History of the Olympic Games

Origins: Ancient Greece

• They were part of a religious festival• Greek life revolved around religion and sports,

and were a way to honour the Gods.• Panhellenic Games were open to competitors

from all Greek colonies and religions: Pythian, Nemean, Isthmian and the Olympic Games

Events included

• Pentathlon: Running, Jumping, throwing the Javelin, Discus, Wrestling

• Runners Prize – a way to keep fit for battle• Women were not included – however a

separate festival existed every for years: Heraia honouring Hera. Girls were encouraged to participate to make them strong so that they would later produce good Spartan soldiers

Prizes• Runners Prize: Winners were awarded an

Amphora (a two handled vessel, full of the finest olive oil).

• Competing for sports was scene as a way of keeping fit for battle

• Floral Tributes: Olympic Olive Wreath was the greatest prize – cut from a sacred tree that stood behind Zeus’s temple at Olympia.– Pythian Games: Laurel, Nemean Games: Celery,

Isthmian Games: Pine.

Amphora – Runner’s Prize

Why did it end?

• No one knows!• After 261 A.D. no further records exist• Roman Empire took over the Greek Empire,

and the games died out.

Games Reborn

• Frenchman Baron Pierre de Coubertin had a dream to bring the games back to life.

• At a conference on international sports in Paris 1894, Coubertin revived the idea

• The International Olympic committee was formed, and two years later in Athens, the king of Greece declared the opening of the first Olympic games of the modern era.

Pierre de Coubertin

Olympic Oath

• A promise made by one athlete as a representative of each of the participating Olympic competitors; and by one judge—as a representative of each officiating Olympic referee or other official, at the opening ceremonies of each Olympic Games.

“In the name of all the competitors I promise that we shall take part in these Olympic Games, respecting and abiding by the rules which govern them, committing ourselves to a sport without doping and without drugs, in the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of sport and the honor of our teams.”

Torch Relay• A symbol of international unity, the Olympic

flame is taken by torch relay across national borders from the ancient site of Olympia to the Olympic Venue.