Events For The Insane

The Events

The different events of the Ancient Greek Olympics showed speed strength and precision. These events were loved by all the Greeks but, have become way more competitive today as many countries have come to compete, unlike in the Ancient times. These events were held in Olympia and started in 776 B.C.E.

The Event List:

Running- Consisted of different types of events within itself. Many of them were different types of the stadion which was running a 1 stade race (192 m.) 2 stade race (384 m.) and so on. But the most intense event out of them all was a 2-4 stade race, which was run in full armor.  The average weight of a hoplites armor was 50-60 lbs. That is crazy!





Pankration- This event was similar to boxing but was harder. Instead of having gloves to fight with, fighters used their own hands. But, fighters weren't allowed dirty moves like biting or scratching other fighters. This was basically an almost anything goes sort of even where the fighter used his wits and strength to wreck the opponent.






Jumping- Jumping events were revolutionized using jump weights. These weights as shown in the picture propelled jumpers forward as well as help them get fit for training. The weights somewhat look like animal hooves.






Discus- In the Olympics there were 2 different divisions, a boys and men's division. These determined the weight and material used for the discus. One of the cultural aspects of the discus was the skill required to throw the discus. Sometimes the technique could outweigh the sheer power of another thrower. The different types of discus included iron, stone, bronze and lead.

Boxing- Was very different to the boxing that there is today. There

were no rounds just one fight to the end. The weight classes were determined by whether they were "men" or "boys". Opponents were chosen randomly which added a mixture of excitement. Winners were decided by who was knocked out or if a fighter admitted that he was beaten.






Horse Events- The horse riding events consisted of chariot races and regular horse riding. The chariots could have 2-4 horses. The track for this event was very long and players had to make 12 laps around the entire track for a total of 9 miles. This event required a lot of mental work from the riders.






Wrestling- This was very similar to the way wrestling except that the wrestlers were naked and fighters were allowed to break the bones of their opponent. Besides those key changes the basic wrestling had stayed the same.






Javelin- The Javelin event worked the exact same way as it does today where the person throws a long pole called a javelin as far as he can. (Only men from Greece were allowed to participate)










Some of these events were grouped into different categories like the Pentathlon which included discus, javelin, jumping, running and wrestling.



Information Main Source: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Olympics/.html