There are perhaps two enduring images that immediately suggest the Olympic Games: the Discobolus of Myron, the statue of the discus thrower that has come down to us through Roman copies of the lost Hellenic original; and the myriad of narrow, naked runners and jumpers adorning ancient Greek vases.

The ancient Games in Olympia and elsewhere were principally about track and field athletics. And so it has remained. Athletics is the centrepiece of the modern Olympic Games, with the similarly recognisable events – running, jumping and throwing -– played out in the main stadium of the city that hosts the Games.