The first Olympic event, and the only event for the first 13 Olympiads, was the foot-race, over a distance of one stade. By Classical times, there were 18 contests, including boxing, wrestling, horse races, and the pentathlon, as well as additional running events.
The stadium at Olympia was originally within the sacred precinct, where spectators could view the races from the hill of Kronos. Gradually, the stadium was pushed farther east, until the late classical period, when it reached its present location outside the precinct. All the embankments are of earth, and only a few stone seats were provided for officials. Connecting the sanctuary and stadium was a vaulted passageway, an early example of the use of vaulting by the Greeks.
To read more about these topics, see Further Resources.
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