The Ancient Greek Olympics

487 Words1 Page

he Ancient Greeks had originally invented the Olympic Games for the Greek god Zeus, the king of the gods. The Greek Olympics began in 776 BC and then the world Olympics began in 1896. Every 4 years the Greeks would send in young people to compete. The ancient Olympics were a combination of sporting events and a religious festival. Only males were allowed to compete in the Olympic Games. The Games were named after a mountain named Olympos. The Herrera games was the first recorded Olympic competition for women. The ancient Greek Olympic Games had events such as running, long jump, shot put, javelin, boxing, pankration, equestrian events and wrestling. The Greeks Olympic Games had a running race which they called a foot race which was measured by Hercules and he measured it at 190 meters. …show more content…

The Greeks believed that it was founded by Theseus when he defeated the fierce Minotaur in the labyrinth. In boxing the boxers wrapped straps around their hands to strengthen their wrists and to tighten their fingers for when they fight. For discus, the discus was originally made of stone and later of iron, lead or bronze. The technique was very similar to today's freestyle discus throw. In the jumping event the athletes used stone or lead weights called halters and they were used to increase the athlete’s distance of the jump. The wrestling event was highly valued as a form of military exercise without weapons. It ended when only one of the contestants had admitted defeat. The equestrian events included horses and chariot races which took place in the hippodrome which was a wide, open, flat area. The chariot race was an event with four horses connected to a carriage and they had to do twelve laps of the hippodrome. The pentathlon became an Olympic sport with the wrestling in 708 B.C., and the pentathlon included running, jumping and

More about The Ancient Greek Olympics

Open Document