Friday is the opening ceremony for the Summer Olympics in Paris – but what do you know about the very first Olympics?
The very first recorded Olympics were held in Greece in 776 BC. No swimming, diving or gymnastics, but they did have a running race! Those first Olympics were part of a festival honoring the god Zeus who was the father of all the Greek gods and goddesses. The only event was the stadion race – a 600 foot running race in Olympia – near Mt Olympus. According to the Penn Museum, there is evidence that this festival and race went back to even earlier dates – but there is no recorded history prior to the 776 BC event. The winner at that first recorded stadion race? A cook named Koroibos from the neighboring town of Elis. His prize? A wreath made of olive leaves and of course a place in history!
Initially a 1 day event, the addition of more types of competition lead to it expanding to a 3 day event by 708 BC. Additional competitions included additional running distances, jumping and the discus throw. More and more sports were added over the years like the javelin, long jump, shot put, boxing, wrestling, riding and chariot races – and kept increasing the length of the festival as well. By the fifth century BC, the festival was at least 5 days long to accommodate the growing lists of competitions.
The ancient games continued until 393 AD when the Emperor Theodosius ended the festivals honoring the Greek gods because of the rise of Christianity. The games, with their roots in paganism came to an end and the stadium at Olympia was reduced to ruins by a series of earthquakes, floods and mudslides.
The modern Olympics were re-established in 1896 by a Frenchman named Baron Pierre de Coubertin. His original intent was to unveil modern Games in 1900 in his native Paris, but delegates from 34 countries were so enthralled with the concept that they convinced him to move the Games up to 1896 and have Athens serve as the first host. So the Olympics starting this week in some ways are coming full circle!
Want to know more about the Ancient Olympics? Check out these links:
- https://www.penn.museum/sites/olympics/olympicorigins.shtml#:~:text=The%20ancient%20Olympic%20Games%20began,at%20Olympia%20is%20shown%20here.
- https://olympics.com/ioc/ancient-olympic-games/the-sports-events
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coroebus_of_Elis
- https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Olympics/faq11.html
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