Athletics have always been practiced when you look through sports history and the very first event ever contested in, in Olympics was a spring of 192 meters, at the time called a stadium race. That first year's winners or the first winner ever recorded dates back to 776 BBC. The first events of the ancient Olympic games also featured a wide variety of field and track events; these included shorter & longer footraces, pentathlon events, long jumps, wrestling, stadium racing and races in armor. What is interesting is the different businesses that get on board to celebrate the Olympics and athletes accomplishments. One such industry is those who develop online video slots, which is one of the most popular styles of slot games. There are a number of others that focus on this side of things and bring the latest information regarding the online gambling world, and more specifically, the newest Olympic themed slots to readers with an interest in playing the most recent releases. A recent posting at Casinos.co highlights the many online video slots designed with an Olympic theme. While this is a part of the focus for such sites, it is not at all the only, as they include a broad range of online casino promotions, informative gaming articles, and special interest articles.
As the Olympics grow in popularity, and the success and accomplishments of those who win medals are celebrated, the partnerships that are forged will only grow to include new emerging companies or countries that are increasing the number of athletes who participate. This is often an exciting aspect as some countries do not have equal budgets to support their athletes and as such, their accomplishments are often hard fought and won. With the excitement building up for participating athletes in both male and female events, so too is the joy for fans who can't wait to watch their favorite athletes in Olympic action.
Ancient Olympics' Spread Across International Borders
The popularity of the Olympic events soon got more and more countries to participate and host their own events and similar events included the Pythian Games, Nemean and Isthmian in Greece. Ireland hosted two events called the Highland games and Tailteann games. In Great Britain, the pedestrian events during the 18th & 19th centuries often were enjoyed with heavy betting and consisted of running and walking races.
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Athletics Turns To Modern Format
Modern events including walking, throwing, jumping and a variety of running events evolved in the 19th century. This was at the time that military colleges and schools started to participate, and sports was incorporated as part of educational programs. Since 1896 each recorded program of the Games of the Olympiad shows the presence of athletics and the only changes year after year is the additional athletic events and the huge growth in participants.
What even further strengthened its popularity was the IAAF creation in 1912. Female athletes started participating in the Olympics in 1928 when the Olympic in Amsterdam included events for females. The Olympic games offered all men's events as a standard from 1932, while at first women events were not always offered and was pretty much dependent on the event and venue.
Athletic Boost From Africa & Caribbean
While the Olympics took the world by storm, the boom for athletics came to its full term when underdeveloped countries participation delivered exceptional runners and sprinters. Athletes from the Caribbean and Africa brought new levels of competition and put an end to the long-time reign that the Americans had over men's athletics. Even the European lost the domination it had for a long period of time, and the fresh competition brought refreshed interest and higher levels of competing. In women's events, it was East Germany and the Soviet Union who dominated almost all female events. By 2008 the Olympics were attended and participated in by athletes from sixty-two countries around the globe and the Asian athletes had risen up the ranks considerably.
Male & Female Olympic Athletic Events
Athletic events are still added regularly, and the longest running distance is now a 10,000m marathon, with several other longer distances such as the 5,000m men, 3,000m steeplechase for females, 20km race walk for male athletes, decathlon for male, heptathlon for females, 400m hurdles races, relay races and several other distances.
The Olympics in Rio in 2016 highlights again just how hugely popular the event has become and the massive increase in athlete participation standards. Only days into the events athletes like Rostami broke the world record for the 85kg weightlifting competition and trampoline gold was won for the second time by MacLennan, Slovakia's cousins and Chourraut from Spain enjoy success at the whitewater arena, and millions of fans plan their weekends around watching every event on television. 
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The Rio 2016 Olympic events started off particularly well for the athlete known as the lightening bolt from Jamaica. Usian Bolt defended all three his titles that include men's 4x100m relays, 200m running, 100m run, which the super fit athlete won four years ago in London. Athletes from Ethiopia that are likely to steal the spotlight is Genzebe and her older sister Tirunesh Dibaba, with Tirunesh aiming to become the very first female athlete to claim the 10,000 marathon title, three years in a row. Genzebe is the world record holder and the world champion in the 1,500m distance and is aiming to strike gold in Rio.
