Although I’m no fan of the original Olympics, with its thirst for blood and misogyny, they were essentially a celebration of extraordinary feats of athletic endeavour. The Olympics were also a religious festival where animals were slaughtered to honour Zeus, King of the Greek gods. The games came to an abrupt end with the advent of Christianity in Europe when in 393 AD, the Christian emperor Theodosius I forbade the celebration of pagan cults, which included the Games. When the games were revived in 1896, in the height of European colonialism, only 14 nations took part, all European with the exception of America.