Olympic Game History
he Olympic Game history comes in two parts—ancient and modern. The Olympics first began in Greece in 776 B.C. as part of a religious festival that honored the Greek god, Zeus. The festival took place at a sanctuary site called Olympic, which was named after Mt. Olympus, the highest mountain in mainland Greece. In the ancient Olympics, only men were allowed to compete. In fact, only men who were free and spoke Greek were allowed to compete. This was the way it remained, as the Olympics were held every four years for nearly 1200 years. Although the first Olympic competition was a 600-foot race, other types of games eventually expanded the festivities to five days and included the 400-meter diaulos, wrestling, boxing and chariot races like the four-horse tethrippon. One of the most unusual practices of the ancient Olympic games was for the athletes to race naked. Researchers still speculate on why athletes ran in this seemingly uncomfortable way. Some say it was because they were impressed with their bodies and felt they had nothing to hide. Others suggest that since it was part of a religious festival, the participants ran naked to celebrate their purity.
The ancient Olympics were considered a special time of peace, with a truce from hostilities declared among all of the city-states. Over time, Greek power waned as Roman power grew. When the Roman emperors adopted Christianity, they ended the practice of honoring the Greek gods, and the ancient Olympics were abolished around 393 A.D. It wasn’t until 1894 when Frenchman Baron Pierre de Coubertin introduced his idea of bringing back the Olympics. Coubertin was an active sportsman and he felt that athletics was the way to bring back the vitality that had been lost from his country in the 1870 French-Prussian war. He traveled around the world to get support for the idea of a modern Olympics involving athletes from all over. Coubertin formed the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the first modern Olympics took place in Athens two years later, when 245 athletes from 14 nations participated. Greek athletes won 47 of the 122 medals. Although Greece wanted to continue being the host of the games, the IOC agreed that the participating countries should take turns having its cities be the host. The games, known as the Summer Olympics, were held every four years, with the exception of 1916 and 1940 when they were cancelled because of World War I and World War II. In 1924, the IOC also began a winter version of the Olympics, featuring figure skating, hockey, bobsledding and speed skating. These games, which came to be called the Winter Olympics, were originally held in the same year as the Summer Games. However, in 1994, the Winter Olympics were held two years after the 1992 Summer Games, and have been every four years thereafter. In 2008, the Summer Games will be hosted by Beijing, China, and the Winter Games 2010 will be held in Vancouver, Canada. Olympic game tickets are already in high demand for the games in China, as organizers strategize to ensure the largest number of people can enjoy the games.
