Ancient Athletics

Ancient athletics was the original form of sport contested at the Ancient Olympic Games. The initial Olympic event in 776 BCE was the stadion, a race of one length of the Ancient Olympic Stadium, about 190 metres, and from which the modern term “stadium” is derived. Other ancient athletics events were the diaulos, or two laps of the stadium; a long-distance dolikhos race, varying from 5-20 laps of the stadium; the race in armour or hoplite race; and the ancient pentathlon, which consisted of the stadion, discus throw, javelin throw, long jump, and wrestling.