The ancient Olympics were held only in Olympia and were open only to free Greek men. While fewer events were held compared to modern Olympics, winning athletes achieved celebrity status and glory for their home cities. One event, the pentathlon, combined five disciplines: discus, javelin, long jump, running, and wrestling. Pankration was a combination of boxing and wrestling with few restrictions on holds and attacks. The marathon running event commemorated the run of the Greek soldier who announced victory at Marathon.

1. Ancient Greek Sports
The ancient Olympics were rather different from the
modern Games. There were fewer events, and only free
men who spoke Greek could compete, instead of athletes
from any country. Also, the games were always held at
Olympia instead of moving around to different sites every
time. Like our Olympics, though, winning athletes were
heroes who put their home towns on the map. One young
Athenian nobleman defended his political reputation by
mentioning how he entered seven chariots in the Olympic
chariot-race. This high number of entries made both the
aristocrat and Athens look very wealthy and powerful.

2. Marathon
• The marathon is a long-distance running event with an
official distance of 42.195 kilometres (26 miles and 385
yards), that is usually run as a road race. The event was
instituted in commemoration of the fabled run of
the Greek soldier Pheidippidis, a messenger from the Battle
of Marathon (the namesake of the race) to Athens.
• The marathon was one of the original
modern Olympic events in 1896, though the distance did not
become standardized until 1921. More than 500 marathons
are held throughout the world each year, with the vast
majority of competitors being recreational athletes. Smaller
marathons, such as the Stanley Marathon, can have just
dozens of participants, while larger marathons can have tens
of thousands of participants.

3. Here are some marathon runners.

4. Pankration
• This event was a grueling combination of
boxing and wrestling. Punches were
allowed, although the fighters did not wrap
their hands with the boxing himantes.
• Rules outlawed only biting and gouging an
opponent's eyes, nose, or mouth with
fingernails. Attacks such as kicking an
opponent in the belly, which are against the
rules in modern sports, were perfectly legal.

5. Here are some pankration fighters

6. Pentathlon
This was a 5-event combination of
discus, javelin, jumping, running and
wrestling.

7. Discus
The ancient Greeks
considered the rhythm
and precision of an
athlete throwing the
discus as important as
his strength.
The discus was made of
stone, iron, bronze, or
lead, and was shaped
like a flying saucer. Sizes
varied, since the boys'
division was not
expected to throw the
same weight as the
mens'.

8. Javelin
The javelin was a man-
high length of
wood, with either a
sharpened end or an
attached metal point.
It had a thong for a
hurler's fingers
attached to its center
of gravity, which
increased the
precision and distance
of a javelin's flight.

9. Jump
Athletes used lead or
stone jump weights
(halteres) shaped like
telephone receivers to
increase the length of
their jump.
The halteres were held in
front of the athlete during
his ascent, and forcibly
thrust behind his back and
dropped during his
descent to help propel his
body further

10. Running
There were 4 types of
races at Olympia.
The stadion was the oldest
event of the Games.
Runners sprinted for
1 stade(192 m.), or the
length of the stadium. The
other races were a 2-
stade race (384 m.), and a
long-distance run which
ranged from 7 to
24 stades (1,344 m. to
4,608 m.).

11. Wrestling
Like the modern sport, an
athlete needed to throw
his opponent on the
ground, landing on a
hip, shoulder, or back for a
fair fall. 3 throws were
necessary to win a match.
Biting was not
allowed, and genital holds
were also illegal. Attacks
such as breaking your
opponent's fingers were
permitted.

12. Thanks for watching
This presentasion was made by
Christos Mermigas and Giannis
Tsiakiris
