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Greece - Olympia - Tourist family cross ancient Olympic finishing line at Olympia

Tourists lunge over the original 4th century start/finish line in the stadium at Olympia. Hercules is said to have paced out the 600 Greek feet - or Stadion - from which we get the word 'stadium'. On the grassy bank in the background is where the seating once accommodated the many sporting pilgrims who travelled to this place from all over Greece during agreed truces in the weeks of the Olympic festival. The 29th Olympics came home to Greece in 2004 and the birthplace of athletics, amid the woodland of ancient Olympia where for 1,100 continuous years, the ancients held their pagan festival of sport and debauchery. The modern games share many characteristics with its ancient counterpart. Corruption, politics and cheating interfered then as it does now and the 2004 Athens Olympiad echoed both what was great and horrid about the past.

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greek_olympiad006-20-10_2003_1.jpg
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Richard Baker
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Tourists lunge over the original 4th century start/finish line in the stadium at Olympia. Hercules is said to have paced out the 600 Greek feet - or Stadion - from which we get the word 'stadium'. On the grassy bank in the background is where the seating once accommodated the many sporting pilgrims who travelled to this place from all over Greece during agreed truces in the weeks of the Olympic festival. The 29th Olympics came home to Greece in 2004 and the birthplace of athletics, amid the woodland of ancient Olympia where for 1,100 continuous years, the ancients held their pagan festival of sport and debauchery. The modern games share many characteristics with its ancient counterpart. Corruption, politics and cheating interfered then as it does now and the 2004 Athens Olympiad echoed both what was great and horrid about the past.
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