<P> The Heraean Games , the first recorded competition for women in the Olympic Stadium , were held as early as the sixth century BC . It originally consisted of foot races only , as did the competition for males . Some texts , including Pausanias 's Description of Greece , c . AD 175 , state that Hippodameia gathered a group known as the `` Sixteen Women '' and made them administrators of the Heraea Games , out of gratitude for her marriage to Pelops . Other texts related to the Elis and Pisa conflict indicate that the `` Sixteen Women '' were peacemakers from Pisa and Elis and , because of their political competence , became administrators of the Heraea . Being the consort of Hera in Classical Greek mythology , Zeus was the father of the deities in the pantheon of that era . The Sanctuary of Zeus in Olympia housed a 13 - metre - high ( 43 ft ) statue in ivory and gold of Zeus that had been sculpted by Phidias circa 445 BC . This statue was one of the ancient Seven Wonders of the World . By the time of the Classical Greek culture , in the fifth and fourth centuries BC , the games were restricted to male participants . </P>
<P> The Heraean Games , the first recorded competition for women in the Olympic Stadium , were held as early as the sixth century BC . It originally consisted of foot races only , as did the competition for males . Some texts , including Pausanias 's Description of Greece , c . AD 175 , state that Hippodameia gathered a group known as the `` Sixteen Women '' and made them administrators of the Heraea Games , out of gratitude for her marriage to Pelops . Other texts related to the Elis and Pisa conflict indicate that the `` Sixteen Women '' were peacemakers from Pisa and Elis and , because of their political competence , became administrators of the Heraea . Being the consort of Hera in Classical Greek mythology , Zeus was the father of the deities in the pantheon of that era . The Sanctuary of Zeus in Olympia housed a 13 - metre - high ( 43 ft ) statue in ivory and gold of Zeus that had been sculpted by Phidias circa 445 BC . This statue was one of the ancient Seven Wonders of the World . By the time of the Classical Greek culture , in the fifth and fourth centuries BC , the games were restricted to male participants . </P>
what was the first olympic sport in ancient greece
what was the first olympic sport in ancient greece
foot races
foot races