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776 BCE
First Olympics
The first Olympics were in 776 B.C. and held at Olympia in the Greek city-state of Elis. -
490 BCE
First Marathon
In 490BCE the messenger Pheidippides ran 42km from Sparta to Athens to bring the news of the Greek victory at the battle of Marathon. -
424 BCE
Olympics Decline
In 424BCE large numbers of young men in Greece had to go fight against the Spartans there were fewer athletes able to train and compete in the games and so they began to fall into decline. -
394 BCE
Olympics Banned
The Roman Emperor, Theodosius I, abolished the games claiming they were a pagan event. -
Wenlock Olympian Games
An Olympic-style yearly sports festival was established in Much Wenlock, Shropshire, UK by Dr William Penny Brookes. It continues to this day. This took place in Shropshire, UK. -
First Modern Olympics
The first modern Olympics were held in Athens, Greece, in 1896. -
First Olympic Stadium
For the first time the Olympics take place in a purpose built stadium. Figure skating was introduced as an Olympic sport. Australia and New Zealand competed together as Australasia. -
Berlin Olympics
IN 1916 the Berlin Olympics were cancelled due to World War 1. -
Summer Olympics
The Olympics went back to Paris, France. -
Jesse Owens
The first American Olympic athlete to compete and win 4 gold medals in the track and field category. Video: Interview with the real Jesse Owens https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m04o2fx3wa0 -
Winter Olympics
After much discussion they allowed Germany and Japan to compete in the winter olympics, which took place in Oslo, Norway. -
Summer Olympics
First Olympics held in Asia. -
Summer Olympics
Black September terrorists killed 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team. This took place in Munich, Germany. -
Western Boycott Summer Olympics
61 Nations refused to compete in these games as a protest against Russia’s invasion of Afghanistan. These Olympics took place in Moscow, Soviet Union. -
Eastern Boycott Summer Olympics
15 communist block countries refused to compete in these games in retaliation for the boycott of the Moscow Olympics 4 years earlier. Romania was the only communist block country to take part and came 2nd in the medals table. This took place Los Angles, USA. -
Amateur status requirement dropped
The IOC agreed to drop the requirement that competitors taking part in the Olympics had to have amateur status. The official Olympic Charter was amended accordingly. -
Women's Ice Hockey Debuted
Women’s ice hockey débuted at this Olympics and took place in Nagano, Japan. -
Summer Olympics
43 world records and 132 Olympic records were broken during the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing.
Michael Phelps won 8 gold medals in swimming the most ever at a single Olympics -
United states medas
The united states take home the most medals in the 2016 Rio Olympics, with a grand total of 83 medals. -
Most recent Olympics
The Tokyo Olympics will feature 339 events across 33 sports and 50 disciplines. There will be 5 new sports (baseball/softball, karate, skateboarding, climbing, and surfing) as well as 15 new events within existing sports (such as 3-on-3 basketball and freestyle BMX).