Olympics

Olympics  By Gabe The Olympic games were created to worship their gods. This was the most important of competitions. the games were started in 776BC, and were held every 4 years in Olympia. Most of the competitions were local ones but there were also 4 (Olympic, Pythian, Isthmian, and Nemean Games) attracted athletes from all over the Greek world! http://www.ancientgreece.com/s/Olympics/

Some of the events from ancient times were; running, chariot racing, javilin, and discus. Today a lot of the olympic sports from Greece are events in track and field. Chariot racing no longer exists. The Ancient Greek games were much smaller than what they are today. Another big factor is that only free men that spoke Greek could enter the Games.  The games were always held in Olympia instead of moving from State to State. the Original origins of the games is lost in the fog of time, but one belief is that the hero Heracles won a race at Olympia and asked that the same race would be held every four years in Olympia. Another belief is that when Zues defeated the titan Kronos he instated a festival to celebrate this victory. A very interesting fact is that the Greeks in historical times used the Olympic games to count the years. It's kind of like how we use A.D. and B.C.