Olympic Games History

Ancient Greece Games:

These are the largest sports competitions of antiquity. These games are starting as part of a religious cult and were starting from 776 BC. till 394 AD (a total of 293 Olympics were held) at Olympia, which was considered a sacred place among the Greeks. From Olympia came the name of the Games. The Olympic Games are the famous event for whole Ancient Greece that went beyond the platform of a purely sporting event. Victory at the Olympics was considered extremely honorable for both the athlete and the person who represented.

Olympic Games History

From 6th c. BC. following the example of the Olympic Games, other general Greek athletic competitions began to be held: The Pythian Games, the Isthmian Games and the Nemean Games, also devoted to various ancient Greek gods. The Olympic Games were the most famous sports among these competitions. The Olympic Games are mentioned in the works of Plutarch, Herodotus, Pindar, Lucian, Pausanias, Simonides, and other ancient authors.

At the end of the 19th century The Olympic Games were revived on the initiative of Pierre de Coubertin.

Olympic Games From Birth To Decline:

There are many legends tells about the birth of the Olympic Games. All of them are associated with ancient Greek gods and heroes.

The most famous legend says, as the king of Elida, Ifit, seeing that his people were tired of endless wars, went to Delphi, where the priestess of Apollo conveyed to him the command of the gods: to arrange common Greek athletic celebrations. After that, Ifit, the Spartan legislator Lycurgus and the Athenian legislator and reformer Klopfen established the order of holding such games and concluded a sacred union. Olympia, where this festival was to be held, was declared a sacred place, and anyone who came into its borders armed, a criminal.

It is also known that Hercules, having organized the Olympic Games, immortalized the memory of People (Pelops), who won the race in the chariots of the cruel King Enomay. And the name Pelops was given the Peloponnese region, where the “capital” of the ancient Olympic Games was located.

Olympic Games History

Olympia Games:

As a result, held in Olympia at the end of the 19th century. Archaeological excavations have been able to detect the ruins of some buildings, including sports facilities, such as the palestra, the gymnasium and the stadium. Built in 3 c. BC. Palestra is a playground surrounded by a portico where wrestlers, boxers and jumpers trained. Gymnasium, built in 3–2 centuries. BC, - the largest building of Olympia, it was used for training sprinters. The gymnasium also kept a list of winners and a list of Olympics, there were statues of athletes. The stadium (212.5 m long and 28.5 m wide) with stands and seats for judges was built in 330–320 BC. It could accommodate about 45,000 spectators.

Organization Of Olympic Games:

The organization of the ancient Olympic Games provided for control not only over the course of the Games themselves, but also over the preparation of athletes for them. The control was carried out by ellanodiki, or gellanodiki, the most authoritative citizens. For 10–12 months before the start of the Games, the athletes underwent intensive training, after which they passed a peculiar exam of the Ellanodik Commission. After the “Olympic standard” was fulfilled, the future participants of the Olympic Games were preparing for another month under a special program - already under the leadership of the ellanodik.

Ancient Olympic Games List:

The first time in the program of the Olympic Games was only stardom - running for one stage (192.27 m), then the number of Olympic disciplines increased. We note some fundamental changes in the program:

At the 14th Olympic Games (724 BC), the program included a diaulos - running for stage 2, and 4 years later - with a split (running for endurance), the distance from 7 to 24 stades.

At the 18th Olympic Games (708 BC) for the first time wrestling and pentathlon (pentathlon) competitions were held, which included, in addition to wrestling and the stadium, jumps, as well as javelin and disc throwing.

At 23 Olympics (688 BC), fistfight entered the competition program.

Olympic Games History

At 25 Olympic Games (680 BC) chariot races were added (drawn by four adult horses, this type of program expanded over time, in the 5th and 4th centuries BC, chariots raced by a pair of adult horse’s young horses or mules).

At 33 Olympic Games (648 BC), horse racing on horseback appeared in the Games program (in the middle of the 3rd century BC horse racing began to be held on foals) and pankration, a single combat combining elements of the struggle and fisticuffs with minimal restrictions on "forbidden techniques" and in many respects resembling modern fighting without rules.

From the 37th Games (632 BC), boys under the age of 20 began to take part in competitions. At first, the competitions in this age category included only running and wrestling, over time pentathlon, fistfight and pankration were added to them.

In addition to athletic competitions, an arts competition was held at the Olympics, from the 84th Games (444 BC) it became the official part of the program.

Initially, the Olympic Games took one day, then (with the expansion of the program) five days (the Games continued so much during their heyday in the 6th and 4th centuries BC) and, finally, “stretched out” for a whole month.

Olympic Winners:

Among the participants and winners of the Olympic Games were such famous scientists and thinkers as Demosthenes, Democritus, Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, Pythagoras, Hippocrates.

Olympic Games History

And they competed not only in the fine arts. For example, Pythagoras was a champion in cam fights, and Plato was in pankration.