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ah the Olympic Games great aren't they but do you know where the story begins

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well once upon a time a long long time ago that's right come on come on yes

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hurry up over here in Greece well ancient Greece to be exact but do you

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know exactly where they began right here at the foot of the highest mountain in

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Greece Mount Olympus this is where the very first Olympic Games were held in

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in the ancient world. Now, what are your maths like? Can you work out how long ago the first

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games took place? 776 years before the Common Era, Greece was one of the most advanced countries

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in the world. Okay, so the men did wear dresses, they called them togas, and they stood around

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talking about politics and philosophy and really brainy stuff like that, while the women had to

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run the household and look after the children and be bossed around by the men. But the ancient

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Greeks were very clever and hard-working, and they invented some fantastically useful and

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brilliant things, like central heating, yes, central heating, toasty warm in winter, and showers,

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very useful in that hot, sticky summer weather. Now, the Chinese say that they invented the

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wheelbarrow but the greeks used them too and they invented a weapon called the crossbow made of wood

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which they used in battle and they worked out how to make a crane very good for lifting heavy things

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but let's get back to the olympic games and you know where the word olympic comes from don't you

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from mount olympus the ancient greeks believed that the 12 olympic gods lived on top of the

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mountain. So every year they would gather at the foot of Mount Olympus to ask for special favours

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and to say thank you very much and give presents to the gods. Well make that sacrifices that's a

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better way of saying it. I don't think anyone would call a dead cow a nice present. To lighten

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the mood a bit after all that bloody sacrificing they put on contests and competitions which came

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to be known as the Olympic Games. Now, it's not like today. You couldn't watch the games on TV

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eating Pringles on the couch. You had to be there. So what games did they play? This is a statue of

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a Greek sportsman called Discobolus by the ancient Greek sculptor Myrus. You might have tried throwing

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discus yourself, and if you have, you'd be doing exactly what the Greeks did all those years ago

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at Mount Olympus. Except they weren't wearing Nike or Puma gear, the ancient Greeks competed

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in the nude. Oh yes, they did. But why? Well, the weather is pretty hot in Greece and also because

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the Olympic Games celebrated the achievements of the human body and the athletes used olive oil

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to keep the skin smooth and make their bodies look sleek and muscly. And who could compete in

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these games. No women, I'm afraid. They were busy looking after the children, of course. You had to

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be a free man and not a slave, and you had to be able to speak Greek. What sports did they play?

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Well, you know about the discus, but things like tennis, hockey, and synchronized swimming hadn't

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been invented back then. They had chariot racing competitions. They threw the javelin. There was

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boxing, and there was wrestling, and, of course, there were running races. A bit uncomfortable in

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the nude, I think. Talking about running, have you heard of the marathon? The very toughest of all

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running races. Marathon is a town in Greece about 26 miles from Athens. 490 years before the Common

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Era, there was a huge and fierce battle at marathon, and the messenger boy, called Pheidippides, was

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given the horrible job of running all the way back to athens to tell everyone the greeks had

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won the battle he made it all the way to athens and managed to gasp the greeks have won before

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he dropped dead on the ground that's why the race of 26 miles is still called the marathon today

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it must have been a dramatic moment because it's caught the imagination of painters throughout

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history. Look at this picture. Pheidippides is exhausted. Here's an ancient Greek sportsman

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looking at his calendar and wondering when the next Olympics will be. Back then they decided to

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hold these games once every four years. This four-year period was known by Greeks as an Olympiad.

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They used it in their diaries and calendars to measure time. So the Olympic Games were held for

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over a thousand years in ancient Greece until Emperor Theodosius put a stop to them. Why?

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Because they weren't Christian and he wanted to make Christianity the big thing. So in 393 AD

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they stopped. Now let's spin forward more than 1500 years and take you from Greece all the way

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to Paris in France. Let's meet the hero of our story, Baron Pierre de Coubertin. He was a rich

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French nobleman who was very interested in education. When he was a young man he went to

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England to visit a boys school called rugby. It's fantastic the sport makes the boys strong

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it gives them the discipline and it makes them healthy and happy it's wonderful. He wanted to

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go back to the sporty days of the ancient Olympic contests and put on a competition between different

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countries. But first, he had to persuade everyone to agree to his idea. Have you ever tried to

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persuade people to sell an idea you've got? It's hard. When he told people about his plan, they

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said, it's crazy. It's ridiculous. It will never work. But he didn't give up. And in 1896, more

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than 1500 years after the last ancient Greek Games, the first modern Olympic Games was held

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back in Greece the country that invented the whole idea have you got any idea why

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the Olympic symbol looks like this the five rings represent the five continents

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and the colors are in all the national flags that compete the Olympic motto is

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sitius fortius altius which is Latin for faster higher stronger