Every four years, athletes from all over the world compete in the Olympic games.
The first Olympic games were held more than two thousand seven hundred years ago. Like today, the games then were held every four years. In those days, only men could compete in the games.
They came from all over Greece, to the city of Olympia, to see who was the best.
Instead of having many types of sports, when the gane s began, there was just one competition-the footrace.
According to legend, the first Olympic champion was a cook named Coreobus. He ran in a 192 meter race, surrounded by huge crowds of people.
During the games, all athletes and officials made a promise to be fair, and honest. If any athlete cheated, he was removed from the competition, and had to pay the officials money.
Soon, there were more events. We can still see some of these sports in the Olympics today.
The discus throw then was similar to today's sport. But the ancient Greeks threw a large flat rock, while today's discuses are usually metal.
Ancient long jumpers held weights in their hands to help them jump further.
The javelin was a long wooden pole thrown across a stadium. These ancient javelins were mostly identical to the ones used today, except for a leather finger hold which helped the ancients throw further.
The ancient Greeks also held horse-riding and chariot-racing competitions. These races were dangerous, but the crowd loved them.
Another sport was wrestling. To win a wrestling match, one athlete had to throw the other down three times.
In boxing, matches then didn't stop until one athlete gave up, or couldn't get up again. Today, boxers and wrestlers are divided into different groups based on weight. But in ancient Greece, amazingly, for boxing and wrestling, there were just two groups. One for men, and the other, for boys.
For each sport, there was only one winner.
That person got an olivr wreath to show that they won. When they returned home, everyone lived them. They were famous, and shared their fame with their hometowns.
Then, in A.D. 393-after almost twelve centuries-the Roman emperor Theodosius the First put an end to the Olympics.
But, of course, that wasn't really the end. In 1894, officials from 10 different countries met to organize the first modern Olympics. Two years later, in 1896, the Olympics began again.
And since then, the Olympic games have become more popular than ever.