When wrestling was first added to the Olympics it wasn't an event. It was part of another event. What was the event that included wrestling and what year was it first added to the Olympics?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Frank Ryan,

I didn't expect a lot of you post-war babies would remember but I thought some of you more mature guys would. In 708 BC wrestling was added to the pentathalon. I can't remember what it replaced. All contestants competed in running (200 meters), jumping (standing long jump), discus throw, and javelin throw. The top two contestants in the first four events advanced to the finals, which was a wrestling match. The winner of the wrestling match was declared the Olympic Champion. They didn't worry much about timer, scorer, or referee errors as they wrestled until one of them gave up.

In the literature you will find that event referred to as the Ancient Pentathalon. In 1912 it was reintroduced to the Olympics as the Modern Pentathalon. The five events then, as now, were pistol shooting, epee fencing, equestrian (horse riding), swimming, and cross country running. The 5th place finisher in 1912 was Gen. George Patton, of World War II fame. He did well in all phases and then fell back in pistol shooting. I suppose that even then he knew that his specialty would be in tank warfare where pistols don't make a lot of difference.