By Brittany Clark, Site Specialist, Ireland, Germany & Greece
Ever wanted to be an Olympian? Now is your chance… well, sort of! You can study abroad like an Olympian while studying abroad with ISA in Athens, Greece.
As you may know, Athens is the birthplace of the modern Olympic Games. The earliest known ancient Olympic Games began in Olympia, Greece as early as 776 BC. At this time, the Games were a series of athletic competitions held to honor Zeus, the sky and thunder god of the ancient Greeks who ruled over the gods of Mount Olympus.
Athletes came from all over ancient Greece to compete in the Games. Later on, it was decided that the first international Olympic Games in modern history would also be held in Athens in 1896 and would include athletes from all over the world – 108 years later, the Olympic Games were held in Athens again in 2004.
While there are no Olympic Games scheduled to be held in Athens in the near future, there are still plenty of ways to study abroad like an Olympian while in Athens!
Here are the ways to study abroad like an Olympian in Athens:
- Stay in the American College of Greece’s off-campus apartments that were used by the U.S. Olympic Team during the 2004 Olympics.
- Swim in the Olympic-size pool on the American College of Greece’s campus which was used by many international athletes to train for the 2004 Olympics.
- Take the “Olympic Games & Mega Sports Events” course offered at the American College of Greece during the ISA Athens Spring 1 program.
- Run some laps in Athens’ Panathenaic Stadium, the stadium at the epicenter of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896.
- Visit the city of Marathon in Greece, where the modern “marathon” term was coined from.
For more information on ISA’s programs in Greece, please visit the ISA Athens programs page.