by Larry Eder
Andreas Thorkildsen finds some air,
photo by PhotoRun.net
The javelin was one of the original ancient Olympic events, as was the 200 meters and a middle distance race like the 5,000 meters. Read on, dear readers…and learn about the ancient Olympics…
The ancient Olympic Games started around 776 B.C. and lasted until the Emperor Theodosious cancelled all pagan celebrations in 339 A.D.
The first race was the stade, about 192.97meters, and this was one length of the stadium, which could fit approximately 40,000 people (by people, they meant men). There would be up to 20 runners in such a race.
In about 724 B.C., the double stade, or diaulos, about 384 meters was established. And then, for the long distance geeks, in 708 B.C. a 24 stade race, or about 4.6 kilometers were instituted. The distance race was called the dolichos. By this time, all athletic events were done naked.
The pentathlon was instituted in 708 B.C. It was made up of the discus, a standing long jump (weights were used in hands), a javelin throw and the stadia. If there was a tie, then a fifth event, wrestling, was used to break the tie.
False starts were not tolerated. False start and you were beat!
It is fascinating to note that, for nearly one thousand years, Olympic Games were held, even with wars and natural disasters.
Much of the reason that the Olympic Games were cancelled was because of the cheating. As the Greek culture and society collapsed, cheating became more widespread.
Consider that, how much has society and culture really changed?
(The above information is gleaned from Olympic Track & Field History, by Mel Watman).
