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History |
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| The ancient Olympic Games began in the year 776 BC, when Koroibos, a cook from the nearby city of Elis, won the stadium race, a foot race 600 feet long. According to some literary traditions, this was the only athletic event of the games for the first 13 Olympic festivals. Since 776 BC the Olympic Games had been held every four years. Track and field was introduced to the US in 1860’s. The marathon was not an ancient event, iIt was added at the Olympic Games in 1896 to commemorate the run of Pheidippides, an ancient "day-runner" who carried the news of the Persian landing at Marathon of 490 BC to Sparta (a distance of 149 miles) in order to enlist help for the battle. It is said that after delivering the message he died of exhaustion. | |||||
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