GREEK OLYMIPCS

"Victory is having done your best. If you've done your best you've won."

-Bill Boweman

Thesis
Along with other facts, Greek olympics consist of the first marathon,the fact that only boys were able to compete before 500 BC,and the ceremonial crowning with a wreath of olive leaves.

The Olympic symbol, the five interlocking rings represents the union of the five Continents and the meeting of the athletes of the world at the Olympic Games.

First Olympic Games were held in honor of Zeus.
Some of the Olympic Games included wrestling, jumping, javeling, and chariot racing.

At the ancient Olympics, the only prize was the crown of olive leaves cut from the sacred tree at Olympia. What counted most of all was the fame and supreme glory of becoming an Olympic victor, embodying the concept of excellence. There were no medals. Only the winner's name were recorded, since coming in second or third counted for nothing.

First marathon
Was invented when a runner ran twenty six miles bringing news of the Athenian victory over the Persians .

In fact, the real story is better than the legend, and much more of an inspiration to today’s runners. For the Greeks won the Battle of Marathon as much by their running as by their fighting.

In 490BC a Persian army of over 25,000 men (some accounts put the figure as high as 60,000), plus cavalry and some 600 ships, invaded Greece and began to ravage the coast of Attica. The target was always the city state of Athens and their plan was simple: to land at Marathon, 26 miles north of Athens; beat the small Athenian army; then sail round the coast to invade the city from the south, where they hoped the gates would be opened to them by traitors within.

OLYMPIC FACTS

• Took the name from a city in greece, olympia
• The games were part of a religous festival
• Has been around over 3,000 years
• The symbol has always been the same
• Women couldnt compete till the 1900's

The Olympic Flame
The Olympic flame is a practice continued from the ancient Olympic Games. In Olympia (Greece), a flame was ignited by the sun and then kept burning until the closing of the Olympic Games. The flame itself represents a number of things, including purity and the endeavor for perfection. In 1936, the chairman of the organizing committee for the 1936 Olympic Games, Carl Diem, suggested what is now the modern Olympic Torch relay. The Olympic flame is lit at the ancient site of Olympia by women wearing ancient style robes and using a curved mirror and the sun. The Olympic Torch is then passed from runner to runner from the ancient site of Olympia to the Olympic stadium in the hosting city. The flame is then kept alight until the Games have concluded. The Olympic Torch relay represents a continuation from the ancient Olympic Games to the modern Olympics.