History background

 The ancient Olympic Games began in the year 776 BC, when Koroibos,  won the stadium race, a foot race 600 feet long..
Other evidence, suggests that the games may have existed at Olympia much earlier than this date. A series of bronze tripods have been found at Olympia, some of which appear to be dated at about the ninth century BC, and it has also been suggested that these tripods may have been prizes for some of the early events at Olympia.


From 776 BC, the games were held in Olympia every four years for almost twelve centuries. Additional athletic events were gradually added until, by the fifth century BC. The athletic events included three foot races as well as the pentathlon - discus, javelin, long jump,
Track-and-field athletics in the United States dates from the 1860s. As track and field developed as a modern sport, a major issue for all athletes was their status as amateurs. For many years track and field was considered a purely amateur sport and athletes could not accept training money or cash prizes.
If charged with professionalism, athletes could be banned from competition for life. In 1913, American Jim Thorpe was stripped of his 1912 Olympic victories in the decathlon and pentathlon and banned from further competition after it was learned he had played semiprofessional baseball.
Beginning in the 1920s, track and field’s scope widened. The first NCAA national championships were held for men in 1921, and women’s track and field became part of the Olympic Games in 1928. In 1952, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics sent its first Olympic team ever to the Summer Games in Helsinki, Finland, where the squad captured several track-and-field medals. Over the next 30 years, the U.S. and Soviet teams battled in one of the sport’s longest and most competitive rivalries. Women’s track struggled for widespread acceptance until the 1970s, when track and field as a whole enjoyed a boom in popularity. During that time, the U.S.-based International Track Association  organized a professional track circuit. The venture, although popular among fans, went bankrupt after several years. Few athletes wanted to participate in ITA competitions because athletes were actually receiving larger illegal payments for appearing at amateur meets than legitimate professionals were making on the new circuit. Many athletes also turned away from ITA competition because it disqualified them from participating in future Olympic Games. The Athletics Congress now regulates the sport in the United States; the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) sanctions international competition. Track and field hassince their revival in 1896. International professional running, initiated in the 1970s, has had limited success.