Ancient Olympic Games

Definition

The ancient Olympic Games were a sporting event held every four years at the sacred site of Olympia, in the western Peloponnese, in honour of Zeus, the supreme god of the Greek religion. The games, held from 776 BCE to 393 CE, involved participants and spectators from all over Greece and even beyond.

More about: Ancient Olympic Games

Timeline

  • 776 BCE
    First athletic games in honour of Zeus are held at Olympia with one event, the stadion foot race.
  • 724 BCE
    The diaulos foot-race (two lengths of the stadium) is added to the schedule of the Olympic Games.
  • 720 BCE
    The dolichos foot-race is added to the schedule of the Olympic Games and is won by Akanthos of Sparta.
  • 720 BCE
    Orsippos is the first athlete to discard his loincloth at the Olympic Games, establishing the convention for athletes to compete naked.
  • 708 BCE
    Wrestling and the pentathlon are added to the schedule of the Olympic Games.
  • 688 BCE
    Boxing is added to the schedule of the Olympic Games.
  • 680 BCE
    Chariot races are added to the schedule of the Olympic Games which are extended to two days for the first time.
  • 680 BCE
    The tethrippon (four-horse chariot race) is added to the schedule of the Olympic Games.
  • 648 BCE
    The Pankration (a mix of wrestling and boxing) is added to the schedule of the Olympic Games.
  • 632 BCE
    Events for boys are added to the schedule of the Olympic Games which are extended to three days for the first time.
  • 532 BCE
    Milon of Kroton wins the first of five consecutive wrestling competitions at the Olympic Games.
  • 521 BCE
    Phanas of Pellene wins the stadion, diaulos and race in armour in the same Olympic Games.
  • 520 BCE
    The hoplitodromos (a foot-race in hoplite armour is added to the schedule of the Olympic Games.
  • c. 496 BCE
    Alexander I the Philhellene participates in the Olympic Games.
  • 488 BCE
    Runner Astylos of Kroton wins the first of his six victories over three Olympic Games.
  • 488 BCE
    Kroton of Magna Graecia wins the first of three consecutive stadion races in the Olympic Games.
  • 420 BCE
    Sparta is excluded from the Olympic Games for breaking the ekecheiria or sacred truce.
  • 416 BCE
    Alcibiades wins three chariot races at the Olympic Games.
  • 408 BCE
    The synoris (two-horse chariot race) was added to the schedule of the Olympic Games.
  • 396 BCE
    Competitions for heralds and trumpeters were added to the schedule of the Olympic Games.
  • 392 BCE
    The horse owner Kyniska becomes the first woman to win a victor's crown at the Olympic Games.
  • 356 BCE
    Philip II of Macedon wins the horse race at the Olympic Games.
  • 352 BCE
    Philip II of Macedon wins the chariot race at the Olympic Games and retains the crown in 348 BCE.
  • 328 BCE
    Herodoros of Megara wins the first of ten consecutive trumpet competitions at the Olympic Games.
  • 164 BCE
    Leonidas of Rhodes wins the first of his 12 Olympic crowns in runnning events in four successive Olymic Games.
  • 80 BCE
    Sulla moves the Olympic Games to Rome for a single Olympiad.
  • 72 BCE
    Gaius becomes the first Roman victor at the Olympic Games.
  • 17 CE
    Roman emperor Tiberius is victorious at the Olympic Games.
  • c. 67 CE
    Emperor Nero competes at the panhellenic Games of Olympia and Delphi.
  • 81 CE
    Hermogenes of Xanthos wins the first of his 8 Olympic running crowns over three consecutive Olympic Games.
  • 261 CE
    The list of victors running back to 776 BCE ends for the Olympic Games.
  • 393 CE
    Roman Emperor Theodosius definitively ends all pagan Games in Greece.
  • 6 Apr 1896 CE
    The first modern Olympic Games are held in Athens, Greece with the opening ceremony on 6 April, 1,500 years after they were banned by Roman Emperor Theodosius I. Sports included athletics, cycling, fencing, gymnastics, shooting, swimming, tennis, weightlifting, and wrestling. The first champion was American James Connolly for the triple jump.
  • 11 Jul 1924 CE
    Scottish athlete Eric Liddell wins the gold medal in the 400-meter race at the Paris Olympics, setting an Olympic and World Record of 47.6 seconds. Liddell refused to compete in the 100-meter heats held on Sunday because of his devout Christian faith and chose instead the more taxing 400-meter course. His story is famously told in the 1981 film *Chariots of Fire*.
  • 6 Sep 1972 CE
    The Munich Massacre begins during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany when eight members of the Palestinian group Black September kill two members of the Israeli Olympic team and take nine others hostage, who are later killed. In all, seventeen people were killed between 5-6 September, including five members of Black September.
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