Ancient Olympia

On your marks, get set... go!

The Olympics we have today are based on the Olympic Games held in ancient Greece. They started in 776BC and didn’t miss once for a thousand years!

Like the modern Games, the ancient Games were held every four years and had lots of athletes in different sporting events. But there are some differences too.

The modern Olympics:

• are held in a different country every time
• are open to athletes from all over the world
• have gold, silver and bronze medals for first, second and third place

The ancient Olympics:

• were always held in Olympia in Greece
• were only open to Greek athletes
• had no prizes for coming second or third – only winning mattered
• were held as a religious festival in honour of Zeus, king of the gods

Roll your mouse over the model of Olympia to find out more.