Since all of the wars between all the city-states ceased at the time of the games thousands of athletes would travel from all over Greece, places such as athens and sparta, to compete. Then when the Roman Empire conquered the Greeks, Rome allowed non-Greeks to compete. In the beginning only the rich completed because they were the ones with the time and money. Although it was eventually opened up to the poor, everyone who competed, competed for personal gain. When athletes won the games they would not only gain popularity and become something of a celebrity, but also a great deal of money and political power, often becoming diplomats and having significant influence in the government of the city-states. As the Games grew more sports were added to gain more participants. As stated before in the first games the only sport that was competed in was the 192 meter foot race called the strade. As the Olympics started to become more popular, sports like the diaulos, a longer there and back race, the dolichos, which is a even longer race, boxing, wrestling, and the Pancration, a race that combines all types of physical attacks used in combat, were also incorporated. Horse-chariot racing and mule racing were also added along with many others. Since the Games were considered such a big event, many city-states would send their athletes to compete to display their power and attain glory for their …show more content…
The only exception is religion which played a major role in the Ancient Olympics, but it did not play any type of role in the modern olympics. This was because the Olympics were brought back to bring countries from all over the world together, and the world doesn’t have only one religion. Athletics also played a role in the Ancient Olympics, and so did they play a role in the modern Olympics. In 1986 when the olympics were brought back they were meant to bring multiple nations around the world together by having athletes compete in different sports to win medals for their countries. Politics did not only play a role in the Ancient Olympics but the Modern Olympics as well. It is often argued that the first real sign of politics playing a role was in the 1936 Olympics when they were held in Berlin. This was were Hitler tried to display the power of Nazi Germany and the superiority of the Aryan (white) race. This also showed the technological power of Nazi Germany, as the games were broadcasted live and as video all over the