Asian Martial Arts Games
81-575: Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games The Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (abbreviated as AIMAG ) is a pancontinental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia . It is organised by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and consists of Indoor and martial arts events with TV broadcasting potential, some of which were not contested at the Asian Games and Asian Winter Games Programs and are not Olympic sports. The event
162-627: A Greek historian, explains the situation of the athlete Sotades, Sotades at the ninety-ninth Festival was victorious in the long race and proclaimed a Cretan, as in fact he was. But at the next Festival he made himself an Ephesian, being bribed to do so by the Ephesian people. For this act he was banished by the Cretans. Apparently starting with just a single foot race, the program gradually increased to twenty-three contests, although no more than twenty featured at any one Olympiad. Participation in most events
243-461: A crowd? Are you not without comfortable means of bathing? Are you not wet when it rains? Have you not abundance of noise, clamour, and other disagreeable things? But I suppose that setting all these things off against the magnificence of the spectacle, you bear and endure. The ancient Olympics were as much a religious festival as an athletic event. The games were held in honor of the Greek god Zeus , and on
324-582: A fire that burned down the temple of the Olympian Zeus during his reign. During the celebration of the games, the Olympic truce ( ekecheiría ) was announced so that athletes and religious pilgrims could travel from their cities to the games in safety. The prizes for the victors were olive leaf wreaths or crowns. The games became a political tool used by city-states to assert dominance over their rival city states. Politicians would announce political alliances at
405-485: A late Bronze Age society, participate in athletic competitions to honor the dead. In the Iliad there are chariot races, boxing, wrestling, a foot race, as well as fencing, archery, and spear throwing. The Odyssey adds to these a long jump and discus throw. Aristotle reckoned the date of the first Olympics to be 776 BC, a date largely accepted by most, though not all, subsequent ancient historians. To this day, this
486-581: A return to the origins of Greek life. These origin traditions have become nearly impossible to untangle, yet a chronology and patterns have arisen that help people understand the story behind the games. Greek historian Pausanias provides a story about the dactyl Heracles (not to be confused with the Hercules who was the son of Zeus and joined the Roman pantheon) and four of his brothers, Paeonaeus, Epimedes , Iasius and Idas , who raced at Olympia to entertain
567-630: A selected group of athletes, rather than everybody, which was the case with the Olympic Games. The Soviets organized the first Spartakiad in 1920, a communist alternative to the 'bourgeois' Olympic Games, and in 1922 the University Olympia was organizedor in Italy , the forerunner of the World University Games , meant for students only. Regional games were another kind of multi-sport event that
648-546: A somewhat disordered arrangement of buildings, the most important of which are the Temple of Hera , the Temple of Zeus , the Pelopion and the area of the great altar of Zeus, where the largest sacrifices were made. The name Altis was derived from a corruption of the Elean word also meaning "the grove" because the area was wooded, olive and plane trees in particular. Uninhabited throughout
729-466: A statue of his likeness was commissioned at Olympia. Subsequent divine emperors also had statues erected within the sacred Altis. The stadium was renovated at his command and Greek athletics in general were subsidized. One of the most infamous events of Olympic history occurred under the rule of Nero . He desired victory in all chariot races of the Panhellenic Games in a single year, so he ordered
810-453: A thanksgiving to the gods and as funeral games in honor of King Oenomaus, in order to be purified of his death. It was from this funeral race held at Olympia that the beginnings of the Olympic Games were inspired. Pelops became a great king, a local hero, and he gave his name to the Peloponnese . One (later) myth, attributed to Pindar , states that the festival at Olympia involved Heracles ,
891-603: A unit of time in historical chronologies. These Olympiads were referred to based on the winner of their stadion sprint, e.g., "the third year of the eighteenth Olympiad when Ladas of Argos won the stadion ". They continued to be celebrated when Greece came under Roman rule in the 2nd century BC. Their last recorded celebration was in AD 393, under the emperor Theodosius I , but archaeological evidence indicates that some games were still held after this date. The games likely came to an end under Theodosius II , possibly in connection with
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#1732855144651972-559: A venue for representatives of the city-states to peacefully compete against each other. From the 8th century BC onwards, the city-states expanded with the establishment of colonies in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. While their cults and sanctuaries provided a sense of identity, those local identities as well as the increasing contacts with non-Greek populations presented the Greeks with
1053-485: Is a merger of two formerly separate OCA-sanctioned events – Asian Indoor Games (abbreviated as AIG) and Asian Martial Arts Games (abbreviated as AMAG), first held in Bangkok , Thailand in 2005 and 2009 respectively. Both events merged to form the present-day event in 2013, with the subsequent editions inheriting the edition numeral of the former. These Games are described as the second largest Asian multi-sport event after
1134-629: Is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports among organized teams of athletes from (mostly) nation-states . The first major, modern, multi-sport event of international significance was the Olympic Games , first held in modern times in 1896 in Athens, Greece , and inspired by the Ancient Olympic Games , one of a number of such events held in antiquity. Most modern multi-sport events have
1215-528: Is evidenced by the dominance of Peloponnesian athletes in the victors' roles. Over time, the Olympic Games gained increasing recognition and became part of the Panhellenic Games , four separate games held at two- or four-year intervals, but arranged so that there was at least one set of games every year. The other Panhellenic Games were the Pythian , Nemean , and Isthmian Games , though the Olympic Games, being
1296-520: Is generally held every four years, though some are annual competitions. The Ancient Olympic Games , first held in 776 BC, was the precursor to the Modern Olympic Games , although its first edition only featured a footrace and the number of sporting competitions expanded at later editions. There were several other "games" held in Europe in the classical era : Other multi-sport festivals emerged in
1377-417: Is likely that tripping was allowed. Boxing ( pygmachia ) was first listed in 688 BC, the boys' event sixty years later. The laws of boxing were ascribed to the first Olympic champion Onomastus of Smyrna . It appears that body-blows were either not permitted or not practised. The Spartans, who claimed to have invented boxing, quickly abandoned it and did not take part in boxing competitions. At first
1458-513: Is no specific evidence suggesting that women were excluded from attending the other Panhellenic or Panathenaic contests. After the Roman conquest of Greece the Olympics continued but the event declined in popularity throughout the pre-Augustan era. During this period, Romans largely concentrated on domestic problems, and paid less attention to their provinces. The fact that all equestrian victors were from
1539-425: Is the conventional given date for the inception of the ancient Olympics and, while this specific date of origin cannot be verified, it is generally accepted that the games date from some time in the eighth century BC. Archaeological finds confirm, approximately, the Olympics starting at or soon after this time. Archaeology suggests that major games at Olympia arose probably around 700. Christesen's important work on
1620-411: Is the story of Pelops , a local Olympian hero. Oenomaus , the king of Pisa , had a daughter named Hippodamia , and according to an oracle, the king would be killed by her husband. Therefore, he decreed that any young man who wanted to marry his daughter was required to drive away with her in his chariot, and Oenomaus would follow in another chariot, and spear the suitor if he caught up with them. Now,
1701-449: Is thought that competitors ran in lanes marked out with lime or gypsum for the length of a stade then turned around separate posts ( kampteres ), before returning to the start line. Xenophanes wrote that "Victory by speed of foot is honored above all." A third foot race, the dolichos ("long race"), was introduced in the next Olympiad. Accounts of the race's distance differ; it seems to have been from twenty to twenty-four laps of
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#17328551446511782-561: The 2010 Youth Olympics . FIBA 3x3 was also contested in the 2009 Games. Doha was given the rights to hold the fourth edition scheduled for 2011, but a year later, in June 2008, the Qatar Olympic Committee officially withdrew as host citing "unforeseen circumstances". In response, the OCA said that the 2009 Asian Indoor Games would be the last edition of the games. The Asian Indoor Games and
1863-695: The Asian Games . In its history, five nations have hosted the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games and sixty-three nations from Asia and Oceania and two teams have participated in the event. The last Games were held in Ashgabat , Turkmenistan 17–27 September 2017, while the next edition are scheduled to be held in Riyadh , Saudi Arabia sometime in 2025. The Asian Indoor Games consisted of indoor sports with TV broadcasting potential, several of which are not included in
1944-643: The International Paralympic Committee (IPC). Arranged for the first time in 1960 in Rome , Italy . The number of sports, initially only a few, is still growing. The first Special Olympics International Summer Games were held in Chicago , Illinois, in 1968. The most recent Special Olympics World Winter Games in Schladming, Austria involved 25 sports and approximately 2,277 athletes from 133 countries. At
2025-879: The Middle Ages in Europe, including the Cotswold Olimpick Games in England in the 1600s, the Highland Games in Scotland , and the Olympiade de la République in France in the 1800s. In the late 19th and early 20th century, athletes at multi-sport events were almost exclusively male. As international women's sport began to develop, events such as the Women's World Games and Olympics of Grace were held to allow women to engage in sport on
2106-520: The Xystos (meaning 'scraped'), an open colonnade or running track, for the runners and pentathletes, and the Tetragono for wrestlers and boxers. A loincloth known as the perizoma was initially worn by athletes at the ancient Olympic Games. Archaeological evidence from late sixth-century BC reveals athletes sporting this garment during competitions. For most of its history, Olympic events were performed in
2187-484: The ancient Olympics , were a series of athletic competitions among representatives of city-states and one of the Panhellenic Games of Ancient Greece . They were held at the Panhellenic religious sanctuary of Olympia , in honor of Zeus , and the Greeks gave them a mythological origin . The originating Olympic Games are traditionally dated to 776 BC. The games were held every four years, or Olympiad , which became
2268-545: The nude , a habit which the Greeks felt distinguished them from non-Greeks. Pausanias says that the first naked runner was Orsippus , winner of the stadion race in 720 BC, who simply lost his garment on purpose because running without it was easier. The 5th-century BC historian Thucydides credits the Spartans with introducing the custom of "publicly stripping and anointing themselves with oil in their gymnastic exercises". He continues saying that "formerly, even in
2349-491: The Asian Games and Winter Asian Games Programs and are not Olympic sports. The sports program included electronic sports , extreme sports, aerobics, acrobatics, indoor athletics, dance sports, futsal, inline hockey, finswimming , and 25 metres short course swimming. The 2007 Asian Indoor Games in Macau also saw the first major test of FIBA 3x3 , a formalized version of three-on-three basketball that saw its official worldwide debut at
2430-705: The Asian Martial Arts Games would then combine, becoming the quadrennial Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games. The inaugural event was held in Incheon , South Korea in 2013. All 45 countries whose National Olympic Committees are recognized by the Olympic Council of Asia and 18 countries whose National Olympic Committees are recognized by the Oceania National Olympic Committees. Multi-sport event A multi-sport event
2511-475: The Olympic Games, organised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) (est. 1894) for the first time in 1896 in Athens , Greece . After some celebrations (1900, 1904), the Olympics became very popular nowadays. The number of sports, initially only a few, is still growing. The Paralympic Games is the largest multi-sport event involving athletes with physical disabilities and is organized by
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2592-611: The Olympic Games. His desire came to fruition at the Olympics held in Athens in 1896 . Power in ancient Greece became centered on the city-state ( polis ) in the 8th century BC. The city-state was a population center organized into a self-contained political entity. Every city-state worshiped the same pantheon of gods , although each one often gave more emphasis on a limited group of deities and celebrated religious festivals based on various calendars. These city-states often lived in close proximity to each other, which created competition for limited resources. Though conflict between
2673-454: The Olympic contests, the athletes who contended wore belts across their middles; and it is but a few years since that the practice ceased." The only event recorded at the first thirteen games was the stade , a straight-line sprint of just over 192 metres (630 feet). The diaulos (lit. "double pipe"), or two-stade race, is recorded as being introduced at the 14th Olympiad in 724 BC. It
2754-541: The Olympic judges had to repay the bribes he had bestowed and declared the "Neronian Olympiad" to be void. In the first half of the second century, the Philhellenic emperors, Hadrian and Antoninus Pius oversaw a new and successful phase in the history of the games. The Olympics attracted a great number of spectators and competitors and the victors' fame spread across the Roman Empire. The renaissance endured for most of
2835-525: The Olympic victor lists shows that victors' names and details were unreliable until the sixth century. Elis's independent state administered it, and while the Eleans managed the games well, there sometimes was bias and interference. Also, despite modern illusions, the famous Olympic truce only mandated safe passage for visitors; it did not stop all wars in Greece or even at Olympia. The historian Ephorus , who lived in
2916-629: The beginning of the 20th century, another multi-sport event, the Nordic Games were first held. These Games were held in Scandinavia , and the sports conducted were winter sports such as cross-country skiing and speed skating . The Nordic Games were last held in 1926, after which the 1924 Winter Sports Week in Chamonix was declared the first Olympic Winter Games . In the 1920s, all kinds of other multi-sport events were set up. These were usually directed for
2997-514: The boxers wore himantes (sing. himas ), long leather strips which were wrapped around their hands. The pankration was one of the most popular sports in the Ancient Olympics Games. The pankration was introduced in the 33rd Olympiad (648 BC). Boys' pankration became an Olympic event in 200 BC, in the 145th Olympiad. As well as techniques from boxing and wrestling, athletes also used kicks , locks, and chokes on
3078-501: The buildings and invasions by barbarians had reached Olympia. The last recorded games were held under Theodosius I in 393 (at the start of the 293rd Olympiad), but archeological evidence indicates that some games were still held. Areas of note: 2: Prytaneion , 4: Temple of Hera , 5: Pelopion , 10: Stadium , 15: Temple of Zeus , 20: Gymnasium , 21: Palaestra , 26: Greek Baths , 29: Leonidaion , 31: Bouleuterion Olympia lies in
3159-423: The city-states was ubiquitous, it was also in their self-interest to engage in trade, military alliances, and cultural interaction. The city-states had a dichotomous relationship with each other: on one hand, they relied on their neighbors for political and military alliances, while on the other they competed fiercely with those same neighbors for vital resources. In this political context the Olympic Games served as
3240-402: The competitions. Some say all females were excluded from the sacred precinct where the games took place, while others cite Pausanias who indicated that parthenoi (maidens) could view the competitions, but not gynaikes (married women), who had to remain on the south side of the river Alpheios . The evidence regarding the attendance of women in the Olympics is inconclusive. Nevertheless, there
3321-400: The destroyed Sicilian polis of Naxos would have been completely forgotten if not for its four-time Olympic champion, Tisandros. Pierre de Coubertin , one of the founders of the modern Olympic Games , wanted to fully imitate the ancient Olympics in every way. Included in his vision was an artistic competition modeled on the ancient Olympics and held every four years, during the celebration of
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3402-457: The entrance criteria, athletes from any Greek city-state and kingdom were allowed to participate. The games were always held at Olympia rather than moving between different locations like the modern Olympic Games . Victors at the Olympics were honored, and their feats chronicled for future generations. To the Ancient Greeks, it was important to root the Olympic Games in mythology . During
3483-506: The first Games for deaf athletes. The Stoke Mandeville Wheelchair Games , incepted in 1948 in England, were the first Games for wheelchair athletes. In 1960, the first Paralympic Games were held, connected with the Olympic Games . The Special Olympics World Games , for athletes with intellectual disabilities, were first held in 1968. Ancient Olympic Games The ancient Olympic Games ( Ancient Greek : τὰ Ὀλύμπια , ta Olympia ), or
3564-501: The first Olympiad. Nevertheless, there is disagreement among scholars as to when the games began. According to the later Greek traveler Pausanias , who wrote in 175 AD, the only competition held at first was the stadion , a race over about 190 metres (620 feet). The word stadium is derived from this event. Several groups fought over control of the sanctuary at Olympia, and hence the games, for prestige and political advantage. Pausanias later writes that in 668 BC, Pheidon of Argos
3645-475: The four main hosts to hold their games in AD 67, and therefore the scheduled Olympics of 65, in the 211th Olympiad, were postponed. At Olympia he was thrown from his chariot, but still claimed victory. Nero also considered himself a talented musician, so he added contests in music and singing to those festivals that lacked them, including the Olympics. Nero won all of those contests, no doubt because judges were afraid to award victory to anyone else. After his suicide,
3726-439: The fourth century BC, is one potential candidate for establishing the use of Olympiads to count years, although credit for codifying this particular epoch usually falls to Hippias of Elis , to Eratosthenes , or even to Timaeus, whom Eratosthenes may have imitated. The Olympic Games were held at four-year intervals, and later, the ancient historians' method of counting the years even referred to these games, using Olympiad for
3807-465: The games continued past 217. Until recently the last securely datable winner was Publius Asclepiades of Corinth who won the pentathlon in 241 (the 255th Olympiad). In 1994, a bronze plaque was found inscribed with victors of the combative events hailing from the mainland and Asia Minor; proof that an international Olympic Games continued until at least 385 (the 291st Olympiad). The games continued past 385, by which time flooding and earthquakes had damaged
3888-473: The games, and in times of war, priests would offer sacrifices to the gods for victory. The games were also used to help spread Hellenistic culture throughout the Mediterranean. The Olympics also featured religious celebrations. The statue of Zeus at Olympia was counted as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world . Sculptors and poets would congregate each Olympiad to display their works of art to would-be patrons. The ancient Olympics had fewer events than
3969-546: The games, and the violators of the truce were fined 2,000 minae for assaulting the city of Lepreum during the period of the ekecheiria . The Spartans disputed the fine and claimed that the truce had not yet taken hold. The games faced a serious challenge during the Peloponnesian War , which primarily pitted Athens against Sparta, but in reality touched nearly every Hellenic city-state. The Olympics were used during this time to announce alliances and offer sacrifices to
4050-440: The gods for victory. While a martial truce was observed by all participating city-states, no such reprieve from conflict existed in the political arena. The Olympic Games evolved the most influential athletic and cultural stage in ancient Greece, and arguably in the ancient world. As such the games became a vehicle for city-states to promote themselves. The result was political intrigue and controversy. For example, Pausanias ,
4131-446: The ground. Although the only prohibitions were against biting and gouging, the pankration was regarded as less dangerous than boxing. It was one of the most popular events: Pindar wrote eight odes praising victors of the pankration . A famous event in the sport was the posthumous victory of Arrhichion of Phigalia who "expired at the very moment when his opponent acknowledged himself beaten". The discus ( diskos ) event
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#17328551446514212-467: The immediate locality and that there is a "paucity of victor statues in the Altis" from this period suggests the games were somewhat neglected. In 86 BC the Roman general Sulla robbed Olympia and other Greek treasuries to finance a war. He was the only Roman to commit violence against Olympia. Sulla hosted the games in 80 BC (the 175th Olympiad) as a celebration of his victories over Mithridates . Supposedly
4293-534: The international stage. Though short-lived, events such as these led to greater inclusion of women at multi-sport events over the course of the 20th century. Although the modern tradition commemorates the 1921 revolution , the Naadam festival in Mongolia is a continuation of ancient sporting practises amongst Mongolians. The three events of wrestling, horse racing and archery are thought to date back centuries and represent
4374-517: The island of Crete and Thera , and Archaic literary texts. The Minoan culture centered on Crete engaged in gymnastics, with bull-leaping , tumbling, running, wrestling and boxing shown on their frescoes. The Mycenaeans adopted Minoan games and also raced chariots in religious or funerary ceremonies. The exact relation between the early Minoan and Mycenaean sporting activities and the later Greek practicies remains elusive. The heroes of Homer 's epics, composed around 750 BC and held to represent
4455-449: The king's chariot horses were a present from the god Poseidon and therefore supernaturally fast. The king's daughter fell in love with a man called Pelops. Before the race however, Pelops persuaded Oenomaus' charioteer Myrtilus to replace the bronze axle pins of the king's chariot with wax ones. Naturally, during the race, the wax melted and the king fell from his chariot and was killed. After his victory, Pelops organized chariot races as
4536-442: The middle day of the games, 100 oxen would be sacrificed to him. Over time, Olympia, the site of the games, became a central spot for the worship of the head of the Greek pantheon and a temple, built by the Greek architect Libon , was erected on the mountaintop. The temple was one of the largest Doric temples in Greece. The sculptor Pheidias created a statue of Zeus made of gold and ivory. It stood 42 feet (13 m) tall. It
4617-442: The modern games, and for many years only freeborn Greek men were allowed to participate, although there were victorious women chariot owners. Moreover, throughout their history, the Olympics, both ancient and modern, have occasionally become arenas where political expressions, such as demonstrations, boycotts, and embargoes, have been employed by nations and individuals to exert influence over these sporting events. As long as they met
4698-465: The need to define themselves not only as members of a certain polis but also as Hellenes . That was made possible on the basis of a common language, a body of shared myths and legends, their religious observance and fondness in athletic festivals, which functioned as important factors for the Greek self-definition. As a result, a small number of religious festivals assumed a panhellenic character and were reserved for members of all Greek city-states;
4779-401: The newborn Zeus. He crowned the victor with an olive wreath (which thus became a peace symbol), which also explains the four-year interval, bringing the games around every fifth year (counting inclusively). The other Olympian gods (so named because they lived permanently on Mount Olympus ) would also engage in wrestling, jumping and running contests. Another myth of the origin of the games
4860-507: The oldest among the rest, were considered the most prestigious. The Olympic games were held to be one of the two central rituals in ancient Greece , the other being the much older religious festival, the Eleusinian Mysteries . Participation in the Olympic Games was reserved for freeborn Greek men, although there were also Greek women who were victorious as chariot owners. Authorities differ as to whether females were allowed to attend
4941-459: The oldest of them being the Olympic Games. A body of officials, known as Hellanodikai , was responsible for determining the city-state of origin and the Greek identity of the competitors. The spread of Greek colonies in the 6th and 5th centuries BC is repeatedly linked to successful Olympic athletes. For example, Pausanias recounts that Cyrene was founded c. 630 BC by settlers from Thera with Spartan support. The support Sparta gave
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#17328551446515022-464: The only contest held was the stadion race because all the athletes had been called to Rome. Under the rule of emperor Augustus the Olympics underwent a revival. Before he came to full power, Augustus' right-hand man Marcus Agrippa restored the damaged temple of Zeus and in 12 BC Augustus asked King Herod of Judea to subsidize the games. After Augustus was declared a god by the Senate after his death,
5103-426: The participant cities at each set of games to announce the beginning of the truce. During this period, armies were forbidden from entering Olympia. Legal disputes and the use of the death penalty were forbidden. The truce — primarily designed to allow athletes and visitors to travel safely to the games — was, for the most part, observed. Thucydides wrote of a situation when the Spartans were forbidden from attending
5184-411: The period between two games. Previously, the local dating systems of the Greek states were used (they continued to be used by everyone except historians), which led to confusion when trying to determine dates. For example, Diodorus states that there was a solar eclipse in the third year of the 113th Olympiad, which must be the eclipse of 316 BC. This gives a date of (mid-summer) 765 BC for the first year of
5265-473: The regard that their competitions were often held in grand facilities, with prizes and nudity that stressed the Greek idealisms of training one's body to be as fit as their mind. It is this ideology and athletic exceptionalism that resulted in theories claiming the Greeks were the inventors of sport. In the first 200 years of the games' existence, they only had regional religious importance. Only Greeks in proximity to Olympia competed in these early games. This
5346-400: The same basic structure. Games are held over the course of several days in and around a "host city", which changes for each competition. Countries send national teams to each competition, consisting of individual athletes and teams that compete in a wide variety of sports. Athletes or teams are awarded gold , silver or bronze medals for first, second and third place respectively. Each game
5427-437: The second century. Once again, "philosophers, orators, artists, religious proselytizers, singers, and all kinds of performers went to the festival of Zeus." The 3rd century saw a decline in the popularity of the games. The victory list of Africanus ends at the 249th Olympiad (217), though Moses of Chorene 's History of Armenia lists a boxing winner from as late as 369 (the 287th Olympiad). Excavated inscriptions also show
5508-473: The son of Zeus: According to Pindar, Heracles established an athletic festival to honor his father, Zeus, after he had completed his labors . Areas around the Mediterranean had a long tradition of physical activities, eventhough they did not seem to hold regular competitions, with the events being probably the preserve of kings and upper classes. The earliest evidence of athletic tradition in Greece come from late Bronze Age artistic represenations, such as from
5589-409: The three most important pursuits of a strong man in nomadic society. Alongside these sporting events there are other cultural activities such as dances and parades. Since the establishment of the Olympics, most serial multi-sport events have been organized for specific audiences and participating countries or communities. These affiliations include: The first modern multi-sport event organised were
5670-419: The time of the ancient games their origins were attributed to the gods, and competing legends persisted as to who actually was responsible for the genesis of the games. The patterns that emerge from these legends are that the Greeks believed the games had their roots in religion, that athletic competition was tied to worship of the gods, and the revival of the ancient games was intended to bring peace, harmony and
5751-468: The track, around 7.5 km to 9 km (4.6 to 5.6 mi), although it may have been lengths rather than laps and thus half as far. The last running event added to the Olympic program was the hoplitodromos , or " hoplite race", introduced in 520 BC and traditionally run as the last race of the games. Competitors ran either a single or double diaulos (approximately 400 or 800 metres, 0.25 or 0.5 miles) in full military armour. The hoplitodromos
5832-640: The valley of the Alfeiós River (Romanized as Alpheus) in the western part of the Peloponnese , today around 18 km (11 mi) away from the Ionian Sea but perhaps, in antiquity, half that distance. The Altis, as the sanctuary as was originally known, was an irregular quadrangular area more than 180 meters (590.5 feet) on each side and walled except to the North where it was bounded by the Mount Kronos. It consisted of
5913-572: The year, when the games were held the site became over congested. There were no permanent living structures for spectators, who, rich or poor, made do with tents. Ancient visitors recall being plagued by summer heat and flies; such a problem that sacrifices were made to Zeus Averter of Flies. The site's water supply and sanitation were finally improved after nearly a thousand years, by the mid-second century AD. But you may say, there are some things disagreeable and troublesome in life. And are there none at Olympia? Are you not scorched? Are you not pressed by
5994-433: Was a major part of the games. Sculptors, poets, painters and other artisans would come to the games to display their works in what became an artistic competition. Poets would be commissioned to write poems in praise of the Olympic victors. Such victory songs or epinicians, were passed on from generation to generation and many of them have lasted far longer than any other honor made for the same purpose. Pausanias claimed that
6075-400: Was based on a war tactic of soldiers running in full armor to surprise the enemy. Wrestling ( pale ) is recorded as being introduced at the 18th Olympiad. Three throws were necessary for a win. A throw was counted if the body, hip, back or shoulder (and possibly knee) touched the ground. If both competitors fell nothing was counted. Unlike its modern counterpart Greco-Roman wrestling , it
6156-479: Was commissioned by the town of Pisa to capture the sanctuary from the town of Elis , which he did and then personally controlled the games for that year. The next year, Elis regained control. Greek sports also derived its origins from the concept that physical energy was being expended in a ritualistic manner, in which Paleolithic age hunting practices were turned into a more socially and glamorized function, thus becoming sport. The Greeks in particular were unique in
6237-728: Was established, such as the Far Eastern Championship Games (1913), the Central American and Caribbean Games (1926) or the Pan American Games (1951). The Olympic Games are still the largest multi-sport event in the world in terms of worldwide interest and importance (though no longer in participation), but several others also have significance. Other Games are intended for handicapped or disabled athletes. The International Silent Games , first held in Paris in 1924, were
6318-461: Was limited to male athletes, except for women who were allowed to take part by entering horses in the equestrian events. Youth events are recorded as starting in 632 BC. Our knowledge of how the events were performed primarily derives from the paintings of athletes found on many vases, particularly those of the Archaic and Classical periods. Competitors had access to two gymnasiums for training purposes:
6399-535: Was placed on a throne in the temple. The statue became one of the seven wonders of the ancient world . As the historian Strabo put it, ... the glory of the temple persisted ... on account both of the festal assembly and of the Olympian Games, in which the prize was a crown and which were regarded as sacred, the greatest games in the world. The temple was adorned by its numerous offerings, which were dedicated there from all parts of Greece. Artistic expression
6480-437: Was primarily the loan of three-time Olympic champion Chionis. The appeal of settling with an Olympic champion helped to populate the colonies and maintain cultural and political ties with the city-states near Olympia. Thus, Hellenic culture and the games spread while the primacy of Olympia persisted. During the Olympic Games, a truce, or ekecheiria was observed. Three runners, known as spondophoroi , were sent from Elis to
6561-413: Was similar to the modern competition. Stone and iron diskoi have been found, although the most commonly used material appears to be bronze. To what extent the diskos was standardized is unclear, but the most common weight seems to be 2 kg (4.4 lbs) size with a diameter of approximately 21 cm (8 in), roughly equivalent to the modern discus. In the long jump ( halma ) competitors swung
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