Ancient Olympic Games Ancient Olympic Games The ancient Olympic Games were originally a festival, or celebration of and for Zeus; later, events such as a footrace, a javelin contest, and wrestling matches were added. The Olympic Games (, "Olympia", "the Olympics"; also , , "the Olympiad") were a series of athletic competitions among representatives of city-states and one of the Panhellenic Games of ancient Greece. They were held in honor of Zeus, and the Greeks gave them a mythological origin. The first Olympics is traditionally dated to 776 BC. They continued to be celebrated when Greece came under Roman rule, until the emperor
London 2012 Olympic Torch torchbearer runs. The torch has two layers: an inner and an outer 'skin' with 3,600 and 4,400 holes respectively, held in place by a top and a bottom casting. The pattern created by the perforations and the overlapping layers was inspired by the Olympic rings. The components are laser-welded together and the holes are laser cut. The London 2012 Torch is one of the lightest Olympic torches. It is made from gold PVD-finished aluminium. A torch was produced for every torchbearer (8,000); each weighs around and stands tall. The weight was achieved to ensure the torch was able to be