Olympic Games, where and when they were born: the history from the Greek origin to the modern Olympics

At the end of the 19th century, some European sports managers had the idea of ​​organizing a sporting event inspired by the Ancient Greek Olympicsborn in 776 BC and held every four years in the city of Olympia (hence the name of the event). Thus the Modern Olympic Gamesthe first edition of which was held in Athens in 1896 on the proposal of Pierre DeCoubertin. The idea was successful and over the years the number of participants, the number of sports disciplines included in the program and the number of spectators have progressively increased. Like the ancient Olympics, the modern ones are also held every four years. The Olympics have also had important political reflections: i authoritarian and totalitarian regimes they have tried to exploit them for propaganda reasons and international conflicts, such as the Cold War, have profoundly influenced them. In recent years, the “dimensions” of the Games have grown enormously and the money circulating around the event.

Olympic Games
  • 1The Birth of the Olympics in Greece
  • 2The Establishment of the Modern Olympics
  • 3The first editions
  • 4Female participation
  • 5The Olympic Games between the two wars
  • 6The growth of the Olympics in the post-war period
  • 7The Games During the Cold War
  • 8The last years

The Birth of the Olympics in Greece

In ancient Greece, gymnastic and sporting activities were considered a means of to train citizens from a physical and character point of view. Greece was divided into city-states (the poleis), in many of which local sports competitions were organised. There were also events in which all Greeks could participate, such as the Olympics, which were born in 776 BC and held every four years in the city of Olympia. Originally the Olympic program included only the distance race stadium (192.28 meters), but as time went by other tests were added: race on other distances, competitions of chariots (horse-drawn chariots) and combat sports such as boxing and the pancratium (almost no holds barred fight).

The Olympics had a great resonance, to the point that, when they were in progress, the poleis they suspended any wars among themselves, with the so-called “Olympic Truce”. However, in the 2nd century BC, when Greece was conquered by Rome, the importance of the Games began to wane and in 393 AD the event ceased to exist.

The Olympia Stadium today

The Establishment of the Modern Olympics

In its modern form, the sport was born in the second half of the nineteenth centurythanks to some changes that affected the games and physical activities that were practiced in the previous centuries. Among the most important:

  • they settled universally valid rules for every sport (previously they were different in each locality) and federations were born in charge of writing them and enforcing them;
  • a was created separation between athletes and the publicwhich previously was not always clear.

In short, sport took on forms similar to those of today. In this context, the French aristocrat Pierre DeCoubertin proposed to organize a competition inspired by the ancient Olympics and in 1894 he founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The Committee decided to organize the demonstration every four years in a different city and decided to ban professional athletes from participating (that is, to those who profited from sport). A few years later, De Coubertin also designed the flag with the five rings of the Games.

The first editions

The first edition of the modern Olympics was held in 1896 in Athens. 241 athletes participated, most of whom were not yet divided into national delegations, but Individually registered.

The following editions were held in other cities. The participants increased and in many countries at the beginning of the twentieth century the Olympic Committees national (as ours Cones) to select teams.

The Olympics were held regularly until 1912. In the 1916instead, the demonstration was cancelled due to World War I: it was a reversal of the practice in use in the ancient world, because it was the war that stopped the Olympics and not the other way around.

Female participation

Only male athletes participated in the 1896 Games. Most sports officials, including De Coubertin, considered the inappropriate women’s sport from a moral point of view and even dangerous for women’s health. Nevertheless, since the nineteenth century some women, challenging prejudices, tried their hand at sports competitions and gradually earned the chance to participate in the Olympics. In Paris Games of 1900 took part twenty-two athletes (out of 977 total participants) and in subsequent editions the number increased, although remaining lower than that of male athletes.

Charlotte Cooper, winner of the gold medal in women's tennis at the 1900 Paris Games

The Olympic Games between the two wars

In the years between the two world wars, numerous dictatorships emerged in Europe, such as the fascist one in Italy and the Nazi one in Germany. The dictatorial regimes made use of the sports to consolidate consensus and presented the international victories of their athletes, especially those at the Olympics, as successes of the regime itself. In Italy, for example, newspapers claimed that Italian athletes won because fascism had made them stronger and more motivated. Dictatorships financed the most talented athletes so that they could train. In this way, the first forms of state amateurism.

The growth of the Olympics in the post-war period

World War II brought a new interruption of the Olympic Gameswhich they resumed in 1948. After the war, both the number of athletes and the number of sports disciplines included in the program increased. For example, at the Olympics in Rome 1960 5,338 athletes registered, including 622 women. Furthermore, since the 1960s, the spread of television made it possible for the races to be followed by a much wider audience.

As time went by, the number of participating countries and in the 60s and 70s they began to take part in the Games African and Asian countries freed from colonialism. The main symbol of Africa’s sporting rise was an Ethiopian runner, Abebe Bikilawinner of the marathon at the 1960 Rome Games.

The Games During the Cold War

The Cold War could not fail to have repercussions on sports. The Soviet Union began participating in the Olympics from 1952together with the other communist countries of Eastern Europe, and made use of the State amateurism much more than previous dictatorships had done. The competitions between the representatives of the USA and the USSR, and sometimes those between their respective allies, were experienced as challenges to demonstrate the superiority of their system.

The Cold War also caused two boycotts: in 1980 the United States and some of its allies refused to participate in the Moscow Olympics; in 1984 the USSR and its satellite countries did not take part in the Los Angeles Games.

The 1980 Moscow Olympics marathon in front of St. Basil's Cathedral

The last years

In recent years the “dimensions” of the Games have grown enormously. Just think that the last edition, that of Tokyo 2020 (but played in 2021), participated 11,483 athletesof which almost half (5,498) were women. The countries present were 205: practically Worldwide.

Also the audience has grown enormously and, consequently, it has increased money circulating around the Olympicsbecause the sponsors are willing to invest very large sums. Furthermore, the professional athleteswho were already able to participate in some sports competitions during the twentieth century, have been admitted to almost all disciplines.