Posted on 06/05/2008 11:18:50 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Just as the official Summer Olympics get underway in Beijing on June 21, an ancient athletic stadium at a UC Berkeley archaeological site in Greece that was home to the original Panhellenic Games will once again come alive with competition.
The Nemean Games revived footraces held in the village of Ancient Nemea every four years since 1996, are not for trained athletes, but for anyone worldwide who wants to run. There will be a 100-meter sprint on the fourth-century clay track on June 21 and a 7.5- kilometer race the following day from the ancient temple of Herakles near the town of Kleonai to the stadium.
The 45-acre archaeological site, with its restored stadium, has been the focus of 35 years of excavations, analysis and study by UC Berkeley scholars. Stephen Miller, a UC Berkeley professor emeritus of classical archaeology, led the effort from its outset until his retirement in 2004. He now lives primarily in Nemea, and continues to promote the footraces in his role as honorary president of the Society for the Revival of the Nemean Games, the Greek organization responsible for the event...
The track at Ancient Nemea featured a starting line made of stones, with grooves for the toes of racers' bare feet, and a special lever that allowed for consistent and fair starts to the contests...
With the ancient vaulted tunnel that leads into the stadium currently in a weakened state, scaffolding has been installed to shore it up for use by race participants. In ancient days, the tunnel allowed athletes to prepare themselves outside the sight of the watching crowd and then make a dramatic entrance into the stadium, just as they will do at this year's games.
(Excerpt) Read more at berkeley.edu ...
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There are a couple of photos on the page. |
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If I had money, I might.
When I was 14, I weighed under 100lbs. I leg pressed 400 on a machine that didn’t exactly help. So that was more than 4 times my weight.
I’d give a kidney and teste to be able to do that now.
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Posted on 05/24/2007 9:17:51 AM PDT by DogByte6RER
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