INTRODUCTION
Just how far back in history organized athletic contests were first held remains a matter of doubt, but it is reasonably certain that they occurred in Greece, at least, some 3,500 years ago.

However ancient in origin, by the end of the 6th century BC at least four of the Greek sporting festivals, sometimes known as classical games, had achieved major importance. They were the Olympic Games, held at Olympia; the Pythian Games at Delphi; the Nemean Games at Nemea; and the Isthmian Games at Corinth. Later, similar festivals were held in nearly 150 cities as far afield as Rome, Naples, Odessus, Antioch, and Alexandria.

The Olympic Games in particular were to become famous throughout the Greek world. There are records of the champions at Olympia from 776 BC to AD 217. The Games, held every four years, were abolished in AD 393 by the Roman emperor Theodosius I, probably because of their pagan associations. For the first 100 or 200 years, Olympic champions came from a dozen or more Greek cities, the majority from Sparta and Athens, but in the next three centuries, athletes were drawn from 100 cities in the Greek empire. And in the final 100 years or so before the games were discontinued, champions came from as far from Olympus as Antioch, Alexandria, and Sidon.

In 1887 the 24-year-old Baron Pierre de Coubertin conceived the idea of reviving the Olympic Games and spent seven years preparing public opinion in France, England, and the United States to support his plan. At an international congress in 1894, his plan was accepted and the International Olympic Committee was founded. The first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens in April 1896, with 13 nations sending nearly 300 representatives to take part in 42 events and 10 different sports. The revival of the Olympic Games led to the formation of many international bodies controlling their own amateur sports and to the creation of National Olympic Committees in countries throughout the world.

Early History * Revival of the Olympics * Organization of the Modern Olympics