The birthplace of the modern Olympic Games
Introduction
The photograph on this page of The birthplace of the modern Olympic Games by Row17 as part of the Geograph project.
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The birthplace of the modern Olympic Games
Image: © Row17 Taken: 2 Jul 2008
William Penny Brookes, a local doctor, revived the Olympic Games on this field in the mid 19th century. By 1870 it had become a leading athletics meeting. In 1890 some foreigner named 'de Coubertin' visited the Games and in 1896 organised the first international games in Athens (any American reading this, that's Athens, Greece not Athens, Georgia). But for a local Shropshire doctor would we have the spectacular meetings we now endure, sorry, enjoy every 4 years. In the background are the remains of the Much Wenlock windmill.
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
52.600981
Longitude
-2.555995