Does your mind ever wander to how sports even came into existence?

It started with the preparation for wars; that being the reason why the modern day sports have so many throwing activities like javelin or shot put!

To keep themselves healthy, entertained, and battle ready, the ancients relied upon sports!

They used their horses to race with each other, or played polo as a means of entertainment! These horseback games are called equestrian sports.

You know how knowing the historical facts makes the present more interesting?

Let's talk about a few!

We are all well aware of what the Olympics are, but do we know how they originated?

Many interesting things in our lives have their roots in ancient Greek history!

Just like our Indian mythology has Indra, the Greeks prayed to Zeus, The God of Thunder.

Along with Zeus, there were 11 other deities.

The myth says that these 12 deities were called the Olympians, as they resided in Mount Olympus, Greece.

As per written records, the participation in sports started back in 776 BC with the origin of the Ancient Olympic games.

There are many different legends and mythological origins of the games, one of which states that after the completion of all of his tasks, Hercules, son of Zeus, established the festival in the honor of his father.

The Olympics became a famous sporting festival in Greece, and were celebrated once every four years to honor Zeus. They were played at Olympia, Greece, and this was the reason why they were called the Olympics.

Some of the events included running, jumping, discus throw, wrestling, equestrian events, and more.

These games continued being held until 393 AD, when the Roman emperor Theodosius I decided to ban each and every pagan festival. Although it is said that some games were still held.

This is what inspired the Modern day Olympics! There still remain similarities between the two, for instance, both happen once every four years. Also, they have the same motto - " Citius, Altius, Fortius" which literally translates to "faster, higher, stronger".

Here is the Greek sports vocabulary that we use in our day to day conversations:

• Athletes - a person who is proficient in sports and other forms of physical exercise.
• Marathon - a long-distance running race.
• Gymnastics - exercises developing or displaying physical agility and coordination.
• Decathlon - an athletic event taking place over two days, in which each competitor takes part in the same prescribed ten events.
• Heptathlon - an athletic event, in particular one for women, in which each competitor takes part in the same prescribed seven events.
• Nike - A sports brand that takes its name from the Greek Goddess of Victory.