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The Evolution of Sports: From the Ancient Olympics to Modern Times

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The ancient Olympics were essentially a religious celebration in Zeus’ (the father of the Greek gods and goddesses) honor. The festival and the competitions were placed in Olympia, a rural sanctuary site in the western Peloponnesos (model provided by the British Museum).

Greeks who traveled to Olympia’s Sanctuary of Zeus were of the same linguistic and religious heritage. The competitors were all male residents of Greek city-states who came from all over the globe, including Iberia (Spain) in the west and the Black Sea (Turkey) in the east.

Ancient Greeks called the sanctuary after Mount Olympos, the highest summit on Greek island territory. The most powerful gods and goddesses of Greek mythology lived on Mount Olympos.

When Koroibos, a cook from the nearby city of Elis, won the stadion race, a 600-foot-long foot race, the first Olympic Games were held in 776 BC. Here is a picture of Olympia’s stadium track. For the first 13 Olympic festivals, or until 724 BC, this was the only athletic competition held as part of the games, according to some literary sources. Beginning in 776 BC, Olympia hosted the Games every four years for approximately twelve centuries.

The games may have been at Olympia far earlier than this date, maybe as early as the 10th or 9th century BC, according to opposing literary and archaeological evidence.

The old Olympic games DID NOT HAVE A MARATHON. A run from Marathon, northeast of Athens, to the Olympic Stadium, a distance of 40 kilometers, was the first marathon, a modern event, to be presented at the Modern Olympic Games of 1896 in Athens.

The event honors Pheidippides, a legendary “day runner,” who in 490 B.C. ran from Marathon to deliver a word of the Persian landing. 149 miles away) to Sparta to gather support for the fight. The news was relayed to the Spartans the following day, according to Herodotus, a fifth-century B.C. Greek historian.

The modern marathon has a standard distance of 26 miles (385 yards) or 42.195 kilometers. In 1908, London hosted the Olympic Games.

Between Windsor Castle, where the race began, and the finish line inside White City Stadium, the distance was precisely measured.

FROM ANCIENT TO MODERN

The ancient games were held in Olympia, Greece, from 776 BC to 393 AD, but it took 1503 years for them to return. In 1896, the first modern Olympics were held in Athens, Greece. A Frenchman named Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who proposed the idea in 1894, was responsible for its rebirth. His original plan was to launch the modern Games in his hometown of Paris in 1900, but delegates from 34 countries were so taken with the idea that he agreed to move the Games up to 1896 and have Athens serve as the first host.

THE OLYMPIC FLAME

The 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam saw the introduction of the concept of the Olympic torch or Olympic Flame. The ancient Olympic Games did not feature a torch relay. However, torch relays were reportedly part of other ancient Greek sporting events, including those held in Athens. At the Berlin Olympics of 1936, the modern Olympic torch relay was first introduced.

The Olympic Oath: was first made in 1920.

21st-century Games

The breadth and scale of the Winter Olympics are lower; for instance, Pyeongchang hosted 2,922 athletes from 92 nationalities in 2018. The Summer Olympics have increased from 241 competitors representing 14 nations in 1896 to more than 11,200 competitors representing 207 nations in 2016. For the course of the Games, the majority of the competitors and officials reside at the Olympic Village. All Olympic athletes will be housed in a self-sufficient facility that includes cafeterias, medical facilities, and places where they can practice their religion.

The creation of National Olympic Committees (NOCs) to represent various countries has been approved by the IOC. These fall short of the stringent criteria for political sovereignty set forth by other international organizations. Because of this, dependencies and colonies are allowed to participate in the Olympic Games; examples include Puerto Rico, Bermuda, and Hong Kong, which all compete as separate nations despite being formally a part of another state. The current Olympic Charter permits the creation of new NOCs to represent countries that meet the criteria of “an independent State recognized by the international community. As a result, the IOC did not prohibit these territories from participating. Athletes from the former Netherlands Antilles have had the choice to compete for either Aruba or the Netherlands since 2012, despite the International Olympic Committee having recognized the Aruban Olympic Committee in 1986.

Where will the next Olympic Games be Held?

The 26th of July to the 11th of August 2024 will be hosted in Paris, France.

The event will be held in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, in 2026.

The 14th to 30th of July 2028 will be held in Los Angeles, USA.

In Brisbane, Australia, in 2032.

Conclusion

The Greek Games have had a significant influence on the current Olympics. The competitions that were held in Olympia more than two thousand years ago served as the direct inspiration for many of the sporting events that we are accustomed to watching on television or supporting in our Olympic stadiums (such as boxing, javelin, discus, long jump, and foot races, among others).

More importantly, our current Olympics still uphold many of the fundamental principles of the Ancient Games. For instance, the Paralympic principles are courage, equality, inspiration, and determination, while the Olympic values are respect, excellence, and friendship. Although we as a modern culture strive to uphold these values, they actually have older roots; they are the result of the Ancient Greek world.

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