The Worlds First Sport

        Sports have been a part of human civilizations since the beginning of time. Many historians believe that the first sport to ever exists was wrestling. The proof is set in Southwestern France's caves. Back in 1940, some folks discovered ancient drawings depicting sports, in a cave later named Lascaux. One source states, “Along with running, wrestling was first depicted by the people who lived near the Lascaux caves in France over 15,300 years ago." (8 Oldest Sports in The World).  After further inspection of the cave drawings, it was inexcusable that it was in fact wrestlingthat was depicted on the walls. The paintings are estimated to be at least 15,300 years old dating back to the Old Testament era and making it the oldest evidence of sports in ancient civilizations.

        Wrestling is the oldest and most widely distributed sport to ever exist. Partly because it’s in human nature to compete with one another, it also doesn’t require any extra equipment, just two bodies. It was used in ancient Greece to train soldiers in hand to hand combat, and has held a prominent position in the Olympic games as well as general sports for around 15,000 years. One source states,” Wrestling originated in hand-to-hand combat, and in particular as a sportive form of combat substituting the submission of a contestant for his death” (Wrestling). Wrestling was developed as a form of combat, first found dating as far back as 7000 BC with running only dating back to about 1829 BC. Wrestling was created for soldiers to be able to train to fight to the death without having to kill their opponent. Wars were rampant all over the world during the BC time period. It would be no surprise that this form of combative sports came to be, before any other. Of course, running was important but they didn’t look at this as a sport until 776 BC. Combat was all about advantage, strategy, and preparedness. Militaries are always looking for ways to better prepare their soldiers for real combat, which is why wrestling was important. In close quarters combat, soldiers would have to maneuver their bodies to have the advantage. They would fight to the death with strategy and grips to try to choke the opposition to death. Because of this, it would make sense that wrestling has been a huge aspect of wars since the beginning of civilizations. 

         Wrestling has its roots in almost every culture from Mongolia, China, India, Greece, to America which provides some proof as to how old, wide spread, and how big of a deal this sport used to be. It is a true competition which involved two men or women, tackling, and pinning each other to the ground. These men and women were separated by weight class and fought in the most well know ceremonies and sports arenas known today. Many warriors trained since the beginning of civilizations to perfect the different fighting techniques. We see multiple sources of proof whether it is inside stone cave or written in ancient documents, that wrestling is in fact the oldest sport that we can date back several thousand years ago.

Sources:

“History of Wrestling.” RockStar Wrestling, http://www.rockstarwrestling.com/page/show/1658056-history-of-wrestling. Accessed 07 Feb. 2020.

“Wrestling | History, Styles, & Facts.” Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/sports/wrestling. Accessed 07 Feb. 2020.

“Wrestling Greco-Roman Equipment and History - Olympic Sport History.” International Olympic Committee, 15 May 2018, https://www.olympic.org/wrestling-greco-roman-equipment-and-history.