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• Ancient Olympic Games
• Revival of the Games
• Ceremonies and Symbols
• Olympic values

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The Olympic Games from ancient times to the present day

Under the Auspice of

Quiz!

VIDEOS AND ACTIVITIES

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The beginning of the Olympic Games (1)

• The start of the Olympic Games dates back to 776 BC.
• The ancient Greeks decided to organize a big event in which citizens from all the Greek cities of the time would meet.
• Greece at that time consisted of many city-states, which were very often at war with each other.
• The Games of ancient times were held in Olympia in the Peloponnese.

The beginning of the Olympic Games (2)

The Games had a religious character, since they were held in honour of the god Olympian Zeus. Sacrifices were made to the god on the middle day of the festival. Athletes prayed to the god for victory and made offerings in gratitude for their successes.

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Declaration of the games and truce

Messengers went from town to town announcing the dates of the Games so that all hostilities would cease and athletes and spectators would travel safely to take part in the Games.

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Ancient Olympic Sports

Jumping �

Jumping was an event very similar to today's long jump, although the Greek long jump must have been double and triple.

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Running

• The sprint race, called the stadion or stade, was a test of speed covering the Olympia track from one end to the other (200m foot race).

• The diaulos was also a test of speed (two stades – 400m foot race).

Discus

• The technique was very similar to today’s freestyle discus throw.
• The discus was originally made of stone, but later it was made of bronze, lead or iron.
• The discus was often decorated by images of athletes.

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Javelin

• Javelin was an event similar to today’s event and originated from war and hunting.

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• The spear was made of wood ending in a sharp point.

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Wrestling

• The ancient Greeks highly valued wrestling.
• Wrestlers trained and competed naked and rubbed their bodies with olive oil. The techniques were very similar to modern wrestling.

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Boxing

• Boxing was one of the oldest sports of ancient times.
• There was no time limits and the competitors fought until the end, usually by surrender or mutual exhaustion.
• The blows were mainly on the head and face.

Pankration

• Pankration was a primitive form of martial art combining wrestling and boxing. It was considered one of the toughest sports.

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• In this competition there were very strict rules!

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Pentathlon

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The Pentathlon comprised the following five events:

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Long jump

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Javelin throw

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Running

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Discus throw

Wrestling

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Equestrian competitions and chariot races

• These competitions were held at the hippodrome.
• In the horse races, riders would compete holding the whip and the reins.
• In some of these races the chariot was pulled by two horses and in others by four.

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The program of the Olympic games

• Day 1: Oath of the athletes, competition of the trumpeters and heralds
• Day 2: Ceremonies in honour of Pelops and a grand sacrifice to Zeus
• Day 3: Equestrian events, pentathlon
• Day 4: Foot races (boys and men), wrestling, boxing, pankration, hoplitodromos
• Day 5: Crowning of the winners at the Temple of Zeus and lunch in their honour at the Rectory

Awarding the winners

• The winners of the Games were awarded with a wreath made of a wild olive branch, the kotinos. This wreath was a symbol of peace.
• The winner did not receive any money or prize for his victory, but he was considered a hero in his homeland and enjoyed great honours until the end of his life.
• Olympic winners of Sparta, for example, earned the right to fight alongside the king during battle, while many cities pulled down a part of their walls in honour of the winners or coins were issued depicting their image.

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The end of the Ancient Olympic Games�

• In 393 AD, Emperor Theodosius I banned all pagan events.
• This meant the end of the Olympic Games ended, as they were connected to the cult of Olympian Zeus.

1896 – The first occurrence of the modern Olympic Games  

• The first Modern Olympic Games took place in 1896 in Athens.
• Since then, they have been held every four years in a different city around the world.
• The revival of the Games was an idea devised by the Frenchman Baron Pierre de Coubertin.

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Participations and sports – Athens 1896

In the Athens Games, in 1896, 241 athletes from thirteen countries took part in 9 sports (43 events).

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The Marathon race and Spyros Louis

• One of the most notable important moments of the Games of 1896 was the victory of the Greek, Spyros Louis, in the Marathon event (42,195 km).
• The Marathon race was held in honour of the Athenian soldier Pheidippides who, after the Battle of Marathon against the Persians, in 490 BC, ran from Marathon to Athens to announce the victory, only to drop dead from overexertion.

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The Modern Olympic games –�Every 4 years in a different place

• The Games of Athens, in 1896, marked the revival of the Olympic Games. Since then, the Games are held every four years, in a different city of the world each time.

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• The host city of the Games is chosen by the IOC members, among the nominations submitted by various National Olympic Committees from around the world.

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• After the vote and the election of the host city, an Organizing Committee is set up and in the following years works hard to organize the Games.

Indicative numbers of countries and athletes that have participated in the Olympic Games

Ceremonies and symbols

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• The opening and closing ceremony
• The Olympic Flag
• The Olympic Flame
• The Olympic Anthem
• The Olympic Oath
• The Olympic Motto
• Medals, Poster, Mascot

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The opening ceremony (1)

The opening ceremony (2)

The closing ceremony

The Olympic flag (1)

• The Olympic flag is formed by five circles on a white background. Each of these circles corresponds to one of the five continents.

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• The white frame represents the fact that the participants are committed to fairness and honesty.

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Blue Europe

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Yellow

Asia

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Black Africa

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Green Oceania

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Red America

The Olympic flag (2)

• The Olympic flag was created in 1914 in Paris in celebration of the 20^th anniversary of the Olympic Movement but it was not until the 1920 Games in Antwerp that the flag and its five rings could be seen flying in an Olympic stadium for the first time.
• At the closing ceremony of each Game, the Olympic flag is handed over by the mayor of the host city to the mayor of the city that will host the next Olympic Games.

The Olympic Flame

• The Olympic flame made its appearance in 1928, in Amsterdam, but without being transferred from Ancient Olympia, since the flame was lit inside the stadium.
• The relay of the Olympic flame from Olympia, Greece, to the host city, first appeared at the Berlin Games in 1936.
• The flame remains lit for the duration of the Games and spreads a message of friendship and peace amongst peoples.

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Olympic Torch Relay route

• From Olympia, the flame is carried across Greece, before being handed over to the Organizing Committee of the host city.

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• The ceremony of handing over the Olympic flame to the Organizing Committee of the host city always takes place at the Kallimarmaro Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, which hosted the 1896 Games.

The Olympic anthem was heard for the first time at the Olympic Games in Athens (1896) and since 1958 it has been heard at every opening and closing ceremony of the Olympic Games.

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The Olympic anthem was written in 1896 by the Greek poet Kostis Palamas.

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and composed by Spyridon Samaras, an important composer of the Ionian school.

The Olympic Anthem

The Olympic Oath

• At the opening ceremony of the Antwerp Olympic Games in 1920, the Olympic Oath was pronounced for the first time.

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• Since then, this has been the case at every opening ceremony, with one athlete delivering the oath on behalf of all athletes participating.

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THE OATH OF THE ATHLETES

"In the name of all athletes, I promise to take part in these Olympic games respecting the regulations that govern them, in accordance with the true spirit of noble competition for the glory of sport and the honour of our teams.."

The Olympic motto

which means

"Citius, Altius, Fortius"

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«Faster, higher, stronger»

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The Medals

• At the Athens Games, in 1896, only the first two winners of each event were awarded, while there was no gold medal. The first winner received a silver medal and the second a bronze.
• This changed in 1904. Since then, the first winner is awarded with the gold, the second with the silver and the third with the bronze medal.
• From the 1972 Games onwards, one side of the medal must depict the goddess of victory Nike (as was the case before), while the design of the other side is the responsibility of the host city.

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The official poster

• The Organizing Committees create official posters, with which they promote the event.
• The first poster was made in 1912, for the games in Stockholm.

The Mascot

• In the Olympic Games the mascot is usually inspired by the tradition and culture of the host city and country and appeared in 1972 at the games in Munich.
• The mascot of an event is a small person, animal or object that represents the event and brings good luck.

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Olympic sports and athletes

The Winter Olympic Games

• The Winter Olympics is a major international multi-sport event similar to the Summer Olympics, but for sports practiced on snow and ice.
• Initially, the Winter Games were held in the same year as the Summer Games.
• From 1994 onwards they have been held in the interval between the Summer Games.

The first Winter Games were held in Chamonix, France, in 1924

Paralympic Games

• The first Games for athletes with disabilities were organized in 1960 in Rome, after the Olympic Games in the same city.
• Since then, they have been held every four years, always in the same year as the Olympic Games.

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Olympic Values

• The Olympic Games are a celebration of humanity and an opportunity for the peoples of the world to come together through sport.

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• Athletes must give their best, at the same time reaching out to their fellow athletes, as well as to their fellow man in general.
• The promotion of Olympic values is one of the priorities of the Olympic Movement.

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respect

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friendship

Olympic Values

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excellence

Every human being is entitled to enjoy his rights and freedoms regardless of his sex, colour, origin, language, political or other preferences or religion.

Every athlete must respect other athletes, as well as the fans watching the Games

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He must also respect himself, as well as the environment.

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1. Respect for every person (1)

1. Respect for every person (2)

• Women participated in the Olympic Games for the first time in Paris in 1900. Of the 997 athletes who participated, 22 were women, competing in five sports.
• The number of women has increased over the years and today almost 50% of participating athletes are women. Since 1991, all new sports added to the program must include women's events.
• The Olympic Movement also stands against any discrimination based on skin colour. Athletes of all colours coexist in harmony at the Games, as the Olympic spirit dictates.

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1. Fair Play – Respect for the rules (1)

• The ancient phrase "fair play" means to fight fair. It is one of the most basic principles of the Olympic movement.

• Athletes competing in the Games must respect the rules of the sport and the decisions of the referees and judges.

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1. Fair Play – Respect for the rules (2)

• The great desire of some athletes to succeed and win a medal has led them to use prohibited substances (doping).
• Athletes testing positive for such substances are disqualified, and any medals won while doping are stripped away.

1. Respect for the Environment

• Over the years, the protection of the environment became one of the priorities of the IOC, as well as of the Organizing Committees of the cities hosting the Games.
• For this reason, recyclable materials and renewable energy sources are used, while the use of public transport is promoted, in an effort to make the Games as "green" as possible.

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2. Friendship

• Friendship is at the heart of Olympism.
• It is no coincidence that every four years, the peoples of the world put aside their differences for a while and come together for the biggest celebration on the planet.
• The flags of all countries wave together in the stadium, while athletes from every corner of the world coexist in harmony in the Olympic village.

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2. The Olympic village: the village of Friendship

• Throughout the Games, all participating participating in the Games stay together in the Olympic Village.
• In this village, people from every corner of the earth rest, eat and have fun together, regardless of their gender, colour, religion or place of origin.
• In Los Angeles, in 1932, the first true Olympic village was built.

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3. Excellence

The Joy of Participation

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• The preservation and dissemination of the Olympic spirit is one of the main purposes of the International Olympic Academy (IOA), which has its headquarters in Ancient Olympia.

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•  It is an international cultural centre whose goal it is to study and promote Olympism, in accordance with the principles of the ancient Greeks, as well as the pioneers of the modern Olympic Movement.

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International Olympic Academy

Olympic Games Paris 2024

• In 2024, Paris will host the Olympic Games, 100 years after the last event held in the French capital.

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• According to the Organizing Committee of Paris 2024, this Olympiad will be the Olympiad of records in parity, diversity, but also ecology

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• This will be the first time that there will be absolute equality in the number of women and men participating in the Olympic Games.

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Here you will find:

A quiz for the Ancient Olympic Games (Link)

https://create.kahoot.it/share/the-ancient-olympic-games/b2544306-6f76-4e10-8c8c-6cceb5844352

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A quiz for the Modern Olympic Games (Link)

https://create.kahoot.it/share/the-modern-olympic-games/2e226079-dda3-4afd-836c-2a4806fcd141

A quiz for the Olympic Values (Link)

https://create.kahoot.it/share/the-olympic-values/74af5146-bea8-46f7-afb8-7cd167ea3a1a

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Students can use their own devices, e.g smartphones or tablets to join the game via kahoot.it, by entering the PIN and their nickname

Printable activities for 10-12 year-old students

which you can download (Link)

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https://blogs.sch.gr/gsejohann/files/2023/11/Activities.pdf

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back

Activities from the website of the National Olympic Academy (Link)

https://hoa.org.gr/

The Olympic Games quiz (Link)

https://hoa.org.gr/quizgame/

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The Olympic Games sticker Book

https://hoa.org.gr/sticker-book/

This book will make a great companion for children, as well as any Games-mad fan. (Link)

Read the book: “Five Rings – One World: Olympic Games and Values” (Link)

https://hoa.org.gr/pente-kykloi-enas-kosmos-olybiaki-paideia-kai-axies/

bibliography��

• Πέντε κύκλοι, ένας κόσμος-Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες και Αξίες

Έκδοση της Ελληνικής Ολυμπιακής Επιτροπής σε συνεργασία με την Εθνική Ολυμπιακή Ακαδημία Ελλάδας 

• Ολυμπιακό 2004άδιο 10-12 ετών 
• Προτάσεις – προοπτικές (για το Δημοτικό) της Οργανωτικής Επιτροπής Ολυμπιακών Αγώνων Αθήνα 2004

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Videos�

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pp4Sytm9fe0
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upmfcOhM8T8
•  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZ4qscKOF0U
• https://olympics.com/en/news/olympics-sports-first-edition-history-flag-flame-motto-ioc-president
• https://youtu.be/jdE12JQGA54?si=gVipd4u-223Tk9Bx
• https://olympics.com/en/video/youth-olympic-ambassadors-share-olympic-values-educate-world
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ay4ghAR1DD0
• https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1PJ_9xdu5OApKsNWAa2ZwVW7GNYbFZOcw?usp=drive_link
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiKpXALo9XQ
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z66fmeMznE
• https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yB40HJgmZWKMNsd2lPYnL8YwKqdI2X5g/view?usp=sharing

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Education Office of the Consulate General of Greece in Johannesburg

email:

gsejohann@sch.gr

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Dr Georgios Vlachos, Educational Attaché

• Dimitrios Rigogiannis, Physical Education Consultant of Etoloakarnania and Lefkada

• Dr Spyridon Bouras, Primary School Teacher, partner

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Interactive exercises

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Translation

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Contact info:

Dr Georgios Vlachos gsvlachos@gmail.com

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Fotini Kyriakopoulou

kyriakopoulou@sch.gr

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Education Office of the Consulate General of Greece in Johannesburg

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Many thanks to the National Olympic Academy for their help and support. (Link)

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https://hoa.org.gr/

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