History Of The Olympics :: essays research papers

History of the OlympicsIn 776 BC a foot race was run. The success was the first Olympic hero ever. From that very first race to to sidereal day, the Olympics deal always been a way for nations to come together in favourable competition and international goodwill.The conditions of the first Olympics were not anything like they are today. The blushts were held in an open space in which a track had been paced off, areas for the javelin and discus had been primed(p) out, etc. The spectators did not wee stands to sit in instead, they occupied the aslope areas around the track sitting on blankets and sleeping in tents if they were pixilated enough to have one. Because the games were held during the hottest time of the year, flies were a terrible enigma. The problem was so pervasive that an offering, in the form of a sacrifice, was made to Zeus, postulation him to keep the flies away from Olympia. As time went on contrasting features and structures were added to the site. A hippo drome was built for the chariot races, a gymnasium and bathhouse for the athletes, and even a hotel for the wealthiest of spectators. Vendors were there, selling wine that the spectators drank along with the cheese, bread and chromatics they ate. Sanitation was basically nonexistent. Water was always in short supply until Herodes Atticus of capital of Greece built an aqueduct and a water system. This did not occur until the games had been taking lieu for 900 years.The contests consisted of foot races, horse and chariot races, boxing, wrestling, discus, javelin, broad jump, and horse races. The horse races were incomparable in that the prizes were given to the owner of the horse, not the rider. The discus, javelin and broadjump were part of the pentathlon event which excessively included a 200-meter dash and a wrestling match. The winner had to have taken three of the five events.On the fifth and final day of the festival, the athletes marched to the temple of Zeus to collect th eir winnings, the coveted victors olive wreath. The winner of an Olympic event won much more than and the olive wreath however. He was often awarded a cash allowance by his townspeople sometimes a pension for life. Additionally, he was welcomed as a contestant at other festivals where the prizes were often large amounts of cash. In the beginning the athletes were aristocrats, as they had the free time necessary to train for the games.