History of Olympic Games

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20 December 2012 The Olympic Games The Olympic Games were first started thousands of years ago in Greece at around 776 B.C. (Breasted 351). The Olympic Games are fun and exciting displays of athletic excellence. They take years of preparation from both the participating athletes and the hosting country. The Games have changed in many ways over the years. The reason for the Games, the number and the types of sports involved and the location and dates of the Games have all changed. Present day Olympic Games look nothing like the Olympic Games of the past. The ancient Greece Olympic Games were held in Olympia every four years. Trading and fighting ceased while the Olympic Games were taking place in Greece. The first Olympic Games were supposedly the beginning of the ancient Greek calendar. Athletes came from all over the Greek speaking world to compete in the Games. Only males were allowed to participate, women were not even permitted to go as spectators. The ancient Greece Olympics were more individual than team events. The Greeks regarded the winners of the Olympic Games as heroes, crowning them with wreaths of olive branches and holding parades in their honour. Some cities even excused outstanding athletes from having to pay their taxes. The ancient Olympic Games really were special events to the Greeks (Farah and Karls 120). The reasons for why the Olympic Games are held have changed since they first began. The ancient Olympic Games were held in honour of the Greek god Zeus as a religious festival. People from all over Greece would participate in the Games to show off their power and to represent the city and come home with a prize (Farah and Karls 120). Modern day Olympic Games are held to promote national pride, good relations between countries, display competitive spirit and athletic excellence rather than for religious and
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