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History of Sports
Sports are regarded as significant practices in society that have substantial health benefits for human health. Sports have been associated with training such as hunting, war, or other pieces of training from ancient times. Up to date, sports are primarily associated with other learning activities. Learning institutions from the lowest to the tertiary levels incorporate their activities; therefore, sports and games are part of training in these institutions. Sports are essential in human life, and people of all ages should embrace them. The history of documented sports can be traced back at least three thousand years. At first, sports comprised war preparations or hunting training. This explains why most ancient games involved throwing objects of stakes, rocks, and spears as well as scruffling face-to-face with opponents. Therefore, this essay aims at explaining a brief history of games, how they evolved and developed, and the sports events that took place at various times.
Firstly, it is hard to know which documented sport took place at first, but it is believed that boxing and wrestling emerged to be the first sports to be played. Competitions that used modes of human transport have also been said to might have been the first sports to be played. Documented history of sports shows that the first competitions included hitting, throwing, kicking, and activities that are sport-related in the sectors of hunting. These are the sports activities that are believed to have been played in ancient times. Several sports have developed as competitions as a result of the earliest means of transport (Bellis, 1). Some of those earliest transport included horse riding and canoeing. Also, other activities such as military activities like archery.
Consequently, it can be concluded that sports and games are a result of day-to-day activities. For instance, some competitions such as horse riding, swimming, wrestling, and boxing emerged as a result of military activities as well as forms of transport used in ancient times (Thompson, 2). Therefore, there is a close relationship between cultural, economic, and social practices and the development of sports and games.
The first Olympic games took place in 776, Before the Christ era. It was held in honor of Zeus, who was the greatest god in Greece. It was a national sports event that athletes from all over Greek attended and took place in the Olympics stadium. Its main aim was to allow the athletes to test their strength, skills, and speed. These Olympics comprised one event, which was a foot race (Bellis, 1). Later in that year, there was a significant development in sports. After the first Olympics, sports incorporated boxing, wrestling, jumping, javelin, equestrian, and discus. Even in the Bible, wrestling is the only sport that has been mentioned in wrestling because it was the most dominant game at that time.
The origin of sports and sporting festivals in Greece can be easily dated to funeral sports in the Mycenean period. This was the time between 1600 and 1100 BCE. However, the funeral games are not elaborated on in detail, but we are meant to understand that they were played in honor of fallen warriors. At this time, sports were engaged by the rich, who did not have manual work to do. In Greece, games were instituted formally which was marked by the first Olympics that took place in 776 BCE in Olympia. It should be noted that after the first Olympics was held, the trend continued until 393 CE (Thompson, 2). The interval of the four years became the time unit in the historical sequence of events. During the celebrations of the national Olympics, an Olympic armistice was ratified. This was to facilitate the smooth and safe movement of the athletes to and from the Olympic stadium. Again, the victors were rewarded. The most common rewards included laurel leaves and wreaths. Apart from the national Olympics, there were other minor games such as the Pythian Games, Isthmian Games, and Nemean games. The Olympics and these other sports were the most luxurious and prestigious games, which were merged to form the panhellenic games. They even included things such as reading activities, music, and other non-athletic practices. The first recorded competition for women was recorded in the 6th century, and they were called the Heraean Games.
In conclusion, it is essential to note that, After the first incidence of the Olympic event, these Olympic sports took a direction in which they were held after every four years. For quite some time, it was only men who were allowed to participate and watch the games. The national Olympic games continued to be held for some centuries, even after Greek was conquered by the Romans. This continued until the roman emperor overtook them and led to the decline of Olympia stadium in 394 AD (Thompson, 2). The ruins of the Olympic stadium were discovered by archaeologists fifteen thousand years later after its fall. Later, Frenchman Baron came up with a suggestion of holding an advanced Olympic game that consisted of the features of the present-day games. This led to the holding of the first new era’s Olympics. They were held in the City of Athens in 1896.
Works Cited
Bellis, Mary. "The History Of Sports". Thought, 2021.
Thompson, William. "Sports | Definition, History, Examples, & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica, 2021.
