The
Wenlock Olympian Society Annual Games are usually held every year in
Much WenlockMuch Wenlock, earlier known simply as "Wenlock" in Celtic , is a small town in central Shropshire, England. It is situated on the A458 road between Shrewsbury and Bridgnorth. Nearby, to the northeast, is the Ironbridge Gorge...
in
ShropshireShropshire , alternatively known as Salop or abbreviated, in print only, Shrops, is a county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Wales to the west. Shropshire is one of England's most rural and sparsely populated counties with a population density of 91/km²...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The 2008 Games were the 122nd.
On 25 February 1850, the Wenlock Agricultural Reading Society resolved to establish a class called
The Olympian Class "for the promotion of the moral, physical and intellectual improvement of the inhabitants of the town and neighbourhood of Wenlock and especially of the working classes, by the encouragement of out-door recreation, and by the award of prizes annually at public meetings for skill in Athletic exercise and proficiency in Intellectual and industrial attainments".
The
Wenlock Olympian Society Annual Games are usually held every year in
Much WenlockMuch Wenlock, earlier known simply as "Wenlock" in Celtic , is a small town in central Shropshire, England. It is situated on the A458 road between Shrewsbury and Bridgnorth. Nearby, to the northeast, is the Ironbridge Gorge...
in
ShropshireShropshire , alternatively known as Salop or abbreviated, in print only, Shrops, is a county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Wales to the west. Shropshire is one of England's most rural and sparsely populated counties with a population density of 91/km²...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The 2008 Games were the 122nd.
Overview
On 25 February 1850, the Wenlock Agricultural Reading Society resolved to establish a class called
The Olympian Class "for the promotion of the moral, physical and intellectual improvement of the inhabitants of the town and neighbourhood of Wenlock and especially of the working classes, by the encouragement of out-door recreation, and by the award of prizes annually at public meetings for skill in Athletic exercise and proficiency in Intellectual and industrial attainments". The secretary of the Class and driving force behind the Olympian Games was Dr.
William Penny BrookesDr. William Penny Brookes was an English physician, magistrate, botanist, who founded the Wenlock Olympian Society in 1860, organised annual "Olympian Games" in the small town of Much Wenlock, Shropshire, England. Prior to the foundation of the Wenlock Olympian Society Dr Brookes organised an...
. The first meeting was held at Wenlock racecourse on 22-23 October 1850.
In 1859, it sent £10 to
AthensAthens , the capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery; as one of the world's oldest cities, its recorded history spans around 3,400 years....
for a prize for the best runner in the longest race at an
Olympic GamesThe Zappas Olympics were a series of athletic events held in Athens, Greece, in 1859, 1870 and 1875 and sponsored by the Greek businessman Evangelis Zappas. These games were the first revival of the ancient Olympic Games in the modern era...
held in November. The Wenlock Prize was the largest prize on offer and was won by Petros Velissarios of
SmyrnaSmyrna was the ancient city now in Turkey, represented by modern İzmir. Located at a central and strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia and aided by its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to prominence before the Classical Era....
, from the
Ottoman EmpireThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
, and one of the first international Olympians.
In 1860, the Class officially became the
Wenlock Olympian Society and Dr Brookes adopted some of the athletics events from the Athens 1859 Games and added them to the programme of the Olympian Games.
Baron
Pierre de CoubertinPierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin was a French pedagogue and historian, founder of the International Olympic Committee, and considered father of the modern Olympic Games.-Biography:...
visited the Olympian Society in 1890, who held a special festival in his honour. He was inspired by Dr Brookes and went on to establish the
International Olympic CommitteeThe International Olympic Committee is an organization based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas on 23 June 1894. Its membership consists of the 205 National Olympic Committees....
. Brookes was named as an honorary delegate at the 1894 Sorbonne Congress at which the IOC was established, although he was unable to attend due to ill health. The Wenlock Olympian Games continued intermittently after his death in 1896, with significant revivals in 1950 and 1977. The current series has been running since 1977, and has received official recognition from the IOC and the
British Olympic AssociationThe British Olympic Association is responsible for the United Kingdom's participation in the Olympic Games. It was formed on 24 May 1905 at the House of Commons. The first chairman of the BOA was Lord Desborough...
(BOA), exemplifed by visits from the
Princess RoyalPrincess Royal is a style customarily awarded by a British monarch to his or her eldest daughter. The style is held for life, so a princess cannot be given the style during the lifetime of another Princess Royal...
for the BOA in 1990 and
Juan Antonio SamaranchJuan Antonio Samaranch Torelló, Marquess of Samaranch is a Spanish sports official who served as the 7th President of the International Olympic Committee from 1980 to 2001.-Biography:...
for the IOC in 1994.