Pentathlon- Acient Greece Olympic Sports

In the Ancient Greece Olympic Games there was one called Pentathlon. The Pentathlon is a five-event combination of the discus, javelin, jumping, running and wrestling.

DiscusAncient Greeks considered the rhythm and precision of an athlete throwing the discus as important as his strength.

Shaped like a flying saucer, the discus is made out of stone, iron, bronze, or lead. Size varied on weather it was the boys division or men's division, not expecting the boys to lift the same weight as the men.

Javelin

The javelin was a man-high length of wood, it had a sharpened end or an attached metal point. It had a strap that the hurler's fingers attached to its center of gravity, which increased the exactness and distance of a javelin's flight.

Jump

In this sport the athletes would used lead or stone jump weights shaped like telephone receivers to further the length of their jump. The weights were held in front of the athlete during his jump, and forcibly thrust behind his back and dropped during his descent to help propel his body further.

Running

There were 4 types of races at Olympia. There was the stadion, which was the oldest event of the Games. Runners sprinted for 1 stade, 192 miles, or the length of the stadium. The other races were a 2-stade race or 384 miles, and a long-distance run which ranged from 7 to 24 stades or 1,344 m. to 4,608 miles.

And if these races weren't enough, the Greeks had one particularly brutal event which we lack. There was also a 2 to 4-stade or 384 m. to 768 m. race by athletes in armor. This race was extremely beneficial in building the speed and stamina that Greek men needed during their military service. If we remember that the standard hoplite armor; the helmet, shield, and greaves, weighed about 50-60 lbs. I would think you can imagine that muscle aching event between the candidates.

Wrestling

Like the modern sport, an athlete needed to throw his opponent on the ground, landing on a hip, shoulder, or back for a fair fall. You would have to pin your challenger to win a match. Biting was not allowed, and genital holds were also illegal. Attacks such as breaking your opponent's bones were permitted.

This concludes the Pentathlon of the Ancient Greece Olympic Sports, hope you learned some valuable points in this piece.