a shield, a helmet, and shin plates. A hysplex was also formed to ensure that all runners started at the same time.There were three main kinds of foot-races being the stade, which was the length of one stade or two-hundred meters, the diaulos, which was the length of two stades or four-hundred meters, and the dolichos, which ranged between seven to twenty-four stades, or fourteen to eighteen hundred meters. All runners started at the hysplex at the same time under a specific word or command. There was an understanding code of honors between all the competitors of no hindering opponents physically, no bribery, and no magic spells. Being the most common form of exercise in ancient Greece, there was a surplus of good competition in this event with many athletes having the possession of great strength, speed and endurance (FHWR 1-2, LAO 3).According to tradition, the first equestrian event, (chariot race), was between Pelops and Oinomaos, the king of Pisa. Homer also includes the chariot event as being organized by Achilles in honor of Patroclus. To be successful at driving the chariot, one had to have the ability to keep the chariot on a straight course which was difficult with four horses varying in strength leading the way.The Hippodrome, a wide open space with two pillars marking start and finish, was the site of the equestrian events. The horses ran in an area divided by a partition of stone or wood, measuring the distance of four stades, (seven-hundred sixty-nine meters). There were three different horse races held at Olympia. These races included the following: the keles, a race designed for a rider on a full grown horse, the kalpe, a race for the mares, and the race for the foals. There were four main chariot races whose origin is influenced by the war-like manner of the Archaens. They are as follows: the tethrippon- four horse chariot, the apene- a chariot pulled by two mules, the synoris- chariot pulled by a pair of...
