Information on the Olympic Games at Summer Olympics 2004: Girl Shopping Swimming Usa page. Find information on Olympics and the Olympic Games, Olympic history and Summer and Winter Olympics resources here. Topics include Summer Olympics , Winter Olympics , Olympic Information and Olympic Facts.

The first ancient Olympic Games can be traced back to 776 BC. They were dedicated to the Olympian gods and were staged on the ancient plains of Olympia.

Through the 12 centuries of the Olympic Games, many wonderful athletes competed in the stadium and the hippodrome of ancient Olympia's sacred area, moving the crowds with their great achievements.

The ancient Olympic Games were initially a one-day event until 684 BC, when they were extended to three days. In the 5th century B.C., the Games were extended again to cover five days.

The famous marathon race did not exist in the ancient Games. The starting pistol of the first Olympic marathon was fired on 14 April 1896 at 2 p.m.

Although the ancient Games were staged in Olympia, Greece, from 776 BC through 393 AD, it took 1503 years for the Olympics to return. The first modern Olympics were held in Athens, Greece, in 1896.

The idea of the Olympic torch or Olympic Flame was first inaugurated in the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam. There was no torch relay in the ancient Olympic Games. There were known, however, torch relays in other ancient Greek athletic festivals including those held at Athens. The modern Olympic torch relay was first instituted at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin.

The ancient olympics had a rich variety of games (or contests, as they were called by the Ancient Greeks). Many of these games are the ancestors of our modern olympic games and had rules and playing conditions modern athletes would not be unfamiliar with.

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Sportstar Awards 2004: A Prestigious Line-up of Olympic Champions

Fair play to honor: The athletes present were not all Olympic champions. Some did not even win medals in Athens. They were nominated, however, because they represent the Olympic spirit and defend the Olympic values. Furthermore, they inspire sports amateurs and enable them to follow the Olympic dream.

Mission to Athens:  During the gala dinner after the ceremony, trophies were given to the four athletes present out of the eight who had been the subject of a Eurosport reportage entitled Mission to Athens. Journalists had followed around these young people during their preparation for the Games and during their time in Athens before and after the competitions.