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Today I Learned…
Gold medals weren’t part of the Olympics until 1904.
Originally
the Olympics,
held in Olympia, were a religious festival with only one event, a footrace just
under 200 yards. It is said that this footrace was the distance Hercules could
run in one breath. While it started as a footrace to honor Zeus, it quickly
grew in popularity and size. People would come from all over Greece to show off
their skills and pay homage to all the gods. The Greek games were not only a
showcase of athletic ability, but also a presentation and collaboration of intellectual
and creative skill. It was said that anyone who wanted to show their talent
would come to Olympia, which would be shrouded in total chaos or a week while
the games took place. When not being used to hold to Olympics, the grove for
the footrace was used as a simple wheat field.
The original Olympic games ran
for quite a long time, since at least 776 BC when they were first recorded until
393AD when they were ended because they were thought to be a “pagan” festival
and banned by Emperor Theodosius I. They didn’t run for many years until 1896
when the first of the modern Olympic games was scheduled. Interestingly, Athens
tried to get a local Olympics rebooted a few years before, but it wasn’t until
Baron Pierre de Coubertin of France started them up again that they really took
off.
At first, the Olympics,
much like the original games, was focused on Summer sports, with new sports being
added each year. The Winter games became part of the Olympics in 1924 and were
run in conjunction with the Summer games, thus the Olympics were held every four
years. Now we know that the Olympics trade off every two years with the Winter
games, once thought of as insignificant, growing in popularity.
There have been many differences
made between the original Olympic
games and now. One important difference is how world relations has changed
with the events. During the first Olympic games, if nations were at war with
each other, a truce was called at the start of the games so that they could
compete. Throughout the modern Olympic games, politics has played a large part,
with rival nations boycotting games to avoid each other and athletes using
their platform to raise awareness of causes important to them and their nation.
The first Olympians to win events
were awarded with wreaths made of branches from Zeus’ olive tree. When the
modern Olympics were reinstated in 1896 the athletes were rewarded with silver medals,
not gold. Striving for gold became only started in 1904 when the first gold
medals were awarded. Now it is an athletic goal worldwide to “go
for gold.”
Further Reading:
