When was athens olympics

From BC, the Games were held in Olympia every four years for almost 12 centuries. Contrary evidence, both literary and archaeological, suggests that the games may have existed at Olympia much earlier than this date, perhaps as early as the 10th or 9th century BC.

What's that, you ask? A series of bronze tripods have been found at Olympia, some of which may date to the 9th century BC, and it has been suggested that these tripods may in fact be prizes for some of the early events at Olympia.

Source: Deutsches Archaologisches Institut, Athen. Did you know Additional athletic events were gradually added until, by the 5th century BC, the religious festival consisted of a five-day program. For a complete list of events, click here. For a complete list of modern Olympic Game location sites, click here. Shown here is the stadium entrance at Olympia. Any Winter Games? The pentathlon, introduced in B. With the rise of Rome, the Olympics declined, and in A. At a conference on international sport in Paris in June , Coubertin again raised the idea, and the 79 delegates from nine countries unanimously approved his proposal.

In Athens, participants from 13 nations competed in 43 events, covering track-and-field, swimming, gymnastics, cycling, wrestling, weightlifting, fencing, shooting, and tennis.

All the competitors were men, and a few of the entrants were tourists who stumbled upon the Games and were allowed to sign up. The track-and-field events were held at the Panathenaic Stadium, which was originally built in B. Americans won nine out of 12 of these events.

The Olympics also featured the first marathon competition, which followed the mile route run by a Greek soldier who brought news of a victory over the Persians from Marathon to Athens in B. In , the marathon was standardized at 26 miles and yards. In , the first truly successful Olympic Games were held in Paris, involving more than 3, athletes, including more than women, from 44 nations.

The first Winter Olympic Games were also held that year. In , Coubertin retired. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the foremost international sports competition. At the Summer Olympics in Sydney, more than 10, athletes from countries competed, including nearly 4, women. In , the Summer Olympics returned to Athens, with more than 11, athletes competing from countries. In a proud moment for Greeks and an exciting one for spectators, the shotput competition was held at the site of the classical Games in Olympia.

But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! It's part of the reason why our country is broke. And I hate the thought but he will be paying for it, too," he says, pointing to his son.

No one knows how much the Olympics cost Greece — although many think they played a major role in producing the debt that spurred the country's economic downfall. The estimates vary even though a parliamentary committee is supposed to have announced a figure.

Spyros Kapralos, head of the Hellenic Olympic Committee, says he usually goes for a figure in between. And a lot of the works were done in such speed and haste they cost a lot more than they should have done. I'm not happy. Here venues are not just ill-maintained but, like the economy, almost in freefall. Air conditioners and bits of panelling — apparently dislodged by high winds — lie on the ground, while the once gleaming chalet-like apartments for athletes look more like a dilapidated council estate than the manicured compound they once were.

The complex's stadium, also built in — and used by Greece's national athletics federation — is cracked and crumbling, its seats broken, its stairs smashed, its track ripped. All we've been left with are a lot of empty shells. Go, go, and see for yourself. He is not wrong. Up the road, world-class venues, purpose-built to host baseball, fencing, hockey, softball, kayak and canoeing events stand eerily empty.

But on the edge of the site, facing the sea, another edifice — built to house a restaurant for the thousands of competitors and dignitaries using the facilities — really embodies the profligacy and waste. Through its dust-covered windows, beyond the litter around it, chairs can be seen, some in their original wrapping, stacked one on top of another; tables are piled high alongside unused kitchen equipment. There is more. In the working class district of Nikaia, north of the port of Piraeus, the weightlifting centre has almost never been used since the Games, at least for sports purposes.

In the northern suburb of Galatsi, a giant 8,seat stadium also built in to host table tennis and rhythmic gymnastics stands empty. Further north, the Olympic village, acknowledged at the time of its construction as the best housing complex ever built for a Games, has the same ghost-like feel.