Special Sub-Topic: Olympic Games Ancient History Click Here To Play: Olympic Games Ancient History

In what year was the first recorded Olympic Games held?

776 BC. It consisted of only one event, the "stade" race (about 220 yards), and the first winner was Coroibis of Elis.

Initially, women weren't allowed to participate in the Games. However, women could win the Olympic prize. In what event was this possible?

Chariot racing. Oddly enough, in chariot racing it is not the driver who is given the prize, but the owner of the chariot and horses. So, women could (and have) been declared Olympic champions, even though they weren't even allowed in the stadium.

Who is the only emperor to have been declared Olympic champion?

Nero. Curiously, Emperor Nero was declared the winner of the chariot race in 67 AD even though there were no other entrants in the race and he didn't even finish.

In what year did Theodisius I issue the decree which prohibited the Olympic Games?

393 AD. Emperor Theodisius I included the Olympic Games in his decree of banning Pagan cults.

What was awarded to Olympic champions during ancient times?

Crown of wild olives. While champions were only given a crown of wild olives, they were richly rewarded by their cities or states. It included being given a lifetime pension to great monetary rewards.

During ancient times, whenever the Olympic Games were to be held, warring states would call a truce during the duration of the contest. This truce is called what?

Ekecheiria. Ekecheiria means "lift your hands". This truce allowed participants to safely compete or attend the Olympic Games, and return to their respective cities and states. Diaulus was a foot race equal to two stades or 440 yards. The pankration was a mixture of boxing and wrestling. Halteres were the hand-held weights during jumping events.

The pankration event, added to the Games in 648 BC, was a mixture of boxing and wrestling (similar to UFC type fighting) . Which Greek philosopher was champion in this event twice?

Plato. Other famous Greeks have either attended or competed in the Olympic Games (such as Aristotle, Pythagoras, Socrates and even Hippocrates, the father of medicine), but only Plato is a double Olympic champion in the pankration event.

The marathon event in commemoration of the Greeks' victory over the Persians in 490 BC in the Battle of Marathon, was included in the list of event in the ancient Olympic Games?

F. The marathon, proposed by Frenchman Michel Breal, was only included into the Olympic Games in 1896, where a Greek, Spyridon Louis, won.

Who was the only athlete to have won three events in four consecutive stagings of the Olympic Games?

Leonidas of Rhodes. Leonidas of Rhodes won the stade race(220 yards), the diaulus (two stades or 440 yards), and the hoplitodromos (a race while dressed in full armor of a hoplite (soldier))events in four Olympic Games, in 164, 160, 156, and 152 BC.

The pentathlon, consisting of a run, standing long jump, discus throw, javelin throw and wrestling, was believed to have been invented by whom?

Jason (of the Argonauts fame). Introduced in 708 BC, the pentathlon was said to have been invented by Jason (of the Golden Fleece fame), by combining all these events into one in a contest against his friend, Peleus.