Page 24 - 100 Events That Made History
P. 24

One-day event                                                      The statue of Zeus
         Olympia, a religious center in                                     at Olympia was one
         southwest Greece, played host to the                               of the seven wonders of
                                                                            the ancient world.
         first Games in 776 BCE, thrown to
         honor Zeus, the protector and ruler of                                             How it changed
         humans. The ONE-DAY EVENT                                                              The Olympic Games
                                                                                              started the tradition of
         got off to a running start with just                                                different nations coming
         one competitive sport—the men’s                                                       together to compete
         200-m sprint.                                                                          peacefully against
                                                                                                  one another.
                                                                                                        the world

























                First Olympic                                                       This coin shows the


                                                                                     Emperor Theodosius.
                Games                                                               head of spoilsport



                Nearly 3,000 years ago, a SPORTS event

                dedicated to the Greek god Zeus was held




         Bigger and better
         As the Games evolved over time, more
         competitions were included and the                        A wrestler won      Dangerous times
         event was extended to FIVE DAYS.                          if he threw his     Internal wars made Greece
         Boxing and chariot-racing got                             opponent to the     a dangerous place. When the
         under way, while the                                       ground three times.   Olympic Games were on, a
         pentathlon featured                                                           ceasefire was announced so
         discus, javelin, running,                                                     that athletes and spectators
         wrestling, and long                                                           could pass through enemy
         jump. Wreaths of                                                              lines. The Games kept going,
         olive leaves were                                                             with events being held every
         awarded to the                                                                four years until 393 CE,
         winners, who went                                                             when Christian Emperor
         home as heroes.                                                               Theodosius BANNED the
                                                                                       fun as immoral.
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