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A Brief History of the Olympics

19th Aug 2021, 12:45:19 PM

The world’s most prominent athletes recently competed in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Medals were won, numerous records were broken and many dreams were achieved.

For this post, we thought we’d take a step back from modern times and focus on the past instead. Keep on reading to learn more about the origins of the Olympics and the event’s significant history.

Ancient and Modern Olympics

The history of the Olympics can be split into two parts: ancient and modern. There was of about 1,500 years when no Games were held, so there’s a clear distinction between the two eras of Olympics. Naturally, we’ll start by covering the origins. For that, we head back to ancient Greece nearly 2,800 years ago.

The Origins of the Olympics

It’s widely believed that the Olympics started way back in 776 BC. The first iteration was held to honour the god Zeus. He was the king of Greek gods and goddesses, and was the ruler of Mount Olympus, where the deities were resided; he was associated with thunder and the sky. All subsequent Games were hold in his honour, a sign of just how much of a religious people the Greeks were.

The Olympics took place in Olympia. This was a small town in Western Greece on the Peloponnese, a large peninsula. This particular settlement was chosen because it was an important religious sanctuary home to many temples and shrines.

Before 776 BC, sporting activities were common throughout Greece and beyond. However, there wasn’t a regular competition until the Olympics were established. After the first iteration took place, it was decided that subsequent ones would happen at intervals of four years.

Naturally, the Olympics started off as a small and rather basic event. The number of events was very limited at first, and the only people taking part lived relatively close by. Over the years, it grew and became an important cultural cornerstone.

Here are some of the key aspects of the ancient Olympics that separate them from their modern counterparts:

  • Competitors from Greece only

  • Only men allowed to compete

  • Spectators were exclusively male (some women allowed in later Games)

  • Athletes were naked for most events

  • Just one winner per event

  • Always took place in Olympia

  • Drama productions included

  • Held over a few days

  • No winter sports

  • No Olympic flame

  • No cancellations due to war

  • No team sports

Religion was a key part of the ancient Olympics, as was the idea of individual achievement. Winners would be awarded a crown of olive leaves obtained from a sacred tree in Olympia. There was no prize money or medals; it was all about earning prestige, fame and glory instead.

Even though winners only received a crown, it wasn’t uncommon for them to receive awards from others. They could be awarded things such as tickets to theatre performances and lodging. This was because victors were held in great esteem by the community.

At first, there was a single event: the stadion, which was a running race. This was a simple race of approximately 600 feet with up to 20 competitors taking part. Over time, more events were added including boxing, the four-horse chariot race and events for young boys. The most events featured in a single Games was 20.

One of the best-known ancient Olympic events is the pentathlon. This contest was split into five sections:

  • A stadion

  • Javelin throwing

  • Discus throwing

  • Long jump

  • Wrestling

All five events were contested on the same day. It remains uncertain how the victor of the pentathlon as an individual event was determined.

Ancient ruins at Olympia

Eventually there were four main sporting competitions throughout Greece. However, the Olympics remained the most important one.

A key date in the history of the ancient Olympics is 146 AD. This was when Rome conquered Greece. Following on from this, the Olympics continued as normal, though there were some notable changes.

For example, statues of several Roman emperors were constructed at Olympia. The first was of Augustus; it was commissioned following his death and subsequent deification.

Then there was the disruption caused by the emperor Nero. Though only Greeks traditionally took part in the Olympics, Nero decided he himself would compete, despite being Roman. He enter chariot races and established several performance-based events such as singing and playing the lyre.

He won everything he competed in, mainly because the judges were too fearful of him to not award him victory. There was also the fact that the judges were bribed.

Nero even had the AD 68 Olympics brought forward by a year. This was so he could compete in them before ending his tour of Greece and returning to Rome. In AD 67, he managed to fall from his chariot during a race but still declared himself the winner. Needless to say, once Nero had committed suicide, his name was erased from the list of Olympic champions.

The last known Games took place in AD 393. At this point, Greece was still under Roman rule. Theodosius I, the emperor of Rome at the time, formally banned ceremonies and traditions he believed to be associated with paganism. This included the Olympics, which wouldn’t take place again for over one and a half thousand years.

The Olympics Revived

Throughout the 17th to 19th centuries, a number of countries had sporting festivals and competitions that used the Olympic name in one way or another. For example, in 1850 the Wenlock Olympic Games were established in Shropshire, though its didn’t include the word ‘Olympic’ until 1859.

Baron de Coubertin, an educator and historian from France, witnessed the sports competition in Shropshire. He was inspired to bring the ancient Olympics back, though his goal was to make it a much bigger and more international event than the original.

Part of what motivated Coubertin was the work of William Penny Brookes, who founded the Wenlock Olympic Games, and the Greek philanthropist Evangelos Zappas.

Zappas was also keen to have a revived Games and had written to the Greek king offering to fund it. He ended up putting money towards three events: a small-scale Games that took place in a city square in Athens in 1859; two bigger stadium competitions that were held in 1870 and 1875.

Coubertin wanted to do what Brookes and Zappas had done, but on a much larger scale. He formed the International Olympic Committee (IOC) with the aim of having an Olympic Games every four years. Each event would be held in a different place and athletes from around the world would be invited to participate.

Fittingly, the very first official modern Olympic Games was held in Athens in 1896. Below are some facts and figures about it:

  • 241 athletes took part (all men)

  • 14 nations represented

  • 43 events across nine sports

  • USA won most golds

  • Greece won most medals overall

The main venue for the first modern Olympic Games was the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens. It was built in AD 144 and  excavated in 1869. It was then used for the two stadium Olympics funded by Evangelos Zappas.

What makes the Panathenaic Stadium particularly noteworthy is the fact that it’s entirely made of marble - no other stadium in the world shares this characteristic. It’s also the place where during a torch relay, the Olympic Flame is officially passed over from Greece to the current Games’ host country.

Panathenaic Stadium in Athens - The first modern Olympics in 1896.

The 1896 Olympic Games were a huge success. They were the world’s biggest sporting event to date. Many key politicians and public figures wanted all subsequent Games to be held in Athens. However, the International Olympic Committee had already pledged to rotate the location; Paris had already been confirmed as host of the next iteration in 1900.

Here are some key events that have happened throughout the history of the modern Olympics:

  • First Winter Olympics held in 1924. Figure skating and ice hockey had been included in previous Summer Games. For logistical reasons, it was decided to have a separate event for winter sports

  • First Paralympics held in 1960. Sir Ludwig Guttmann, who helped rehabilitate soldiers injured in World War II, organised an annual sports competition in 1948. In 1960, he arranged for some 400 disabled soldiers to visit Rome during the Olympic Games. These soldiers would compete in a special side-event, which came to be known as the first Paralympics

  • First Youth Games held in 2010. This was the first Summer Games for young athletes aged 14-18. The first Winter Games for young athletes would take place in 2012

  • Three cancellations: in 1916 due to World War, then in 1940 and 1944, both due to World War II

  • One postponement: the 2020 Olympics delayed by a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic

  • Boycotts by 66 countries in 1980 due to the Soviet-Afghan war

  • More boycotts by 14 countries in 1984 as a response to the American-led ones of the previous Games

Over time, the Olympics has got bigger, more important and more influential. It’s the world’s top international sporting event and almost every nation on Earth has taken part at some stage.

Each Olympics costs billions of pounds to hold and the costs often overrun. Even though hosting a Games can be a huge and risky investment, many countries benefit from it in the long-run.

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