古时候奥运会与现代奥运大不相同。项目少，非希腊运动员不能参加，只有说希腊语的自由人方可参加。而且运动会一直在奥林匹亚市举行，而不是每次都换不同地方。
Like our Olympics, though, winning athletes were heroes who put their home towns on the map. One young Athenian nobleman defended his political reputation by mentioning how he entered seven chariots in the Olympic chariot-race. This high number of entries made both the aristocrat2 and Athens look very wealthy and powerful.
像大家现代奥运一样，获胜运动员是使自己家乡扬名四海的英雄。一个年轻的雅典政治家通过告诉大家他怎么样七次在马车赛中获胜而保住了我们的政治名声，参加好友数之多显示出希腊贵族和雅典人的财富与强大。
Boxing
Ancient boxing had fewer rules than the modern sport. Boxers3 fought without rounds until one man was knocked out, or admitted he had been beaten. Unlike the modern sport, there was no rule against hitting an opponent when he was down.
There were no weight classes within the mens' and boys' pisions; opponents for a match were chosen randomly4.
Instead of gloves, ancient boxers wrapped leather thongs5 around their hands and wrists which left their fingers free.
Plato makes fun of boxers' faces, calling them the folk with the battered7 ears.
拳击
古时候拳击赛的规则比现代要少。拳击运动员不分轮次地进行打斗，直到一方主动认输或被击倒为止。不像现代拳击运动一样，古时候运动员可以在对手倒下后继续发起攻击。
在成年男子组和少年组当中不分什么重量级轻量级，比赛的参加好友随意选出。
古时候运动员不戴拳击套，而用软牛皮裹住手和手腕，露出手指。
柏拉图取笑拳击者的脸部，称之残耳的居民.
Chariot racing8
马车赛
有双马马车和四马马车，由小马拉着参加不一样的比赛。另外一个比赛是由一队骡子拉着的四轮车赛，总长度等于围着体育馆跑12圈（九英里）。
Riding
The course was 6 laps around the track , and there were separate races for full-grown horses and foals. Jockeys rode without stirrups.
only wealthy people could afford to pay for the training, equipment, and feed of both the driver and the horses. As a result, the owner received the olive wreath of victory instead of the driver or jockey.
骑马
这个项目的长度是绕跑道6圈（4.5英里），成年马与驹马参加不一样的比赛。职业骑师无需马镫。
只有富人才能供得起练习、设施和马与骑师的成本。因此，只不过主人才获得获胜的橄榄花环，而骑师得不到。
喜剧作家ArisTOPhanes描写了对马有高品位的儿子的爸爸的烦恼：债主们要把我活吞下去了都是由于马惹的祸。（ArisTOPhanes,《云彩》，1.240ff）
Pankration
Rules outlawed9 only biting and gouging10 an opponent's eyes, nose, or mouth with fingernails. Attacks such as kicking an opponent in the belly11, which are against the rules in modern sports, were perfectly12 legal.
Like boxing and wrestling, among others, this event had separate pisions for both men and boys.
The poet Xenophanes describes the pankration as that new and terrible contest...of all holds
混斗
是一个合并拳击与摔跤的严厉项目。允许重击，尽管打斗者不需要拳击比赛时所用的软牛皮条包住手。
用指甲抓对手的双眼、鼻子、嘴或者是咬人是犯规。
像用脚踢对手的腹部的攻击，尽管在现代体育运动中是犯规的，但在过去则完全合乎法律。
像拳击、摔跤及其它比赛一样，这个项目分为成年男子组及少年男子组。诗人Xenophanes把混斗描写成各种比赛中新而残酷的决斗。
Pentathlon
This was a 5-event combination of discus, javelin13, jumping, running and wrestling.
Aristotle describes a young man's ultimate physical beauty: a body capable of enduring all efforts, either of the racecourse or of bodily strength...This is why the athletes in the pentathlon are most beautiful.
五项竞技
这曾是一个集铁饼、标枪、跳、跑和摔跤五项运动为一体的项目。
亚里士多德把经过比赛后的男子体态的优美描写成：一个能忍受各种考验的身躯，无论是比距离的比赛还是比体力的比赛这就是为何会加五项竞技的运动员是最棒的原?（亚里士多德，Rhetoric 1361b）
Discus
The ancient Greeks considered the rhythm and precision of an athlete throwing the discus as important as his strength.
The discus was made of stone, iron, bronze, or lead, and was shaped like a flying saucer. Sizes varied15, since the boys' pision was not expected to throw the same weight as the mens'.
掷铁饼
古希腊人把运动员投掷铁饼的步伐和准确度和他的力量视为同等要紧。
铁饼一般由石头、铁、青铜或铅制成，形状好似一个飞起来的碟子。大小不同，由于少年组的运动员不可能投与成年男子组一样重的铁饼。
Javelin
The javelin was a man-high length of wood, with either a sharpened end or an attached metal point. It had a thong6 for a hurler's fingers attached to its center of gravity, which increased the precision and distance of a javelin's flight.
标枪
标枪是一个长度和人的高度相当的木棍，其顶端要么是尖的，要么是包着一个金属片。它缠有一个皮条以便于投掷者能把握住标枪的重点，如此可以提升投掷的准确度和距离。
Jump
Athletes used lead or stone jump weights shaped like telephone receivers to increase the length of their jump. The halteres were held in front of the athlete during his ascent16, and forcibly thrust behind his back and dropped during his descent to help propel his body further.Jump weights also doubled as weight lifting equipment during training.
跳
运动员用铅或石制的形似电话听筒一样的跳运绳来增加其远度。在运动员起跳时摆在他的前面，然后在落地时用力推向其背后，如此能把他的身体向前推进一步。在练习中跳远负重也像举重一样增加。
Running
There were 4 types of races at Olympia. The stadion was the oldest event of the Games. Runners sprinted17 for 1 stade , or the length of the stadium. The other races were a 2-stade race , and a long-distance run which ranged from 7 to 24 stades .
And if these races weren't enough, the Greeks had one particularly grueling event which we lack. There was also a 2 to 4-stade race by athletes in armor. This race was especially useful in building the speed and stamina18 that Greek men needed during their military service. If we remember that the standard hoplite armor weighed about 50-60 lbs, it is easy to imagine what such an event must have been like.
The Phaiacian nobles entertain the hero Odysseus by competing in athletic19 games: A course was marked out for them from the turning point, and they all sped swiftly, raising the dust of the plain, but among them noble Clytoneus was far the best at running...he shot to the front and the others were left behind.
跑
在古时候奥林匹亚市有四种跑。192米跑是最老式的一个项目。运动员以全速跑完192米或一个体育馆的长度。其它的项目有384米跑和距离为1344米至4608米的长跑。假如说这类赛跑算不了什么的话，古希腊人有大家所不拥有的严格项目。有一种比赛需要运动员身穿铠甲跑384米到768米。在炼就古希腊男性在军旅生涯中的速度和耐力方面，这种比赛看上去特别有用。假如大家能想到重达50至60lbs的全副铠甲（头盔、护胫、盾牌），那样大家就比较容易想像出这种比赛像什么样子。
[菲尼基贵族为取悦英雄奥德修而进行了一场运动会：从出发点为他们标出了跑步路线，他们飞快地冲出去，激起平原上的滚滚灰尘，在他们中克莱特尼斯（Clytoneus）比其他所有人都快得多他一直冲向终点而把别的人远远地抛到了后面]（《荷马史诗》，《奥德修记》，8.121ff）
Wrestling
Like the modern sport, an athlete needed to throw his opponent on the ground, landing on a hip21, shoulder, or back for a fair fall. 3 throws were necessary to win a match. Biting was not allowed, and genital holds were also illegal. Attacks such as breaking your opponent's fingers were permitted.
In one of ArisTOPhanes's comedies, one character recommends that another rub his neck with lard in preparation for a heated argument with an adversary22. The debater replies, Spoken like a finished wrestling coach.
摔跤
像现代运动一样，一个运动员需要把对手摔倒在地，竞技者只须肩、背或臀触及地面即为摔倒。一场比赛分三轮进行。不允许咬人，也不许抓他们的生殖器部位。而打断他们手指或类似的进攻则是允许的。
在ArisTOPhanes的一部喜剧中，一个角色提醒另一个用猪油搽他的脖子来筹备与反方进行一场激烈的辩论。而辩手回话道：说的像一个完美的摔跤教练一样（ArisTOPhanes，《骑士》，1.490ff）。