Sports events

The ancient Olympic Games included the following events:

Pentathlon

The Pentathlon became an Olympic sport with the addition of wrestling in 708 B.C. and included the following:

Running

Running contests included:

-- the stade race, which was the pre-eminent test of speed, covering the Olympia track from one end to the other (200m foot race),

-- the diaulos (two stades -- 400m foot race),

-- dolichos (ranging between 7 and 24 stades).

Jumping

Athletes used stone or lead weights called halteres to increase the distance of a jump. They held onto the weights until the end of their flight, and then jettisoned them backwards.

Discus throw

The discus was originally made of stone and later of iron, lead or bronze. The technique was very similar to today's freestyle discus throw.

Wrestling

This was highly valued as a form of military exercise without weapons. It ended only when one of the contestants admitted defeat.

Boxing

Boxers wrapped straps (himantes) around their hands to strengthen their wrists and steady their fingers. Initially, these straps were soft but, as time progressed, boxers started using hard leather straps, often causing disfigurement of their opponent's face.

Pankration

This was a primitive form of martial art combining wrestling and boxing, and was considered to be one of the toughest sports. Greeks believed that it was founded by Theseus when he defeated the fierce Minotaur in the labyrinth.

Equestrian events

These included horse races and chariot races and took place in the Hippodrome, a wide, flat, open space.

The Olypics Rings

"These five rings -- blue, yellow, black, green and red -- represent the five parts of the world now encompassed by Olympism and ready to compete against each other. Moreover, the six colours (including the white background) thus combined represent those of all nations, without exception. The blue and yellow of Sweden, the blue and white of Greece, the French, English, American, German, Belgian, Italian and Hungarian tricolours, the yellow and red of Spain are side by side with the new Brazilian and Australian flags, the old Japan and the new China. It is a true international emblem."

Coubertin (Selected Writings II, p. 460, 1913).

As an image of Olympism, Coubertin thought the rings had deep significance: that of the union between men. He multiplied the image to create a total of five rings. He designed and commissioned the Olympic flag to mark the 20th anniversary of the IOC's founding, on 23rd June 1914 in Paris. Coubertin never said nor wrote that he saw a link between the colours of the rings and the continents. For him, the five rings represented the union of the five continents, but the colours were merely those that appeared in all the different national flags at the time.

-- The results of a survey carried out in six countries (Australia, Germany, India, Japan, Great Britain and the USA) in 1995 showed that 92% of those questioned correctly identified the Olympic rings, which made them the most-recognised symbol. They were followed by the McDonald's and Shell emblems (88%), Mercedes (74%) and the United Nations (36%). (SRI Sponsorship Research International).

-- 86% of those questioned associated the Olympic rings with the world's greatest sports event: the Olympic Games. (SRI Sponsorship Research International, 1995).