Birthplace Of The Modern Olympics
"The Wenlock people alone have preserved and followed the true Olympian traditions".
Pierre de Coubertin
1897
Did you know....
Every Olympic medal bears the image of Nike, Goddess of Victory, modelled on the pentathlon medal first awarded at the Wenlock Olympian Games in 1868.
In 1890 Baron Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic movement wrote ‘if the Olympic Games that modern Greece was not able to resuscitate there [i.e. in Greece] relive today, it is not to a Greek that we are beholden but to Dr. W P Brookes’.
The photograph of the 1867 Wenlock Olympian Games is believed to be the oldest image of a mixed sports meeting.
The inspiration for the procession of athletes and medal ceremonies at Modern Olympic Games is based on those first seen by Coubertin at a Wenlock Olympian Games in October 1890.