Why Does Greece Lead in the Olympics Opening Ceremonies? banksnews.gr - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from banksnews.gr Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
While we wait for the upcoming Tokyo Olympic Games (OG) to see if Australia can win another running medal, unquestionably an immense challenge given that Australia has won few medals per decade since the golden years of the 1950s and 1960s, this article looks back at past OG to rate Australia’s top ten running performances […]
An Olympic uniform so quintessentially upper-middle class Australian, you can wear it to the yacht club theguardian.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from theguardian.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Spiridon Louis and the Breal Cup
On 10 April 1896, Spiridon Louis of Greece won the first ever marathon at an Olympic Games, ancient or modern. That that race happened at all 125 years ago owes everything to a Frenchman – and his name, surprisingly, was not De Coubertin.
The legend of the messenger Pheidippides’ run in 490BC from Marathon to Athens to carry the news of the Greek victory over the Persians at the Battle of Marathon is about as epic as they come. “Hail, we won” were said to have been Pheidippides’ words, after which he dropped down dead with exhaustion.
Yet that run, and the marathon race on which it is based, had no connection with the ancient Olympic Games, at which the longest race ever contested was the dolichos over 4800 metres.
Philip Barker: When the first Olympic Stadium came alive again Thursday, 8 April 2021
Just over a week ago, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach took part in a socially distanced ceremony to inaugurate the new lights at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens.
Bach said Greece gave birth to the Olympic Games twice, once in Ancient Olympia and once here in 1896 . Greeks gave to humanity the gift of the Olympic Games and also the gift of democracy, he added. With the new lighting of the Panathenaic Stadium, this heritage will become even more brilliant and enlighten the entire world.
It brought back memories of a very different floodlit celebration in the same stadium 25 years ago this week, to mark the 100th anniversary of the Modern Games.