The history of the olympic games ancient greece

Additional athletic events were gradually added until, by the 5th century BC, the religious festival consisted of a five-day program. For a complete list of events, click here. For a complete list of modern Olympic Game location sites, click here. Shown here is the stadium entrance at Olympia. Any Winter Games? The first modern Winter Olympic games were held in in Chamonix, France.

There was no winter Olympic festival in ancient times. Separate Winter Games were first authorized in to be held in , but due to World War I they didn't occur until , in Chamonix.

Starting with Lillehammer in , it was decided that every other year will be an Olympic year with Summer and Winter Games alternating , rather than holding Summer and Winter Games every 4th year. This was done to accommodate TV networks and audiences. The Modern Olympic flag of five linked rings, each with a primary color used in the flags of the nations competing in the games, was introduced in The Melbourne Olympics were a lot like a game of water polo. The World Series—or Fall Classic—annually pits the pennant winners of the American and National leagues in a best-of-seven series for the Major League Baseball championship.

The St. Singer Tina Turner was the main draw at the opening ceremony in San Francisco for the first Gay Games in , but city supervisor Doris Ward may have received the biggest reaction from the crowd. The Kentucky Derby, first held in at Churchill Downs racetrack in Louisville, is the longest-running sports event in the United States. Today, some , Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault. Recommended for you. How the Union Defended Washington, D. During the Civil War.

Daniel Webster. Forgotten Games. Winter Olympics Technology. Michael Phelps Shatters Olympic Record. Winter Olympics History The Winter Olympics are an international sports competition held every four years.

Winter Olympics Technology With icy conditions, slick surfaces and freezing temperatures, technological innovation is especially important for the athletes and organizers of the Winter Olympics. At the conclusion of the games, all the winners were honored at the Prytaneion and those who had won in three events were allowed to dedicate a sculpture of their likeness in the Altis. The reverence for the winners extended to their extended family and their city of origin.

The home cities of these winners basked in the fame of their Olympionkikes the winners at the Olympics and bestowed honors and privileges upon them, such as providing them with free dinners for life. Tradition holds that cities will welcome back their Olympic winners by symbolically demolishing part of their defensive walls. In Roman times, Tiberius won the chariot race in 4 BCE, and in a scandalous turn of events, the th Olympiad was postponed until 69 CE so emperor Nero could compete in a special music competition and in the chariot race.

He won the race by fielding ten horses while all competitors could use four. In the end he was declared a winner even though he had abandoned the race, but the records were later expunged.

Because the games were integrated with the worship of Zeus--a Pagan god-- they were not approved by the Christians of the late Roman empire, and were banned in CE by emperor Theodosius I in his drive to purge all Pagan festivals. He also ordered the destruction of the temples of Olympia, and soon that the sanctuary along with the Olympic games were forgotten.

But years after Theodosius' ban, the modern Olympic revival began in , when the first modern Olympics convened in Athens with the patronage and leadership of Baron Pierre de Coubertin of France. For the occasion, the Hellenistic Panathenaic stadium was renovated to host the games in Athens.

The first Greek to win the modern games was Spyridon Louis, a water seller who won the Marathon event. Since , the Olympics have occurred every four years in different countries interrupted only by the two World Wars , and they have become one of the largest sports entertainment events in the world, drawing billions of dollars in revenues, and enjoying wide participation by the vast majority of nations.

As a tribute to their ancient roots, before each Olympic event the Olympic flame is initiated in ancient Olympia, in the temple of Hera.

In an imaginative choreography that depicts the ancient Vestal Virgins, the olympic torch is ignited by sun rays concentrated by a concave mirror on its tip. From Olympia then this flame travels in a festive relay to the country which holds the games and eventually lights up an elaborate cauldron to mark the start of the games. The flame burns for the duration of the Olympics, and its extinquishing marks their closing. Athens, Greece hosted the Olympics again in