2 The first Games

Chapter 2 The first Games No one is sure how the Olympic Games really began, but the first recorded sports event at Olympia took place in 776BC*, about 3,000 years ago.

Olympia was in a beautiful river valley, surrounded by olive groves and low hills in southwest Greece. People came to Olympia to worship Zeus, king of the Greek gods, and Hera, his queen.

One story says that it was Zeus's son, the Greek hero Herakles*, who started the Olympic Games. Make sure you win, son.

Another story claims they started as funeral games in memory of Prince Pelops of Lydia. Years before, Pelops had won a chariot race. He was racing to win a beautiful princess as his bride.

But the Games probably began as part of a big religious festival at Olympia, in praise of Zeus. At first, there was just one event -a running race of 190m (623ft), the length of a stadium.

All the runners were Greek men. Women who wanted to race had a separate festival called the Heraia. From 776BC, the Games were held at Olympia every four years, usually in August. The four-year time span between games was called an Olympiad.