Since the first Olympics in 776 BC in Ancient Olympia and up until the 13^th Olympiad, the only sport event was a race over a distance of one stadium. With time, more games were added, including the jump, the discus and javelin throws, wrestling, the pentathlon, pugilism (boxing), pankration and the equestrian sports? as a result, the number  of sports rose to 18 in Classical times. Because of that the duration of the events gradually increased to five days.

 

RUNNING RACE

Running was the most natural form of physical exercice for a person, but also the simplest competitive sport. With the establishment of the Olympics in 776 BC and until the 13^th Olympiad (728 BC), running was the only sport in the program, which lasted one day.

   Racing simply required a flat open space. Olympia had such a space, 600 feet or 192,28 meters long.

   At the start of the track there were blocks, permanently built lines, demarcating the starting point for the athletes. Similar installations at the end of the track marked the finish line. There were four types of races: The stadium was the fundamental game in the Ancient Olympics and always attracted the greatest attention from sports fans. It was the supreme speed race.

   The diavlos, also considered a speed race, was run over a total distance of two track lengths or 1200 feet. Uniquely for this race, the start took place at the finish line, so that the athletes would finish there, upon their return.

   The dolichos was an endurance race and is first reported in the 15^th Olympiad. The distance covered in this race varied throughout time from 7 to 24 stadions. Mostly, however, it was set at 20 stadions.

   The hoplite was a race in which the athletes were dressed in bronze armour. It was included in the program in later times, since it is first arreared in the 65^th Olympiad (520 BC) and was the last race in the program.

   Conducted in honour of one or more dead perrson, it was two stadions in length, a distance which the runners had to cover wearing a helmet, protective gaiters (leggings) and carrying a shield.

 

THE JUMP

The jump took place in a rectangular pit, filled with soft earth, having a starting block at one end, from which the athletes would step to begin their effort.

   In antiquity, athletes made use of alteres, or weights, usually made of stone, to help them in their jumps. During their effort, the athletes threw the alteres backward with their hands to acquire more thrust. In any case, the use of alteres was not mandatory.

 

THE DISCUS

   It was not long before the discus throw, reaching far and deep in the history of Ancient Greece, was included in the program of the Olympic Games. It has been established from known records that discus diameter and weight ranged between 17-32 centimetres and 1.3-6.6 kilograms, respectively.

   In any case, all athletes used the same discus, to ensure equal terms of competition and unbiased judging.

   The style of discus throwing in ancient times did not differ much from modern styles. Distances were marked by small wood pieces and the length was measured with sticks.

 

THE JAVELIN

The javelin, which had a direct relation to daily life, as an instrument of boht hunting and warfare, did not have to wait long either before being included in the program of the Olympics.

   The main difference with modern javelin throwing was the use of an ankyle (bracket), a strip of skin forming a loop tied by the athletes at the javelins centre of gravity.

   The contestant passed one or two fingers through the loop, and used these for increased javelin thrust.

 

WRESTLING

   Wrestling was the first form of unarmed fighting between individuals, and thus was directly related to war.

   These were two wrestling positions: standing and lower. In the former, the winner was to wrestle his opponent down three times. In the latter, the winner was declared when he succeeded in bringing his opponent to submission. Lower wrestling took place on wet ground making bodies slippery and difficult to hold.

 

THE PENTATHLON

   The pentathlon was a complex event comprising light sports (jump, runnning race, javelin) and heavy sports (diskus, wrestling). Of these five sports, the race and wrestling were carried out separately, while the remaining three had no distinct prize and formed part of the pentathlon.

   The pentathlon was included in the program for the first time in the 18^th Olympiad (708 BC), but the precise order of the different sports has not been ascertained. The testimonies, however, agree on one point at least, that the last sport was wrestling. However, the question of the declaration of a winner remains unanswered, despite the efforts of researchers and historians. Because it was impossible for the same athlete to win all five sports, the prevalent hypothesis, based on ancient accounts such as that of Pausanias, suggests that it sufficed to win in three sports.

 

PUGILISM (BOXING)

This was yet another form of unarmed fighting. The athletes had straps wound around their hands, i.e. leather strips firmly binding the fingers and wrist joint. There was no time limit in the fight. The fight finished when one of the two atlhetes admitted defeat, or was knocked down unconscious.

 

PANKRATION

   Pankration was a combat sport that combined wrestling and boxing. The use of teeth and nails was forbidden and athletes used their bare hands without straps. The winner was declared in the same way as in pugilism.

 

EQUESTRIAN SPORTS

   Equestrian and chariot races were most spectacular and took place in the hippodrome of Ancient Olympia. This was a wide, flat area with a pole at one end marking the start and finish line. At the other end, there was another pole served to indicate the turning point for the chariots and horses.

   For the chariot races, we know of the following types: the tethrippon, a four-horse chariot (represented in the program of the 25^th Olympiad in 680 BC) and the apene, a chariot drawn by two mules (since 500 BC). There were also the synorida, a two-horse chariot (since 408 BC), the tethrippon polon, a chariot with four young horses (since 384 BC) and the synorida polon, a chariot with two young horses (since 268 BC).

   The chariot rode on two wheels, was made of wood and could hold two charioteers. The declared Olympic champion, however, was not the charioteer but the chariot owner.

   Among the equestrian games held were the races of perfect keletes (race horses? (since 648 BC),and the polon horse races (since 256 BC).

   We are not sure how many times the charioteers went round the hippodrome during the kalpe, but we know that, for the last run, the jockey would alight and finish on foot, holding the fillys reins.