The Games sure have changed in the last 2,700 years
< > on July 26, 2012 in Olympia, Greece.
The first Olympic games held back in 753 BCE in Olympia, Greece lasted a single day and featured one event: a short sprint. But over the next 1,147 years–making those games the longest-running recurring event in antiquity–they grew to five days long and more events were added. Think wrestling, boxing, long jump and throwing of the javelin and discus.
Today, some things remain the same: for example, the summer and winter games respectively are held every four years (the ancient Games didn’t make the seasonal distinction, though) and athletes are still strictly forbidden, as far as I know, to cast spells against their opponents. But for the most part, the modern Games have evolved into a different event all together. Here are eight of the biggest differences.
Read this fantastic Q&A with historian Tony Perrotet, author of The Naked Olympics: The True Story of the Ancient Games, from the National Geographic, for further reading on the Olympics in antiquity.
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