The first number of Olympic Games had only one event, called the stade. By the late 8th century BC, events included running, wrestling, boxing, pancratium (a mixture of boxing and wrestling), chariot racing, a footrace with heavy armor, and the pentathlon. The only official prize earned by the champion, was a crown of wild olive branches. Unofficially, some athletes received valuable prizes, including large sums of money from their home city-states. As in modern times, ancient athletes, even though they made pledges of fairness in competition, sought our every advantage, legal or illegal, in order to win. Even then, the concept of amateurism, for which there were no rules in ancient times, and the zeal for the competitive spirit were often sacrificed for the more selfish materialistic considerations.

　　By the 6th century BC, athletes began to specialize in particular sports, and even began to hire coaches. Special diets and new innovated kinds of physical conditioning became popular. Protein, from meat and beans in particular, became the popular nutritional need of Olympic athletes. The rules for events became more numerous and more strictly enforced. For example, a false start of a running event might have been followed by a whipping of the violator. Penalties usually included fines for most violations. It was said that the elegant, elaborate bronze statues of Zeus that lined the route to the Olympic Stadium in the fourth century BC, were financed by revenue created by fines imposed on athletes. Some athletes even became free agents, negotiating and hiring themselves out to the highest bidder, to win races and money for their sponsors. One rather peculiar practice that surrounded the chariot race event was that the owners, rather than the drivers of the chariots, received the honors and prizes. Some owners entered numerous chariots in the same event to increase their chances of winning. To the amusement of Olympic historians, Emperor Nero (famous for burning Rome) apparently entered a chariot race in which he fell from his chariot and did not finish, but still received the champion’s crown of olive branches. Who could argue with the Emperor?

　　By the 4th century BC, the Greek-only restriction on participation was eased as the Olympic organizers accepted athletes from overseas, from such territories as Egypt and Libya on the African continent. Many city-states even provided financial support and facilities for athletes so that they could concentrate full time on training, sometimes for more that a year before the games.

　　The ancient Olympics were a strange mix of a religious pilgrimage and a forum for intense athletic competition. As mentioned above,, Emperor Theodosius tried to permanently put an end to the games as pagan exercises, but they emerged again in 1896 after an interval of more than 1600 years. The Olympics maintained a religious theme from the beginning, varying in degree over time. The events were originally dedicated to the worship of gods and heroes, especially deceased heroes. They were, at times, called funeral games (as mentioned in Homer’s Iliad), and sometimes fertility festivals. The games gradually in the worship of the prominent cult of Zeus, the chief god. Today, the Olympics Games are secular events.

最初的奥运会只有一个项目，叫做“斯泰底”。在公元前8世纪末，比赛项目包括赛跑、摔跤、拳击、角斗(摔跤和拳击并用)、赛车、负重跑和五项全能运动。冠军赢得的唯一正式奖品是一个野橄榄树枝编的桂冠。非正式地，有些运动员得到有价值的奖品，包括他们家乡城邦给的大笔奖金。像现代一样，古代的运动员，尽管他们发誓要公平竞赛，但是为了取胜，他们会设法获取各种优势，不管是合法的还是非法的。即使在那时，业余的概念——对此古代没有规定——和对体育精神的追求常常为了自私自利的物质报酬而受到亵渎。

　　到了公元前6世纪，运动员开始专攻个别项目，甚至开始雇佣教练。专门的饮食和独特的身体训练方法开始流行起来。蛋白质，特别是肉类和豆类，成了流行的奥林匹克运动会需要的营养品。体育项目的规则变得复杂起来，也更加严格了。例如，赛跑比赛的偷跑者可能会受到鞭笞的惩罚。惩罚通常包括对多数违规者的罚款。据说，公元前4世纪，摆放在奥林匹克运动场的入口处的、精心制作的庄严的宙斯青铜像，就是对运动员的罚款得来的收入提供的经费。一些运动员甚至成为自由代理人，与出价最高者谈判并被其雇佣，为他们的赞助人赢得比赛和金钱。与赛车比赛有关的一个相当特别的惯例是，赛车的主人而不是赛车手得到荣誉和奖品。为了增加获胜的机会，一些人在一次比赛中投入许多辆赛车。令奥林匹克历史学家感到好笑的是，显而易见尼实禄皇帝(有名的罗马暴君)还参加了一次赛车，比赛中从车中摔了出来，没有赛完，但还是得到了冠军的橄榄枝桂冠。谁敢和皇帝竞争呢?

　　到公元前4世纪，只准讲希腊语的人参加比赛的限制被放宽了，奥林匹克的组织者接受了来自海外的运动员，如从非洲大陆的埃及和利比亚这样的领地来的人。许多城邦甚至为运动员提供财政支持和设施，使他们能够把全部时间都用在训练上;有时，训练在运动会前一年多就开始了。

　　古代奥运会是宗教朝圣和激烈的体育比赛的奇特组合。如上所述，狄奥多西皇帝试图终止这种被当作异教徒活动的运动会，但它们在中断了1600多年后的1896年又出现了。奥运会保留了最初的宗教主题，但随着时间的推移，发生了不同程度的变化。比赛项目的设立最初是为了崇拜众神和英雄，特别是死去的英雄。有时，它们被叫做“葬礼”活动(如荷马的《伊利亚特》所提到的)，有时叫做丰收庆典。运动会在祭拜主神宙斯的活动中逐渐达到高潮。而今天奥运会的运动都是与宗教无关的比赛项目。