Foot racing events

The footrace was the earliest and most significant event —in fact, it was the sole event performed in the first 14 Olympiads. It is rooted in people’s daily performance in this form of physical exercise. It did not require any special infrastructure or equipment; however, it gave rise to the form which the stadiums, where the event was staged, and the training area of the gymnasia gradually assumed. The fact that each Olympiad was named after the victor in the stadion (stadionikes) is indicative of the great importance attached to the race.

Runners competed nude, barefoot and covered in oil.

The running events of the ancient Olympic Games were the following:

1. Dromos or Stadion: it was a sprint, one stadion in length —a unit that equalled 192.28 metres. It was also one of the five events of the Pentathlon.
2. Diaulos: A full-speed double-stadion race, 384.56 metres long.
3. Dolichos: Endurance race, 24 stadia long that equalled 4,614.62 metres. It is associated with the heralds of the Sacred Truce, the spondophoroi, or with the hemerodromoi or the dromokerykes who ran across the country carrying announcements or messages.
4. Hoplitodromos: Runners competed carrying a shield, called hoplon. The hoplitodromos concluded the Games, as it was the last race to be held in the evening of the fourth day. According to Pausanias, 25 identical shields were kept in the temple of Zeus or at the Heraion that were given to the hoplite runners so as to compete on an equal footing.