At the beginning, the games were just short foot races designed to keep Greek men fit for the intensity of the war. The path for the foot races was about 700 feet long and straight. It was wide enough for twenty men to run side by side . Only men who spoke Greek were aloud to take part in the races.

Men ran the races without any clothes on . Gradually , other events were added but there were no team sports like in the modern Olympics. Also , there were no medals like the Gold, silver or bronze that we have today. there was inly one winner and he was given a wreath of olive leaves as a prize. But these weren't just any olive leaves. These leaves were taken from a sacred tree that was located in Olympia behind the temple dedicated to the Greek god Zeus. To reward his mastery of the events, a statue was built in the winners honour.