Or, more broadly, did any of the ancient cultures keep records of their athletic competitions? If not, when did this practice start? What is the oldest known sports record?
I’m thinking that for speed-based events (e.g., running), it would’ve been impossible for the ancients to record times because of inadequate or nonexistent timekeeping technology, but did they even keep tabs on who the winners were for each event? For distance events (e.g., javelin), I’d imagine that there should’ve been standardized units of measure (within each society, at least) so that record-keeping would’ve been possible if they were inclined to do it, no? And speaking of units of measure, were the speed events run on courses of standardized distances?
Apologies if this question has already been asked recently, what with the Olympics going on and all.
Well, I did a bit of Googling got a partial answer to my own question. Looks like some guy named Coroebus of Elis was the first recorded winner (sprint, according to one site), in 776 B.C.
When I visited Olympia my Exchange Father (Prof. Theology) explained to me that the ruined busts lining the walkways there were all famous, ancient, Olympic Champions. Most pillars were minus the bust of the athelete atop but apparently it was also cusromary to sculpt the athlete’s genitals into the supporting column base. There are whole lines of bust column bases with element worn and decapitated willies.
There is a record of winners but in anonymous stone C*K N’ BLS.
I was a teaching assistant years ago for a professor at the University of Delaware who teaches a class specifically in Greek and Roman sport and recreation, and there are quite a number of documented achievements, although not in the chronicles and records as detailed statistics as one sees in modern times.
If you are really keen, you could take a look at Greek and Roman Sport: A Dictionary of Athletes and Events from the Eighth Century B.C. to the Third Century A.D. by David Matz, and Harris’s *Sport in Greece and Rome (Aspects of Greek and Roman Life) * (the latter is one of my professor’s texts for that class, and an interesting read.)