Wenlock Olympian Society

The Wenlock Olympian Games, dating from 1850, are a forerunner of the modern Olympic Games. They are organised by the Wenlock Olympian Society (WOS), and are held each year at venues across Shropshire, England, centred on the little market town of Much Wenlock. One of the two mascots for the 2012 Summer Olympics was named Wenlock in honour of the Wenlock Olympian Games.

On 25 February 1850 the Wenlock Agricultural Reading Society (WARS) resolved to establish a class called The Olympian Class – "for the promotion of the moral, physical and intellectual improvement of the inhabitants of the town and neighbourhood of Wenlock and especially of the working classes, by the encouragement of outdoor recreation, and by the award of prizes annually at public meetings for skill in athletic exercise and proficiency in intellectual and industrial attainments". The secretary of the class and driving force behind the Olympian Games was Dr William Penny Brookes who was inspired to create these events through his work as a doctor and surgeon in the sprawling borough of Wenlock which consisted of Madeley, Broseley and Much Wenlock. The first meeting was held at Much Wenlock racecourse on 22–23 October 1850.

The first Games were a mixture of athletics and traditional country sports such as quoits, football and cricket. Events also included running, hurdles, football and cycling on penny farthings. Some of the early Games included "fun events" as the blindfolded wheelbarrow race and, one year an 'Old Women's Race' with the prize of a pound of tea.

In 1859 Wenlock Olympian Class sent £10 to Athens as a prize for the best runner in the Long Foot Race at the Zappas Olympics which was held in November that year – open only to Greek-speaking athletes. The Wenlock Prize, the largest prize on offer was won by Petros Velissarios of Smyrna in the Ottoman Empire, one of the first international Olympians.

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