Sports of 600 B.C. to 399 B.C.
By: Lizeth Bernal
Boxing and Racing
Members of the Perseus Project created this exhibit on the ancient Olympics in 1996, as a tribute to the Centennial Olympic Games held in Atlanta, Georgia. Ancient boxing had less rules than the modern sport. Boxers fought without rounds until one man was knocked out, or admitted he had been beaten. Unlike the modern sport, there was no rule against hitting an opponent when he was down. If you were to be hurt in a boxing game then it did not matter. Rules did not apply there. If you were down the opponent could still hit you and they would not stop them, because their was no rule for it. There were no weight classes within the mens' and boys' divisions; opponents for a match were chosen randomly. There were 4 types of races at Olympia. The stadion was the oldest event of the Games. Runners sprinted for 1 stade (192 m.), or the whole of the stadium. The other races were a 2-stade race (384 m.), and a long-distance run which was from 7 to 24 stades (1,344 m. to 4,608 m.). Sports were very different to what they are now.