Just looking at the photos of Olympia can make anyone want to hop on a plane and head to Greece. Images of the Temple of Zeus and the Palaestra take you back to the beginning of the Olympic competition and you can almost hear the pounding footsteps of the athletes as they run around the track. Those Olympia photos may also arouse your curiosity to know more about the history of the Olympic Games.
It may surprise you to learn that the first recorded Olympic events were held nearly 2,800 years ago, in 776 BC. C., and scholars believe they probably even competed for many years before that.
This first Olympic competition had only one event, a 210-yard dash, and was won by a cook named Cocoebus. According to the traditions of the time, Cocoebus and his running companions ran naked.
Over the next 1,200 years, the Olympic Games became increasingly popular, with competitors and spectators coming from the surrounding towns. But Emperor Theodosius I, a Christian, stopped the games in 393 CE because he said they involved too many pagan traditions.
Flash forward another 1,500 years and Pierre de Coubertin, a French aristocrat, witnessed the Germans invade France. Coubertin believed that French soldiers did not lack military skills, what they needed was exercise and agility training. He spent the next few years of his life trying to convince the leaders of France to bring back the Olympic Games and finally, in 1890, he managed to gain some interest in the project.
At a conference attended by 79 delegates from nine different countries, it was unanimously agreed that the Olympic Games should be lifted again and Athens, Greece was chosen for the event. Since then, there have only been 3 times when the Olympic Games have been cancelled. In 1916, 1940 and 1944 the Games were canceled due to the World Wars, and in 1980 and 1984 the Games were limited due to the Cold War.
Some of the most recognizable images of Olympia show the Temple of Zeus, which is considered the most important structure on the site of Olympia. It is one of the largest temples in Greece and construction began in 470 BC. C. and it was finished in 456 a.
Even more interesting are the photos of the Palaestra, a closed arena, built during the 3rd century BC. The Palaestra was used by athletes as a place to practice boxing and wrestling.
The photos of Olympia that draw the most parallels between the past and the present are those of the Krypt. The Krypte is a covered entrance leading into the stadium, much like the tunnel entrances our football players use when entering the field. When you look at the old photographs of Olympia, you can almost see those athletes running into the roaring crowd, just as proudly as our athletes do today.