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When and where were the first ancient Olympic Games held?

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A woman in a white pleated dress lights the Olympic torch from a large flame in a gold cauldron, with a crowd seated in the background at Panathenaic Stadium in Athens. — 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 first ancient Olympic Games were held in 776 BCE at the sacred site of Olympia, located in the northwestern Peloponnese region of Greece.12

These games were established as a religious festival to honor Zeus, the chief Greek god. While myths often attribute the founding of the games to figures like Heracles, historical records identify the first Olympic champion as Coroebus of Elis, who won a footrace known as the stade in 776 BCE.12