Ancient Olympics

What did athletes, judges, and spectators see when they participated in the ancient Olympic Games? Between the writings of ancient historians, and ruins of buildings at Olympia, we can piece together what the games must have been like thousands of years ago.

• Spectators passed through a vaulted entry way as they came into the Stadium.


• They sat on wooden stands which were mounted on the earthen bank surrounding the stadium. The distance from the foreground starting line to the finish line (with its still-original stones) was a stade (also called stadion and measuring about 192.28 meters) from which "stadium" gets its name.


• To be sure they had a good view of the finish line, judges had a nearby seating area.


• Olympic athletes trained in a Gymnasium at Olympia.


• The Philippeion (situated to the left of the path which led back to the Stadium) was started by Philip of Macedon and likely finished by his son, Alexander the Great, hundreds of years after the first Olympic Games.


• Only foot races were part of the original games. Later, other sports were added and athletes, especially wrestlers, trained in the courtyard of the Palestra.


• Pheidias, the sculptor, had a studio at Olympia where he worked on his great statue of Zeus. Parts of the two-room studio, and its exterior, remain.


• Deterioration of the great temple of Zeus was aided by an earthquake which caused many of the columns to fall.

Who participated in the ancient Olympic Games? Were female athletes allowed to compete? Were women allowed in the stadium to watch the competition?

Given the scope of our modern games, the restrictions which applied in ancient times may surprise you.