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History of the Olympic Games . Origins: Ancient Greece. T hey were part of a religious festival Greek life revolved around religion and sports, and were a way to honour the Gods.
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Origins: Ancient Greece • They were part of a religious festival • Greek life revolved around religion and sports, and were a way to honour the Gods. • Panhellenic Games were open to competitors from all Greek colonies and religions: Pythian, Nemean, Isthmian and the Olympic Games
Events included • Pentathlon: Running, Jumping, throwing the Javelin, Discus, Wrestling • Runners Prize – a way to keep fit for battle • Women were not included – however a separate festival existed every for years: Heraiahonouring Hera. Girls were encouraged to participate to make them strong so that they would later produce good Spartan soldiers
Prizes • Runners Prize: Winners were awarded an Amphora (a two handled vessel, full of the finest olive oil). • Competing for sports was scene as a way of keeping fit for battle • Floral Tributes: Olympic Olive Wreath was the greatest prize – cut from a sacred tree that stood behind Zeus’s temple at Olympia. • Pythian Games: Laurel, Nemean Games: Celery, Isthmian Games: Pine.
Why did it end? • No one knows! • After 261 A.D. no further records exist • Roman Empire took over the Greek Empire, and the games died out.
Games Reborn • Frenchman Baron Pierre de Coubertin had a dream to bring the games back to life. • At a conference on international sports in Paris 1894, Coubertin revived the idea • The International Olympic committee was formed, and two years later in Athens, the king of Greece declared the opening of the first Olympic games of the modern era.
Olympic Oath • A promise made by one athlete as a representative of each of the participating Olympic competitors; and by one judge—as a representative of each officiating Olympic referee or other official, at the opening ceremonies of each Olympic Games.
“In the name of all the competitors I promise that we shall take part in these Olympic Games, respecting and abiding by the rules which govern them, committing ourselves to a sport without doping and without drugs, in the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of sport and the honor of our teams.”
Torch Relay • A symbol of international unity, the Olympic flame is taken by torch relay across national borders from the ancient site of Olympia to the Olympic Venue.