How the Olympics came to be

The Olympics is known to be the one of the best sporting event that has ever happened. They bring the best athletes from 206 countries together every four years to compete in competitions to win medals for their countries. This explanation will tell you how the Olympics came to be and the changes it’s been through over time.

It started as a religious way to honor the Olympian God Zeus. He was a 13 meter tall statue that lived in the temple of Zeus in Olympia Greece. The first ever Olympic games started in 776 BC (before Christ). Only one event happened in the first 13 Olympics. It was the 200 meter run. Only men participated as women were prohibited for religious reasons. It took them a long 60 years to finally add 2 more events to the Olympics. It consisted of the pentathlon and a longer race. The pentathlon consisted of the long jump, the discus throw, the javelin throw, and a wrestling match between the two athletes who won the previous four events. Soon after the Roman emperor Theodosius strictly banned the Olympics to be in the honor of Zeus as he was a christian. This rule occurred after the death of Christ in the year 393.

So that was the end of the Olympics. Until 2 thousand years later it was brought back to life by Baron Pierre De Coubertin. In 1892 he attended a sporting conference and suggested to revive the Olympic games and that it may still happen every four years. They declined his request. They met up again in 1896 and he then tried to pursue his request and 79 delegates from 9 countries approved his request. This is Olympics are now called the Modern Olympics because it relates to the past Olympics.

On the 15th of April 1896 the first ever modern Olympics were held. Some of the ancient sports were no longer in the Olympics such as nude running, chariot races and more. They added new sports such as basketball, swimming and many more modern games. Today Olympians train hard for four years. Today the Olympics is held in honor of their countries and the themselves. It is a fun event that everyone looks forward to. It has had over 8,200,000 spectators and will still have the title of the best sporting event in the world.

Activity 1 - Winter Learning Journey

I would compete in the sport called horse racing. Why horse racing? Its because horse racing is something I have never done and I would personally think would be fun and challenging. So not only do I look for a sport that is fun but also gives me a bit of a challenge. This sport requires a person to sit on a chariot led by 2 or 4 horses and its a race to the end. This would probably take me a year and a half to actually be good at it. So I would choose horse racing if I was in the Olympics 2792 years back.

Let’s imagine that you were alive 2792 years ago and invited to compete in the first ever ancient Olympic Games. Which of these events: running, wrestling, boxing, pankration, horse racing and pentathlon which one would you compete in?