Where is Sparta?

Where can I find a story about two runners from Athens and Sparta in the olympics?

• Years ago when I was in middle school we consistently read short stories that were in a larger book that contained a collection of different short stories. One of the stories was about a foot runner from athens and a foot runner from sparta. It emphasized the difference in their upbringings and eventually told the story of their friendship. They were partaking in the olympics and one of them, i believe the runner from athens, injured his foot on something during the race. The other then helped them across the rest of the race. If anyone knows where i can find this story i would surely appreciate it.

• Answer:

  Well I will not answer your q directly, nor help you directly, but I will try to help you understand ancient Greeks if you are already interested in them. Spartans competed in short races or 200m dash..And with athletes from Kroton were the most dominant...they didn't run long races, since that kind of training and physique did not fit in their primary job (heavy hoplite warfare). They were also master wrestlers and again alongside men from Kroton like Milon..they dominated the Olympic games. But Spartans didn't have profesional athlets who trained just for the Games.Their excelence was due to their training in their primary job. Sport and war were much closer back then than now.Many of the sport disciplines were based on war skils.That is why both youth and adult Spartans dominated the Olympics. The point, even if some kind of friendship was made, and it hardly could since only full citizens could take part in Olympics, and in case of Sparta full citizens were full time soldiers, and the Spartan would not have time to go around making friends from so far,and from rival city especially...he would certainly not have time to help him in a 20 second race, nor was this kind of action appreciated in that world..and the Olympics were the ultimate fair play event. That friendship,helping the poor thing finish the race thingy is just modern attempt to make De Cuberten's very untrue moto alive. In the ancient Games, the winner was glorified, treated as a divinity..and all others ashaimed. And most importantly there were those who lost, but virtually died fighting, there were those who didn't quit for the price of life and were awarded posthumously. They were celebrated because they didn't cry like a wimp because of a sprain ankle - the worst injury that guy from your story could sustain. Guys fought with broken bones, and mouth full of teeth, and won the matches. Those two would be ridiculed, and no friend would help the other wimpy one, but ridicule him... That story will not do any good to you.