It's difficult to suggest a specific time when sports began, but it is clear that children have engaged in spontaneous play while adults hunt and collect food for survival in pre-historic times. In ancient Egypt it is believed that sports were common where pharaohs would demonstrate their strength and prowess to others through exhibitions such as wrestling, ball games and stick fights. In ancient Greece it is believed that acrobatic skills were tested, in particular Cretans with bulls, for a religious ritual, sport or both.
The Olympic games:
The most renowned association of sport which still exists today is the Olympic Games which dates back to 776BC in honor of Zeus. This is conducted every quadrennial and consists of four events Olympian, Pythian, Nemean and Isthmian games. Extraordinary athletes such as Theagenes of Thasos prided himself on winning all four major events. The prestige of winning brought both literary accolades from the odes of Pindar and visual tribute usually through the form of statues for the victorious. It was very rare that girls participated in sports of any kind while they were also excluded as spectators, however, the priestess of Demeter was the only married woman allowed to attend.
Romans:
Chariot races were the most popular form of sport during the ancient Roman period. Romans had a bigger emphasis on physical tasks that helped improve military preparedness when compared to the ancient Greeks. Romans would take part in boxing, wrestling and throwing a javelin compared to the Greeks who preferred running and throwing a discus. But during the reign of Hadrian (AD 117- 138) numerous Romans developed an eagerness for Greek athletics. Chariot races would take part in front of up to 250,000 people, while gladiatorial combats took place in the colosseum such as man against man or man against animal. Charioteers were divided into bureaucratical factions which consisted of the “Greens” and “Blues”. This was the coming together of fans and loyalty bases where bragging rights are up for grabs. Charioteers would also brag about their victories which indicates the awareness about winning and losing while also keeping track of the amount of wins similar to modern sports and its association with statistics.
Middle Ages:
Sports in the middle ages consisted of fairs and festivals where men would lift sacks of grain or stones to demonstrate their strength. Meanwhile, folk football which was a chaotic sport with very few rules, became popular amongst peasants where one village played another or married men played bachelors. Peasant women were allowed to play ball games and foot races, middle class ladies were content with spectating while the aristocratic ladies hunted and kept falcons.
Renaissance and Modern World:
Throughout the 15th and 16th century there was a shift in preference from the combat and physical sports to elegant ones that demonstrated a more graceful movement pattern. For example, during this period dance increased in popularity, while horses were trained to perform more elegant movements rather than just speed and fencers thought of their sport as more of an art form than combat.
The development of organised sport:
Organised sport was first developed in late 17th century England where traditional pastimes were phased out such as stick fighting and bull baiting to more organised games with more rigid rules. This is where the concept of rationalised competition began. In the 18th and 19th century, sports increased in popularity with national organisations developing to regulate rules, organise matches into a competition and record results. An array of sports have since been developed where athletes train their body systematically to maximise their results in a given sport.
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