History of the Olympics

First Recorded Olympic Games

Held in Olympia to pay homage to Olympian gods, especially Zeus. Olympia, Greece, was not a village but a site with structures for the Olympic games and the worship of Greek gods.

Learn more about Greek Mythology as it relates to the Olympic Games

First Pentathlon

The Pentathlon was comprised of five different events: Running/ Jumping/ Discus Throw, Boxing, Wrestling, Pankration (martial arts), and Equestrian Events.

Expansion

The Olympics stretched to become a three day event instead of a one day event.

Further Expansion

The Olympics became a five day event.

Ban

Emperor Theodosius I prohibited any further Olympic Games on the grounds that they promoted the woship of Pagan gods.

Olympia Discovered

Englishman Richard Charndler found the site which was once Olympia after over 100 years of ruin by vandalism, desertion, and later decay by earthquakes and floods.

German Excavations.

German archaeologists excavated Olympia.

Creation of the International Olympic Committee (IOC)

Pierre de Coubertin (France) sucesssfully created the modern Olympics after many earlier attempts by others by creating the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Paris.

First Modern Summer Olympics

First modern Summer Olympics (Also known as the Games of the Olympiad) took place in Athens, Greece.

Women First Allowed to Compete in the Olympics

Women were allowed to compete in the Olympics for the first time. However, they could only compete in tennis and golf.

World War I

The Olympics was not held because of World War I

First Winter Olympics

The First Winter Games took place in Chamonix, France.

World War II

The Olympics was not held because of World War II

World War II continued

The Olympics not held again because of World War II

Professional Athletes

Professional athletes were first allowed to compete in the Olympics. Before this, the Olympics was only open to amateur athletes.

The Winter and Summer Olympics

Decision was made to separate the Winter and Summer Olympics to be two years apart

Women Could Compete in All Olympic Sports

After the decision was made to let women compete in boxing, women were able to compete in all Olympic sports for the first time in Olympic history.