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776 BCE
First Olympic Games
The first Olympic Games took place in Greece. Originally, the games were part of a religious festival to honor Zeus. -
776 BCE
Where?
Even though the games were named after Mount Olympus they weren’t played there. Instead, they were held in the religious Sanctuary of Olympia near Greece’s southwest coast. -
776 BCE
What did they do? And why?
At the beginning, the games were just short foot races designed to keep Greek men fit for the intensity of war. The path for the foot races was about 213 metres long and straight. It was also wide enough for twenty men to run side by side. Only men who spoke Greek were allowed to take part in the races. Men ran the races without any clothes on as a tribute to the gods and appreciation of the male body. -
776 BCE
Rewards
Men wanted victory, that is all they wished to achieve. There was only one winner and there were no medals. The winner was given a wreath of olive leaves as a prize and to reward his mastery of the events, a statue was built in the winner’s honor.
The games were held once every four years in August. -
776 BCE
Sports added
Over time other events were added. Horse races, chariot races, boxing, and wrestling.
There was also a special event that consisted of five different sport activities called a Pentathlon . It included wrestling, running, long jump, disc throwing, and spear throwing. -
776 BCE
Women
Believe it or not, married women were not allowed to attend or to compete in any of the events. Any woman caught sneaking in was punished! Women could own horses in the chariot race though.
However, there was a separate women’s festival called Heraia and it was dedicated to the honour of Hera, Zeus's wife but only unmarried Spartan girls took part. Winners were awarded crowns of sacred olive branches, the same as men. -
776 BCE
Popularity
Between 20,000 and 40,000 people attended the games. The Olympics were so important that the city-states stopped all their battles and observed a special truce for a full month before the games started. During this time, men could train and participants could travel to the games without fear of being attacked by their enemies. -
393
Christianity
The Ancient Olympic games were held for over a thousand years and ended in 393 AD when the Roman emperor Theodosius banned them because of new beliefs in Christianity. -
Modern Olympics
The modern Olympics were started in 1896 by a French educator and historian called Pierre de Coubertin. He believed in the importance of physical education and in international competition. He felt that if the world gathered together to play sports, there would be more chances of peace.
The 1896 games took place in Athens. -
Rings
He designed the five colour rings that came to represent the Olympic Games. The rings stand for North and South America, Africa, Asia, Europe, and Australia. -
Torch and location
At the beginning of the games a flame is lit. The flame begins in Olympia and is passed from torch to torch until the location of the games is reached. The location changes every time the Olympic games are played. -
Women in the Olympic Games
Women participated for the first time at the 1900 Paris Games in lawn tennis and golf. Women's athletics and gymnastics debuted at the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam. Over time more women's events were added. -
Paralympic Games
The Paralympics have grown from a small gathering of British World War II veterans to become one of the largest international sporting events in the early 21st century. The Paralympics has grown from 400 athletes with a disability from 23 countries in 1960 to thousands of competitors from over 100 countries in the London 2012 Games. Paralympians strive for equal treatment with non-disabled Olympic athletes, but there is still a large funding gap between Olympic and Paralympic athletes. -
The Youth Olympic Games
These are an international multi-sport event by the International Olympic Committee organized every two years. The athletes must be between 15 and 18 years old by 31 December in the year of the games. The idea of such an event was introduced by Johann Rosenzopf from Austria in 1998 in response to growing global concerns about childhood obesity and the dropping participation of youth in sport activities, especially amongst youth in developed nations. -
Youth Olympic Games
Although the International Olympic Committee members approved the creation of the Youth Olympic Games in July 2007, the first summer version was held in Singapore in 2010 while the first winter version was held in Innsbruck in 2012. This year the Games will be held in Buenos Aires. The event will take place from October 6 until the 18. For the first time in the history of an event organized by the International Olympic Committee, there will be the same number of male and female athletes. -
Inclusion
In 2012, women's boxing was introduced. As a result, there are no more events excluding women. Although women do not have the same rights in all the countries, now every National Olympic Committee has to send women to the Olympic Games.
In the spirit of promoting their ideals of fairplay and inclusion, the Olympic Games added branches to the sporting events such as the Paralympic Games and the Youth Olympic Games. -
Today
The Olympic games are the largest sporting event in the world. There are summer and winter games and over 30 sports are played.
Men and women from all over the world compete to win the gold, bronze, and silver medals.
The athletes competed in: athletics, cycling, fencing, gymnastics, wrestling, swimming, weightlifting, tennis and shooting. -
Values of the Olympic Games in 2018
Over 2790 years have passed and today’s games are meant to encourage Olympism, a philosophy of life which exalts and combines in a balanced whole the qualities of body, will and mind. The goal of the Olympic Movement is to contribute to building a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport practised without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play. -
The Youth Olympic Games: Values in 2018
The values the Youth Olympic Games wants to transmit this year are friendship, excellence, respect and inclusion. A lot has changed from the time in which Olympic games were meant to be a tribute to the gods and a way to keep Greek men fit for war. A lot has changed from the days in which only Greek men participated naked and one of the goals was to appreciate male bodies. -
Timeline by S5
