Ancient Greece gave humanity a lot of value - from unsurpassed examples of fine art, sculpture, literature and architecture, to philosophy and democracy. But the Greeks left us as a legacy and the Olympic movement, the Olympic Games, which are held every two years in different countries of the world.
The birthplace of the Olympic Games is the area located next to the Sanctuary of Olympia near the cities of Ellis and Pisa. Its ruins, destroyed by an earthquake in the 6th century AD, can still be seen when visiting Greece. This sanctuary was, according to Greek mythology, erected by Hercules in honor of the gods, it was in it that the famous statue of Zeus, 12 meters high, made of gold and ivory by the great ancient Greek sculptor Phidias, stood. It belonged to one of the Seven Wonders of the World, and it is from the name of this sanctuary that the track and field competitions held there every four years began to be called. The first, on the run, took place in 776 BC. The distance measured by the feet of Hercules was about 190 m. From the Greek word "stage" - step, the name "stadium" comes from. The exact reason for the first Olympic Games is unknown. There is one version, quite mythical, that Zeus stood at their base, according to another - it was Hercules, who decided to hold them every 4 years. Be that as it may, it is reliably known that the competitions were held between the ever-warring and competing city-states of ancient Greece and that all hostility and all wars ceased at the time of their holding. The authority of these games and their winners was so great that The Greeks began to determine time and dates by the past Olympiads and measure it in four-year periods. These games were held up to the 5th century AD. and were banned as a pagan ritual by the emperor Theodosius. When widespread Christianization began, the interest in the Olympic Games, which arose after the discovery of the ruins of ancient Olympia, arose in the middle of the 19th century and in 1896 they were renewed at the initiative of the French politician and public figure Pierre de Coubertin. Since then, the holding of such games serves for the prestige and raising the reputation of any country in the world, and participation in them, and, moreover, victory, is the dream of any athlete.
