The Olympics were originally an important religious festival in the history of ancient Greece. Many sports in Greece are important because they are practiced today. Ancient popular athletes are important as role models today. The ancient Olympic Games were a series of athletic competitions for representatives of city-states that began in 776 BC. The Olympics were also hosted as part of a religious festival. At the first Olympics the competition lasted only one day. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The first event they hosted was a sprint where competitors ran from the top to the bottom of the stadium. Over time, they added more events to make the Olympics last longer. They hosted sports such as wrestling, boxing, long jump, javelin throwing, discus and chariot racing. If you win any of the events, you will receive a leaf wreath and a lot of respect. The Olympics only allowed men, boys, and girls to compete in the Ancient Olympic Games. If married women were caught sneaking in they would be punished. However, they would have the privilege of owning horses in the chariot race. If you were an unmarried woman, every four years a festival was held in honor of Hera Zeus' wife. If you won any of the events, you would earn a wreath of olive branches. The Greek city-states were always at war. This made travel between Greek city-states a dangerous area. Then, messengers sent from Elis announced a month-long sacred truce (peace) before the start of the Games. This meant that people could travel to Olympia without having to worry about being injured by war shells or anything else. The Olympic Games were much more important than all the wars of the Greek city-states. they had because they were religious holidays. They hosted the event every four years for their powerful Zeus and other gods. The games were held in the city-state of Olympia. The statue of Zeus in Olympia is one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. This is one of the Seven Wonders because of how intricate and large it is. In 1911, the IOC wanted an opportunity for a different winter competition for the 1912 Stockholm Games, but Sweden, wanting to maintain the popularity of the Nordic Games, did not want to compete in the Winter Olympics. Germany planned the 1916 Winter Olympics and Summer Games in Berlin, but World War I canceled both events. At the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium, ice hockey and figure skating were included in the Olympics as events, and Canada took most of the many gold medals in hockey. An agreement was later reached with the Scandinavians to host the International Winter Sports Week. It was so popular among the 16 participating nations that, in 1925, the IOC decided to create it. the Winter Olympics, due to the climate the realization of Chamonix was the first. The winter games. The prize for each event of the Winter Olympic Games is a gold medal for first, a silver medal for second and a bronze medal for third. The Pentathlon is a 5-event combination of discus, javelin, jumping, running and wrestling. For starters, the ancient Greeks considered an athlete's pace and accuracy in throwing the discus to be as important as his or her strength. The Greeks used the javelin to measure competitors' accuracy with gravity. The javelin was a long piece of wood about 6 feet tall, with a sharpened wooden point or metal tip attached. There was a grip for the competitors' fingers to stabilize the javelin, which increased the accuracy of the javelin's flight. Here.