My Outline:
1.) How and where did the first olympics start
2.) What were the first Olympic Sports.
3.) What did they hand out and why
4.) Were there famous athletes
The first Olympics were in 776 B.C.E. To be exact it was 2,700 years ago in Olympia. Olimpia was in Southwest Greece. The Olympics were held to honor the king of the gods, Zeus. They did this by, doing athletic competitions with other villages. It was like a religious festival. They held it in Olympia every four years but they had the Olympics every two years in different places of the known world. The Olympics were very famous. People from all over came to watch. But only non-married women could come and watch or compete. If they were married they would not be able to compete or even watch.
There were a lot of sports in the ancient Olympics but, some were running, jumping, discuss throwing, boxing, wrestling, pankration, and Equestrian Events. There were a lot of different kinds of running contests. There was the stade race which was to test your speed, it was a 200m foot race.
There was also the diaulos race it was a 400m foot race. The last one was the longest one, it was called the dolichos race. For jumping, the athletes used lead or stone weights to help them increase in their jump, they were called halters. The way they worked was that the jumper would hold on to them until they were done, then they flew backwards.
For the discus throwing, the way they did it was similar to the way we do our freestyle throwing today. But instead of using plastic for the discs, they were originally made out of stone and then they became to be made out of lead, bronze, or iron.
Now for wrestling. Wrestling was very special because people considered it as military training without weapons. Boxing was also very cool because the boxers wrapped soft strapps around their hands and wrists to help them hit or punch better. As time went on, the boxers started putting hard leather or metal straps on to help them brutally defeat their opponent.
Pankration was amazing, it mixed boxing and wrestling, that is really crazy. The greeks believed that it was the most dangerous sports and that it was the most dangerous one. Now, I know what you were probably wondering what the Equestrian Events were. Well, they were horse races and chariot races. Those sports took place in a area called the Hippodrome, it was a flat, open, wide surface. Overall all the sports were really hard core and to me they were pretty awesome.
There was only one winner per contest, there was no silver, gold, or bronze. Instead they gave out the Olive Wreath, it was also known as the kotinos. It was from an olive branch from the wild olive tree on Olympia. The reason why they gave that out was because it was to honor Zeus and it made everyone think about how the olympics got started.
Now I know that you probably have been wondering if there were any famous people in the olympics, well, there was. Infact there were a lot. But I’m only going to say a few. A guy named Leonidas of Rhodes was one of the most famous runners. He was super good, even for todays standards. He competed in all the running races that I told you about earlier. He won twelve olive wreaths in total. That’s crazy. There was also a guy named Melankomas of Caria. He was a boxer who was crowned in 49 B.C.E. He fought in a very cool way. He would defeat his opponents without ever being hit ever. He was a champion. There was also a guy named Astylos of Croton he won six Olive Wreaths. He won the stade event twice and dialogues event. He lived from 488- 480 B.C.E
In conclusion, I had a spectacular time doing this project. My favorite part was researching my topic and learning new and really interesting things. I had a lot of favorite facts but one of the most interesting thing I have learned is that there is only one winner in the Olympics And that they give out an Olive wreath. I wish I could do this all over again because Greece has so many interesting topics to research. Thanks for reading and this concludes the end of my posts for Greece on this blog.
1.) How and where did the first olympics start
2.) What were the first Olympic Sports.
3.) What did they hand out and why
4.) Were there famous athletes
The first Olympics were in 776 B.C.E. To be exact it was 2,700 years ago in Olympia. Olimpia was in Southwest Greece. The Olympics were held to honor the king of the gods, Zeus. They did this by, doing athletic competitions with other villages. It was like a religious festival. They held it in Olympia every four years but they had the Olympics every two years in different places of the known world. The Olympics were very famous. People from all over came to watch. But only non-married women could come and watch or compete. If they were married they would not be able to compete or even watch.
There were a lot of sports in the ancient Olympics but, some were running, jumping, discuss throwing, boxing, wrestling, pankration, and Equestrian Events. There were a lot of different kinds of running contests. There was the stade race which was to test your speed, it was a 200m foot race.
There was also the diaulos race it was a 400m foot race. The last one was the longest one, it was called the dolichos race. For jumping, the athletes used lead or stone weights to help them increase in their jump, they were called halters. The way they worked was that the jumper would hold on to them until they were done, then they flew backwards.
For the discus throwing, the way they did it was similar to the way we do our freestyle throwing today. But instead of using plastic for the discs, they were originally made out of stone and then they became to be made out of lead, bronze, or iron.
Now for wrestling. Wrestling was very special because people considered it as military training without weapons. Boxing was also very cool because the boxers wrapped soft strapps around their hands and wrists to help them hit or punch better. As time went on, the boxers started putting hard leather or metal straps on to help them brutally defeat their opponent.
Pankration was amazing, it mixed boxing and wrestling, that is really crazy. The greeks believed that it was the most dangerous sports and that it was the most dangerous one. Now, I know what you were probably wondering what the Equestrian Events were. Well, they were horse races and chariot races. Those sports took place in a area called the Hippodrome, it was a flat, open, wide surface. Overall all the sports were really hard core and to me they were pretty awesome.
There was only one winner per contest, there was no silver, gold, or bronze. Instead they gave out the Olive Wreath, it was also known as the kotinos. It was from an olive branch from the wild olive tree on Olympia. The reason why they gave that out was because it was to honor Zeus and it made everyone think about how the olympics got started.
Now I know that you probably have been wondering if there were any famous people in the olympics, well, there was. Infact there were a lot. But I’m only going to say a few. A guy named Leonidas of Rhodes was one of the most famous runners. He was super good, even for todays standards. He competed in all the running races that I told you about earlier. He won twelve olive wreaths in total. That’s crazy. There was also a guy named Melankomas of Caria. He was a boxer who was crowned in 49 B.C.E. He fought in a very cool way. He would defeat his opponents without ever being hit ever. He was a champion. There was also a guy named Astylos of Croton he won six Olive Wreaths. He won the stade event twice and dialogues event. He lived from 488- 480 B.C.E
In conclusion, I had a spectacular time doing this project. My favorite part was researching my topic and learning new and really interesting things. I had a lot of favorite facts but one of the most interesting thing I have learned is that there is only one winner in the Olympics And that they give out an Olive wreath. I wish I could do this all over again because Greece has so many interesting topics to research. Thanks for reading and this concludes the end of my posts for Greece on this blog.