The Olympics and Olympia
by Eleanor S. Morris

Are the two of you considering a trip to the 2004 Olympics? Eleanor S. Morris takes a look at the site where the games all began...

The 2004 Olympics in Athens will be held barely more than a stone's throw from the original site of the first Olympics. To the west of the city, across the Pelonnesian peninsula, lies the small fishing village of Katakolon, the gateway to Ancient Olympia. The Lighting Ceremony of the Olympic flame for the 2004 Olympic Games will take place March 25 in Ancient Olympia.

The Olympic Torch Relay is the transfer of the Olympic flame from Ancient Olympia, Greece, to the stadium of the city hosting the Opening Ceremony of the Games.

The Olympic Torch Relay takes place before the big celebration of the Olympic Games, while the Olympic flame is the primary symbol of the Olympic ideal, noble competition, friendship and peaceful coexistence.

The objective of the ATHENS 2004 Torch Relay is to give to the Olympic flame the possibility to light the universal values of Olympism and to touch people's hearts. The entire world will get to know Greece, by uniting the municipalities with sports and culture.

The ATHENS 2004 Olympic Torch Relay will be the first to travel the globe and return to the country that gave birth to the Games and the city of their revival.

In a journey that will last some 78 days, the Olympic flame will cover a distance of more than 78.000 km, throughout the world and light every prefecture of Greece.

Beyond the borders of Greece the Flame, in the hands of 3,600 Torchbearers, will travel to Africa and Latin America for the first time and it will finally return to all the previous Olympic cities. A total of 260 million people will have the opportunity to see the Flame in their city.

In Greece, the Olympic Torch Relay will pass through the 54 prefectures of Greece. For 43 days, approximately 7,700 Torchbearers will travel across the country, passing through large cities as well as small border towns. The first leg of the Olympic Torch Relay will start on March 25th 2004 with the Lighting Ceremony in Olympia. The Flame will travel around Peloponnese and the islands of Argosaronikos for seven days. After its international journey it will return to Greece for the second leg, which will take place from July 9th 2004 to August 13th 2004.

ANCIENT OLYMPIA

The original games began in Olympia in 776 BC, reaching their height of popularity in 576 BC.

Originally only Greek men were permitted to the festival, but later on Romans were allowed--since they were running the country by then! Women and slaves were not even allowed to watch the games, and if women were caught sneaking in, they were thrown off a cliff. The games, held every four years, were attended by some of the most famous names of the ancient world: Plato, Nero, Philip II of Macedonia, Themistocles. Olympia was a sacred area built exclusively for the games, dedicated to Zeus, and all hostilities were suspended in the name of the athletic competitions. The games ended in 393 AD after an edict issued by Theodosius the Great, who outlawed them as a pagan festival.

Olympia was one of the most important sanctuaries of antiquity, dedicated to Zeus, head of all the Olympian gods. The sanctuary covers the green ground at the foot of the Kronian Hill. The site has been occupied since prehistoric times, but it took its final form in the 5th century BC with the Temple of Zeus and the Heraeum dedicated to Zeus' wife Hera. Also among antique buildings are the Palestra (boxing and wrestling school), the Gymnasium (where the competitors had to train for at least a month before the games), and the Hippodrome (where horse and chariot races were held). The Stadium, dating from the 4th Century BC, seated 40,000 spectators on grassy banks. On a terrace you'll find several 6th Century BC treasuries representing various Greek cities and colonies, among them the beautiful Treasury of Athenium.

After the ancient Olympic Games were suspended, the sanctuary was almost obliterated by earthquakes and floods in the 6th Century AD. It was rediscovered beneath 20 feet of earth in the 18th Century and first excavated by the 19th-century archaeologists Friedrich Adler, Wilhem Dorpfeld and Ernst Curtius.

MODERN OLYMPIA, ATHENS 2004

The first modern Olympics, revived for the first time after fifteen centuries, were held in the marble stadium of Athens in 1896. The dates of this year's games, in Athens, are August 13 to 24th; Paralympic Games, September 17 to 28.

Volunteer applications passed the 150,000 mark in Athens, March 4, 2004. As of today, ATHENS 2004 has twice as many candidate Volunteers as Sydney. The number of Official Volunteer applications for the Games reached 150,360 at the end of February, six months ahead of the Olympic Games. To meet the requirements of the 2004 Olympic and Paralympic Games to be held in Athens, some 45,000 and 15,000 Volunteers will be needed respectively.

The Volunteers Recruitment Programme for the Sydney Games was completed about eight months before the Opening Ceremony with a total of 75,000 applications from which the final selection was made.

Olympic Sports include Aquatics, Archery, Athletics, Badminton, Baseball, Basketball, Boxing, Canoeing, Cycling, Equestrian, Fencing, Football, Gymnastics, Handball, Hockey, Judo, Modern pentathlon, Rowing, Sailing, Shooting, Softball, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Tennis, Triathlon, Volleyball, Weightlifting, Wrestling.

Paralympic Sports: Archery, Athletics, Boccia, Cycling, Equestrian, Football 5-a-side, Football 7-a-side, Goalball, Judo, Powerlifting, Sailing, Shooting, Swimming, Table Tennis Volleyball (Sitting), Wheelchair Basketball, Wheelchair Fencing, Wheelchair Rugby, Wheelchair Tennis.

For more information, see http://www.athens2004.com