The Olympic Games took their name from the Greek city of Olympia and though there were important athletic competitions held in other Gree
k cities in ancient times, the Olympic Games were regarded as the most prestigious. The games were held every four years during August and September and the word "Olympiad", which referred to the four year intervals between competitions, was commonly used to measure time. The first documented Olympic champion was a man named Coroebus, a cook from Elis who won the sprint race in 776 BC. Historians believe that the games had already existed for at least 500 years prior to that date. The Olympic Games originally featured only one event: a race called the "stade", equal to a distance of about 210 yards. By 728 BC two additional races had been added, comparable to the 400 meter and 1,500 meter races of the modern games. The Olympics came to include wrestling, boxing and the pentathlon, as well as specialized events for soldiers and heralds. It was only in 472 BC that the events were spread out over a period of four to five days, previously they had all taken place on a single day.
k cities in ancient times, the Olympic Games were regarded as the most prestigious. The games were held every four years during August and September and the word "Olympiad", which referred to the four year intervals between competitions, was commonly used to measure time. The first documented Olympic champion was a man named Coroebus, a cook from Elis who won the sprint race in 776 BC. Historians believe that the games had already existed for at least 500 years prior to that date. The Olympic Games originally featured only one event: a race called the "stade", equal to a distance of about 210 yards. By 728 BC two additional races had been added, comparable to the 400 meter and 1,500 meter races of the modern games. The Olympics came to include wrestling, boxing and the pentathlon, as well as specialized events for soldiers and heralds. It was only in 472 BC that the events were spread out over a period of four to five days, previously they had all taken place on a single day.Participation in the Olympic Games was firstly limited to free born Greeks, but as Greek civilization was spread by the conquests of Alexander the Great, the Games drew entrants from as far away as Antioch, Sidon and Alexandria.
The very first modern Olympic Games opened in the first week of April 1896. Since the Greek government had been unable to fund construction of a stadium, a wealthy Greek architect, Georgios Averoff, donated one million drachmas (over $100,000) to restore the Panathenaic Stadium, originally built in 330 BCE, with white marble for the Olympic Games.
Since the Games were not well publicized internationally, contestants were not nationally chosen but rather came individually and at their own expense. Some contestants were tourists who happened to be in the area during the Games. Athletes wore their athletic club uniform rather than a national team one.
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