FIRST MODERN OLYMPIC WINNER:
The first winner at the modern Olympics was an American called James Connolly. When he won the triple jump title, he telegraphed his family saying that ‘the Greeks have conquered Europe, but I have conquered the world’
The major events at the first modern Olympics were athletics, shooting, fencing, gymnastics and swimming. The major events kept changing at each of the Games. The hosts would always want to wins as many events as possible, and so they would keep adding events in which their sportsmen excelled! They also preferred to add events that were popular with their people in order to draw more crowds.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE MODERN AND ANCIENT OLYMPICS:
Even though the modern Olympics are inspired by the ancient Olympics, they are different in many ways. The ancient Olympics were held only at Olympia, while the venue of the modern Olympics keeps changing every four years. Only Greeks could participate in the ancient Olympics, while the modern Olympics are open to all countries. Women were forbidden to participate in the ancient Olympics. Today, women play a very important role in the Olympic events.
There are many more events in the modern Olympics than there were in the ancient one. At the same time, some events have been dropped. The ancient Greeks gave honours for cultural events at the Olympics. During the ancient Olympics, all fighting between nations were stopped. Alas, that is no longer the case in the modern Olympics!
