The History Of The Olympic Games

By Author: Latelle Smith
Total Articles: 5
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The Olympics were originally held in Olympia a city in Greece. The first recorded Olympic game dates back to 776 B.C. It only had one event which was the one stade race that was won by a cook named Coroebus. The first thirteen times that the games were played they only had this one event. With time they added more sports to the events. They added the hoplitodrome which is a footrace where the players would run with their armors and the pentathlon where athletes would compete in five different events which were the sprint, discus, wrestling, jumping and javelin. They had also had an event called pancration which was a mix of boxing and wrestling. It usually ended when one man would give up or was unconscious. As more and more sports were added they built more buildings to accommodate the people.

At first they only allowed the free men and boys that were Greek citizens to participate in the events. Anyone else was strictly prohibited including women who could have received the death penalty for participating. All of the participants had to pay all expenses out of their own pockets. When the game was over and ...
... a winner was declared he was given a wreath of olives and people threw flowers at him. He also received lots of material gifts from the people. This continued on for a few centuries until Rome conquered Greece and the games slowly declined until it totally disappeared.

In 1890 a Frenchman by the name of Pierre de Coubertin wanted to revive the Olympic Games. At first nobody was really interested and he was not successful. However he refused to give up and he opened up an organization called “Union des Societes Francaises de Sports Athletiques” or the USFSA. He held a speech during a meeting with the members of his organization on November 25, 1892 where he implored upon the people to revive the Olympic Games. However they were not interested and he was not successful. However he persisted and two years later he called another meeting of 79 delegates of nine different countries where he asked them again to revive the Olympics. This time he was successful and all of the 79 delegates voted for it. The International Olympics Committee was founded and they held their first game in Athens.

Today the Olympics are held every two years alternating between the summer and winter sports. A host city is chosen by the International Olympics Committee who then organizes the event according the Olympic Charter . It is a big honor to be chosen as the city where the Olympics will take place since it does promote the cities prestige and helps them financially. There are athletes from almost every country in the world participating in the events. The first winner of every event receives a gold medal, the second winner a silver medal, and the third winner a bronze medal. It is something that is followed and enjoyed by sports fans all over the world .

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