Olympic Games Timeline

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.