No one knows exactly when the Olympics were first started. However, the Olympics have been recorded since 776 BC The Olympic Games were held in Olympia, near the west coast of Greece. Also, the games were held in honor of the Greek god,Zeus, and they took place every fourth summer. Every four-year period between each Olympic Games was called an Olympiad.

Athletes who competed in combat sports trained at the palaistra. Athletes who ran and threw at the Olympics trained at the gymnasium. Trainers helped athletes with their exercise strategies, hygiene, and diet.

The Olympics were the most famous games in Greece. However, there were other games, also. There was The Pythian Games in Delphi, The Isthmian Games in Cornith, The Nemean Games, and The Panathenaic Games at Athens along with The Olympic Games at Olympia. Each set of games honored a Greek god or goddess.

Like other games, The Olympic Games were connected very closely with a god, Zeus. However, over time, that connection slowly deteriorated. Generals had statues of themselves and their families placed, as equals, with the statues of the gods. After that, the god’s treasures were used to finance wars, and their temples were taken down so the materials could be used to build walls against invaders. Then, in 394 AD, the Christian emperors of Rome banned the worship of any non-Christian gods. Therefore, invaders, earthquakes, and floods slowly destroyed Olympia. The last time the original Olympics were held was in the late fourth century AD.