The Ancient Greek Olympics started in Olympia in 776 B.C. and they did these games to honor the Greek god Zeus. The games back in Ancient Greece were also a way to get men fit before they went into the military and it was believed that Greek gods championed a winner. For our Olympic games, different athletes compete to win an array of gold medals, not to honor a god. The Greek Olympics also comprised of activities that are much different from today’s games but some that are also very similar. Activities included boxing, wrestling, and long-distance races such as the dolichos. These activities are in today’s Olympics too. But some activities were completely different, such as a horse-and-chariot race and the mule race. Zeus was also believed to lock down on all of the competitors, making some people lose and others victorious. Just like how when athletes from various countries win and bring respect and honor to their home countries today, this also happened in the Greek Games where athletes who won brought pride to their home city-states. Also, women did not participate in the main Greek festival and they had their own Olympics to honor the goddess Hera. In today’s games, women are a big, important part of the Olympics where they are honored just as the men. There were also great Olympic athletes back then as there are today with Usain Bolt running track and Apolo Ohno speed skating on ice. Back then, Leonidas of Rhodes was a great runner who won all three running events in four straight Olympics. There was also Milo of Croton who was the men’s boxing champion three straight years. There are some big differences between the Ancient Greek Olympics and our modern Olympics. But they each bring out the athletic side in every competitor, with their main purpose to be the best player on the field.
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