The word “gymnasium” comes from the Greek word gymnos, which means naked. In ancient times athletes practiced in the nude to the accompaniment of music. They also performed naked at the Olympic Games. Women were not allowed to participate or even to attend as spectators.
The first Olympic games were held in 776BC – and then every 4 years until 339BC. The first Olympic race was won by Corubus, a chef. For many years the Olympics consisted of only one race, a sprint of 192 metres (210 yards, the length of the stadium) called the “stadion.” A second race of 400 [more...]

A sport similar to football (called soccer in the United States and elsewhere) was played 3000 years ago in Japan. Chinese text from 50 BC mentions football-type games between teams from Japan and China. A text dating from 611 AD confirms that football was played in Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan.
Ancient Greeks and Romans also played a game that resembled football – although the Greeks permitted carrying of the ball. Olympic games in ancient Rome featured a 50-minute football game with twenty-seven men on a side.
The early days
How the sport spread from the East to Europe is not clear [more...]

On Tuesday 13 February 1923, in a strong man contest held before a packed house in City Hall in Augusta, Maine, John B Gagnon beat Warren L Travis of Brooklyn, NY – holder of the official title of World’s Strongest Man. In 10 lifts, taking only 25 minutes, Gagnon lifted a total of 7,552 kg (16,650 pounds). Because it was not an “officially sanctioned” match, Travis was able to retain the title; he also would not schedule a return match against Gagnon.
John B Gagnon (1883-1939) was born in Caribou, Maine. He was 5′ 10” tall, and weighed 230 pounds. He [more...]

The love of – nay, addiction to – competitive and solitary sports cuts across all social-economic strata and throughout all the demographics. Whether as a passive consumer (spectator), a fan, or as a participant and practitioner, everyone enjoys one form of sport or another. Wherefrom this universal propensity?
Sports cater to multiple psychological and physiological deep-set needs. In this they are unique: no other activity responds as do sports to so many dimensions of one’s person, both emotional, and physical. But, on a deeper level, sports provide more than instant gratification of primal (or base, depending on one’s point of view) [more...]

In 1891, James Naismith, a physical education instructor, was thinking about new ways of providing exercise for the young men. He nailed peach baskets onto the balconies at either end of a gymnasium and challenged his student to throw a soccer ball into them from below. Thus modern basketball was born.
Springfield, Massachusetts a 30-year-old Canadian immigrant to the USA, James Naismith, was ordered to invent an indoor game for high-spirited young men at the School for Christian Workers (later the YMCA).
Women’s basketball all began exactly two days later when female teachers to the gym were captivated by the game but [more...]