Students in one Cornell College classics course stepped back in time to understand the origins and evolution of many popular athletic competitions that we still enjoy watching and competing in today.
Students in Sport and Spectacle in Ancient Greece and Rome filled the Small Athletic and Wellness Center (the SAW) Arena on Dec. 5 of Block 4 to demonstrate six Ancient Olympic events that are nearly 2,700 years old: footraces, long jump, wrestling, boxing, javelin, and discus. Students completed projects and presented the similarities between the Olympic events back then and the Olympic games of today.
“In each instance, the groups explained how the event is done today and compared it with how it was done in antiquity,” said Professor of Classical and Modern Languages John Gruber-Miller. “The differences are surprising and the presentation really turns skill level and understanding up a notch.”
Students ran down the track to experience footraces and the unique way they held their arms when they started, and they practiced jabs as part of the boxing demonstration.
Jaylan Bradberry ’26, a kinesiology major, and Nate Jacobson ’27, a physical education major, worked together with two others to present about boxing. The two Cornell basketball players demonstrated hits that were acceptable back in time and even showed how athletes would wrap their hands for a match. 
“For our project, we talked about 688 BCE, which was the first Olympics to include boxing,” Bradberry explained. “Back then, there were no breaks or rounds in Ancient Greece. You just go until someone loses or until somebody quits. Now you have rounds and there’s a points system.”
The project in the SAW wrapped up the first half of the block, which focused on Ancient Greece. The second half of the class focused on Ancient Rome.
“I think it’s really beneficial to do this on the block plan–just the simple fact that you can do these presentations and all the reading and actually have time to comprehend it. Whereas, if you had five other classes, you would have to skim through and pick out certain stuff just to get it done,” Jacobson said.
Maddie Pulis is on the Cornell women’s wrestling team. She was excited to present about wrestling in Ancient Greece with her group.
“Currently, there’s Greco-Roman wrestling, which is only international,” Pulis said. “It’s not as popular as the other two styles–folkstyle and freestyle–but it is the most similar, by far, to Ancient Greek wrestling because it's mostly upper-body throws and a lot of upper-body strength.”
She also enjoyed learning about the spectacle part of athletics in Ancient Greece and understanding how sports were used for everything from entertainment to religious ceremonies.
The students were surprised to learn about the similarities and differences of each sport and to demonstrate it to their peers. And while they might have been doing research on their laptops and phones, they got a glimpse into what life was like thousands of years ago.
“I hope through this project the students realize that seemingly simple sporting events actually involve specialized technique,” Gruber Miller said. “I hope this hands-on experience will help them understand the event from an insider's point of view.”