ABSTRACT
Somehow the Olympic dream never died over the centuries that followed the Roman suppression of the original. Festivals continued to be held, one of the best known being the Cotswold Olimpicks, held at Chipping Camden in south-west England. From 1612 until 1852 events ranging from traditional athletics to dancing competitions were held in a natural amphitheatre.
In 1850, not far to the north, local doctor William Penny Brookes launched the first Much Wenlock Olympian Games. Later came the first Shropshire Olympic Games, the Liverpool Olympics, and the first National Olympian Games in London in 1865.
Greece was also trying to revive the Games, with the Zappas Olympics beginning in 1859. Brookes attempted to internationalize the Olympic revival movement by communication with the Greek government, but without success. However, the Much Wenlock Games were an inspiration to French Olympic revival campaigner Baron Pierre de Coubertin. He visited Brookes in 1890, and learned a great deal from him, not least the advantages of an opening pageant and the importance of amateurism.
Brookes is now seen as the real inspiration for the modern Olympic Games, a role acknowledged by the IOC in 1994.
