insideSUSSEX Magazine Issue 17 - July 2016 | Page 33

EVENTS

THE OLYMPICS
THE OLYMPIC GAMES, ALTHOUGH NOT IN THE FORM THAT WE KNOW IT TODAY, CAN BE TRACED BACK OVER
2,700 YEARS TO 776BC (ALTHOUGH IT IS SUGGESTED THAT SIMILAR GAMES WERE HELD AT LEAST 500 YEARS
BEFORE THAT). THE NAME COMES FROM THE GREEK CITY OF OLYMPIA, WHICH IS WHERE THE GAMES WERE
HELD, ALTHOUGH MANY PEOPLE BELIEVE THAT ATHENS WAS THE SITE OF THIS PARTICULAR CEREMONY. AT
THAT TIME, THERE WERE DOZENS OF DIFFERENT SPORTING COMPETITIONS IN GREECE, MOST OF WHICH WERE
AS PART OF A RELIGIOUS RITE, BUT IT WAS THE ONE HELD EVERY FOUR YEARS AT OLYMPIA THAT WAS THE MOST
PRESTIGIOUS. THIS IS WHERE THE ATHLETES MOST FERVENTLY WANTED TO COMPETE, BOTH FOR RECOGNITION
AND BECAUSE THIS PARTICULAR COMPETITION WAS TO HONOUR ZEUS, WHO WAS THE KING OF THE GODS AND
WHO REIGNED FROM MOUNT OLYMPUS.

It was Coroebus, a cook, who won the very first race of the very first
documented Olympic Games. It was a sprint race – and it was the only
race that was run at this time. So there was a huge build up, years of
training, processions and parties and prayers a-plenty, and then the actual
sporting part of the ceremony would be over in seconds. The stade (as the
race was known) was held over the equivalent of 200 metres. In 728BC
two more races had been added to the games; these were what we now
call the 400-metre and 1,500-metre running races. It took another 300
years until the events were spread out over a number of days rather than
just the one day; this was down to public opinion – those who were travelling
to Olympia to watch the games wanted to make more of their time away
from home. By spreading the events out, this became possible.

Although there was no prize money (the prize was just a simple laurel
wreath) and certainly no medals, the best athletes from across Greece were
supported by local governments or sponsors so that they could devote all
of their time to training. Some things, we can see, never change.
So important were these first Olympic Games that the term ‘Olympiad’
became part of the common language in Greece – it meant a period of four
years, and although it was specifically intended to refer to the time between
one set of games and the next, it soon became a term that simply meant
a four-year timeframe.

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