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11.2.2. The Ancient Olympic Games.

Read the text below about the history of the Olympic Games.  Match the subtitles with the paragraphs.

The Ancient Olympic Games

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There are many different stories about the beginning of the Olympics. One myth says that the guardians of the infant god Zeus held the first footrace, which was the only event for the first 13 Olympiads.

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Over time, the Greeks added longer footraces, and separate events. The pentathlon and wrestling events were the first new sports to be added, in the 18th Olympiad. Athletic games also were an important part of many festivals from early on in ancient Greek culture. In the Iliad, the famous warrior Achilles holds games as part of the funeral services for his best friend Patroclus. The events in them include a chariot race, a footrace, a discus match, boxing and wrestling.

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Olympia was one of the oldest religious centers in the ancient Greek world. Since athletic contests were one way how the ancient Greeks honored their gods, it was logical to hold a recurring athletic competition at the site of a major temple. Also, Olympia is convenient geographically to reach by ship, which was a major advantage for the Greeks. Athletes and spectators traveled from Greek colonies as far away as modern-day Spain, the Black Sea, or Egypt.

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The Olympics were open to any free-born Greek in the world. There were separate mens' and boys' divisions for the events. Women were not allowed to compete in the Games themselves. However, they could enter equestrian events as the owner of a chariot team or an individual horse, and win victories that way. 

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Athletics were a key part of education in ancient Greece. Many Greeks believed that developing the body was equally important as improving the mind for overall health. Also, regular exercise was important in a society where men were always needed for military service. Greek youth therefore worked out in the wrestling-school whether they were serious about the Olympic Games or not. Young men worked with athletic trainers who used long sticks to point out incorrect body positions and other faults. Trainers paid close attention to balancing the types of physical exercise and the athlete's diet.

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The victor received a crown made from olive leaves, and was entitled to have a statue of himself set up at Olympia. Although he did not receive money at the Olympics, the victor was treated much like a modern sports celebrity by his home city. His success increased the fame and reputation of his community in the Greek world. 

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The four- year period between contests was used by historians as a means of dating events. If an event was said to have occurred in the first Olympiad, for example, it would be dated to the period of 776 to 772 B.C. The games carried on, even as Greece's power declined and Rome's rose. Once the Roman emperors formally adopted Christianity, they discouraged and eventually, outlawed, old "pagan" religious practices.  The emperor Theodosius I legally abolished the games in 393 or 394 A.D.

(Adapted from http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Olympics/faq9.html)

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