Gaining in popularity, the sport quickly spread to Greece, where bare-knuckled boxers participated in the Ancient Olympic Games.
As the sport reached Rome, Roman boxers added leather gloves embedded with spikes and bits of medal. The sport became so brutal and bloody that it was eventually abolished in 393 A.D.
In the 1700s, the English revived the sport, establishing strict rules against fouls. Rules limiting the number of rounds, requiring the use of padded gloves and restricting the body parts where blows could land, were added in the 1860s.
Boxing has been included on the Olympic Programme since 1904. The competition was conspicuously absent from the 1912 Stockholm Games because boxing was illegal in Sweden at the time.
This is an official publication of the Atlanta Committee for
the Olympic Games Sports Publication Department. Written by Howard
Thomas.
| Pin trading was one of the most popular Olympic sports, with more than 1.2 million pins changing hands during the Games in the Coca Cola Pin Trading Center at Centennial Olympic Park. |