Reporting today's Olympic games is like a technological masterpiece. The athletes compete in many events, their times and scores are tallied and

sent worldwide by satellites and high-tech computers within seconds. Each

event is carefully watched and recorded with a sense of history. There was no

such sense of history or records when the first Games began in Ancient

Greece.

The first recorded champion in Greece was a sprinter, Coroebus, he

was a cook in a near by Greek city called, Elis. He ran naked on a sanded

course in front of thousands of spectators. The course was about 630 feet

long "or one stad-from which the word stadium was derived." His victory

won him a wreath of olive leaves.

That was in 776 BC and this year became very important to later

Greek Historians. In 300 BC all time was dated by Olympiads, a time span

of four years between the games. The Olympiad began with the first

recorded foot race.

As far back in Greek time as anyone can remember, the human body

was a very beautiful thing. "A body of a man had glory, as well as his mind,

that both needed discipline, and by that such discipline men best honored

Zeus." From time to time the Greeks held ceremonies of Games in honor

of their god Zeus. They held these ceremonies for the areas in which they

took place. These places were, Pythian, Isthmian, Nemeam, and of course,

Olympian. The Olympian games go back to the time of the first people

to live in the valley of Alpheas River. There in Elis, in the western

Peloponnesus was Olympia, "the fairest spot in Greece." This land was filled

with beauty and snowcapped mountains. This area was a perfect spot for

the ceremonies held every four years, for Zeus.

In 1875, the most important ruins of Ancient Greece were uncovered.

One important ruin that was