying gun battle
ensued, claiming the lives of all nine
of the hostages, along with one
policeman and two terrorists.
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Athletic competition was
suspended for 24 hours. During a
day of mourning, a memorial
service was held at the main
stadium in front of 80,000
spectators. In a controversial
decision, IOC president Avery
Brundage declared, "the Games
must go on." And so they did, with
the Olympic and national flags
flying at half-mast.
The most memorable footage from
Munich should have been that of
American swimmer Mark Spitz
winning his seventh gold medal or
17-year-old Russian gymnast Olga
Korbut wowing the world on the
balance beam. Instead, we're left
with disturbing photos of terrorists
in ski masks and of a policeman
standing on the roof of the
compound waiting to pounce with
a semi-automatic weapon. And
ultimately we're left with the video
of ABC announcer Jim McKay
uttering his fateful words, "They're
all gone."
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South Africa had been banned from
Tokyo Olympics because of
apartheid.
A New Zealand rugby team had
toured South Africa and therefore
upset African Nations.
A total of 30 nations , mostly African,
boycotted the Montreal Games as a
consequence.
This was the start of a long period of
boycotts for various political reasons.
The other reason that Montreal was
notable was the cost of the games –
because of increased security after
the Munich Games. It took Montreal
many years to pay off the debt.
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The choice of Moscow was
controversial due to a poor human
rights record.
The Soviet Union had invaded
Afghanistan prior to the Games and
when the games were due to begin they
were still occupying the country.
Many countries demanded that the
Soviets withdrew but they refused –
many countries boycotted the games as
a protest.
As a result a total of 52 nation,
including the USA and Canada
boycotted and also individuals from
many other teams decided that their
consciences would not allow them to
go.
Many people felt that this devalued the
Moscow Games particularly as the
American team was always very strong
– i.e. that the standard wasn’t as high.
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As the venue is chosen 6 years in
advance the IOC could not avoid
America staging the Games after
they had boycotted the Moscow
Games.
The Soviet Union along with 14
other nations retaliated in turn
by boycotting the Los Angeles
Games. Security was the excuse
but in reality it was tit for tat.
Another excuse was that the
Games were over
commercialised and for the first
time ever the Games ran at a
large profit for the host city.
This was against Communist
ideals and thus was a perfect
excuse to boycott.