The Ancient and Modern World’s Greatest Sport Competition
The modern Olympic Games are a mega global sport event – the mega global sport event – rivaled only by soccer’s FIFA World Cup. The 2020 (or 2021) Tokyo Olympics hosted 11,326 athletes from 205 nations, plus the International Olympic Committee’s Refugee Olympic Team. All primed to compete for glory and medals in 339 events, divided between 33 sports and 50 disciplines. The difference between the scope and scale of today’s Olympics and the original event would probably astonish and amaze the ancient Greeks, if they knew what their competition would one day become.
When the Olympics were first inaugurated in 776 BC, and for over half a century through 724 BC, there was only one sport competition: the stadion. It was named after the building in which it was held, which became stadium in Latin, and thus the English stadium. Even after more competitions were added, the stadion remained the key Olympic Games event. The building after it was named was big enough to contain 20 competitors, who ran an approximately 200 yard or 180 meter sprint. The first few races might have been slightly longer, however, as the original stadion in Olympia had a track that was 210 yards or 190 meters long. The athletes lined up, and games officials were positioned at the starting blocks, on the lookout for false starts.