History

=** The History of the Olympic Games  ** = = =  ** ** This information was from http://history1900s.about.com/od/fadsashion/a/olympicshistory.htm as well as http://www.nostos.com/olympics/)  **  ** The earliest records of the Olympic Games are from 776 BCE. It is not believed that the first games took place in 776 BCE, but rather the tradition of the games every four years. Through this time period, the games continued to prosper. The games took place in Greece (specifically Olympia), until the Romans conquered the area. Once conquered, the 175th Olympiad (80 BC) was moved to Rome. This decision was made by the Roman general Sulla, who ransacked sanctuaries in Greece to finance his campaign. There were many different events, but most were added throughout different Olympiads. At first, the only Olympic competition was the Stadium race, a race that was around 192 meters (or 630 feet) of running, but due to help from 400 BCE records, historians have discovered that about eleven competitions (including the stadium race) were created before the 1500 year pause of the games, which began in 393 AD. (taken from http://www.nostos.com/olympics/)
 * Greek legend tells the story of Heracles (a son of Zeus) being the founder of the Olympic Games. The Olympic games began thousands of years ago. The modern Olympic Games are merely a revived and modified version of ancient traditions, once practiced by the Ancient Greeks every four years.

The Ancient Olympics ended in 393 AD, when the Christian Emperor Theodosius I ended the games, for he thought that the games had contained Pagan (pre-Christian religions in Europe, mostly polytheistic beliefs) influence. The games ended for almost nearly 1500 years, until the Frenchman Pierre de Coubertin started the revival of the Olympic Games. He was a French aristocrat who saw his home country get taken over by the Germans in 1870. From that time on, he decided to study education of many countries, only to find that exercise and sports was what made a well rounded person. He even blamed Frances loss in the war on its failure to be vigorous enough. Due to his love for sports and his feeling towards athletic excellence, he formed a sports organization in 1890, titled Union des Sociétés Francaises de Sports Athlétiques (USFSA). In 1892, he pitched the idea for the revival of the games, leading to the rebirth of the biggest athletic event in the world. In 1896, the Olympic Games were brought back to life in Athens. This is information is from http://history1900s.about.com/od/fadfashion/a/olympicshistory.htm  **  **The First Olympic Marathon**
 * In 490 BCE, a Greek soldier named Pheidippides, ran about 25 miles from Marathon (hence the name of the race) to Athens. He ran this distance to inform his people of Athens of the outcome of the war against the Persians. The course that he ran was so strenuous that when he arrived at his destination he was severely bleeding through his feet and dropped dead shortly after telling the town his great news. To honor Pheidippides a marathon about the same length that he ran was added in the 1896 olympics.**        **      Information from http://history1900s.about.com/od/greateventsofthecentury/a/olympicfacts.htm       **

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