Section A : Olympic Events
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Running : with 4
different categories. A separate event and one of the 5 events of
Pentathlon. a) Stade (192m in the stadiun of Olympia). The distance of a Stade varied from town to town, because they have different tracks. b) Diavlus (2 stades), c) Dolhius (long distance : 7-24 Stades) d) Oplitis (The athletes were running in full armor a distance of 1 Stade). An exhausting event, because of the weight of the armor. |
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Discus : One of the 5 events of Pentathlon and not a separate event. The discus was made of coper and kept in Olympia, so that every athlet was obliged to use the same discus with the others. It was made of stone or copper, weighted from 1,3 to 5,5 Kg with a diameter of 17 to 32 cm. |
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Javellin : One of the 5 events of Pentathlon - Not a separate event. There had been three categories : a) Free throw (like nowadays), b) Throw in a target, c) Throw while riding a horse to a target. The javelin was 1,5-2m long with a metal edge. A metal ring was adjusted in order to move its center of gravity forward. The javelin was hold by a stripe tied on the ring, which was helping the athlete to get a better hold on it and to achieve a better throw, since it was giving to the javelin a rotating motion about its axis. |
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Long Jump : Event
of Pentathlon and a separate event. It was similar to the modern event.
One difference was that the athlete was holding 2 cone - shaped weights in
his hands called "halters". The halters were helping him to achieve a better
jump. The athlete was running holding the halters, he jumped and just before
landing, he was throwing them away. The halters must have weighted about 1,5
and 3 kilos. |
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Wrestling
:
a) Upright wrestling : The athletes were starting the fight standing and holding each other. The winner should throw his opponent three times on the floor or force him to surrender by raising his hand. b) Ground wrestling : The fight ended when either fighter acknowledged his defeat by raising his hand. Biting or striking the opponent was strictly prohibited.
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Pancration :
It was a combination of wrestling and boxing. It was considered the perfect
marshal art, used by Theseus to kill Minotaurus. All holds and strikes were
allowed. It is believed that biting was not allowed in the Olympics, still
it was allowed in the games organized in Sparta. The Spartans used to say
"we bite like lions". There were 2 styles of Pancration : a) the semi-contact style ("ano Pancration") : the fighters have to fight standing and the fight is interrupted if one falls. This was the styles for junior athletes and perhaps for the preliminaries. b) full contact ("kato Pancration") : the fight continues on the ground. This style was more dangerous and the standard style for the Olympic games. |
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Equestrian events : The
events took place in the Hippodrome and they included horse races and
chariot races. Horse races included a) races of perfect horses (1 year old) with a rider, called keletes, b) races of foals and c) races of mares, called kalpe. The distance run was probabaly 4 Stades. Chariot races included a) the "tethrippon", a chariot with 4 horses running a distance of 12 Stades, b) the "apene", chariot with 2 mules running a distance of 4 Stades and c) the "synoris", chariot with 2 horses, running a distance of 8 Stades. |
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Boxing : since the homeric era (12ve century BC). The athlets should cover their wrists and fingers with bands. There were no time limits (the fight was over only with a knock -out unless a boxer surrendered by raising up his first finger), no weight classifications. If the fight ended to a draw (no knock-out), it was followed by a "tie break" called "klimax" : the fighters punched one another without defense, until someone was knocked down. |
Section B : Other Events (to be updated shortly)
