Did you know that the first Olympic Games may have happened around 3,500 years ago? This was in ancient Greece, in a place called Olympia - that's why it's called the Olympics.

Although the early Olympic Games probably didn't happen every four years like they do today, and the event would have been very different from the one we see, there are still probably quite a lot of things that are still the same. Ancient Greeks would have had the same idea about competitions. For example, those that took part would probably have had to do a lot of training, and also there would have been 'officials' who were there to make sure that everyone who took part stuck to the rules so that the competition was fair. So no cheating!

The first Olympic Games only had a running event, which if you compare with today's games is a major difference! The people who took part in the competition would have worn a loincloth (a small piece of material wrapped around your waist) which is definitely different to today!

There was a very long time when Olympic Games did not take place: the next time after the ancient Greeks was in 1896, in Athens, Greece, which is actually where the next Olympic Games are being held in 2004!