The Ancient Olympics were first started in ancient Greece were they believed that the body of a man has a glory and the mans body needs discipline. From all that historians can determine, there was only one event at the first olympics. The event could have lasted less than 30 seconds! The first recorded champion of Greece was a cook from the city of Elis. The man ran naked on a sanded course the man ran in ront of thousands of Greeks on a track 630 feet long.
He won a wreath of olives. The Greek calander was made around the Olympics, with 4 years between games. The Olympics were named after the city that they were held in Olympia. In Olympia there was a very important building the temple of Zeus. The temple was named in the seven wonders of the world. The atheletes were tested in a gym in the city of Elis before they were able to compete.
There was also a en month training at Elis to prepare the atheletes. This must have payed off because Elis won the first 13 Olympic races. Nothing was more important to the Greeks than the games, not even wars. Trade was ceased during the months of the Olympics and a truce was called between the constant fighting of the Greek city states. Olympia was considered sacred ground during the games. Winners of Olympic events were looked at as heroes.
A three time winner had a statue rected in there city and recieved gifts and honors and they didnt have to pay there taxes. As the original purpose of the games was forgotten Olympia its self began to decline. In 393 A. D. Roman emperor Theodosius the first ordered the games to be abolished because they had become a public nuisance. The Olympic games were started in Greece and now they were ended they didnt start again until 1875. The Olympics are modeled after the way they were played in ancient Greece.
