Britannica
Sources used in this answer
How long was the ancient stade footrace?
Created from Britannica articles
using AI.
AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Olympic Games
An actress playing the role of an Athenian high priestess lights the Olympic flame in Athens, October 31, 2017. The torch was later carried to Pyeongchang, South Korea, for the 2018 Winter Olympics.
The ancient stade footrace covered one length of the track at Olympia, measuring approximately 192 meters (210 yards) in length.12
This race was the sole event at the first recorded Olympic Games in 776 BCE. The term stade eventually became the name for the track itself, serving as the etymological origin of the modern English word stadium.12