Olympic Sports in History

In the ancient and original Olympic Games, there was only one sport. The one sport was a foot race that was a winner-take-all event. There was no award given to the second- and third-place finishers. The winner was declared, he gained the prestige of winning and, in a ceremony that followed, he was awarded a crown of olive leaves. Only men were allowed to compete in the ancient Olympics.

The original Olympic Games consisted only of a foot race but over time other events were added. There were no team sports in the ancient Olympic Games, however. All competition was individual competition. Not necessarily in the order given, but the sports that were added to running and became part of the ancient Olympic Games were:

Boxing

Discus (part of Pentathlon)

Equestrian Events

Javelin (part of Pentathlon)

Jumping

Pankration

Pentathlon

Wrestling

Some of the sports that were added to the ancient Olympic Games bear little resemblance to the same sports that are part of our modern Olympic Games. In ancient Olympic boxing, for example, gloves were not used. Men wrapped leather around their hands. The fight was not divided into rounds. The fight continued until one man could not get up and it was permissible to hit a man when he was down. The word "brutal" comes to mind.

Chariot racing which has been depicted in many movies over the years was also added to the ancient Olympic Games in about 680 BC. There were four horse and two horse chariot races. The races were basically the same aside from the number of horses. Chariot racing, however, was not considered a prestigious sport in and of itself. Wealthy men gained prestige according to the number of chariots that they had in the race.