Sport and leisure

Greek soldier Pheidippides arrives in Athens with news of the Greek victory over the Persians at Marathon, only to die on the spot

Pheidippides: is the ancient Greek marathon runner remembered for the wrong run?

Photo of a man on a penny-farthing

Q&A How dangerous was the penny-farthing?

As Tokyo hosts the summer Paralympics, Ian Brittain chronicles the history of competitive sport for disabled people. (Image by Getty Images)

The rise of the Paralympics

A photograph of the England team that faced Australia at the Oval in the 1896 Ashes series

Batting for the British Empire: how Victorian cricket was more than just a game

Joep de Beer of Holland throws a javelin at the Stoke Mandeville Games

Q&A When and where were the first Paralympics held?

A runner is helped across a finish line

21 key moments in the history of the modern Olympics

With the Olympics underway in Tokyo, Chris Harding looks back at 1964 – the last time Japan hosted the competition. (Image by Getty Images)

How the 1964 Tokyo Olympics redefined Japan

As the world’s best athletes congregate in Tokyo for the 29th Summer Games, David Goldblatt answers your questions on the history of the Olympics. (Image from Getty Images)

Olympic history: everything you wanted to know

Medal winners on a podium

Q&A Who won the first Olympic medal? And what was the prize before that?

A man runs on an athletics track with a crowd behind him

Harry Edward: Britain’s first black Olympic hero

Crown Prince Olav on his ice yacht (Getty Images)

From Hollywood to war heroes: 10 Olympians who were more famous outside sport

Belgium and the Netherlands compete in a tug of war at the Antwerp Olympic

Olympic oddballs: 5 unusual Olympic sports from the past

Jesse Owens sprinting on a track at the Berlin Olympics.

A history of unsporting conduct at the Olympics

Tokyo Olympics 1964: Yoshinori Sakai prepares to light the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony. Born on the day that the first atomic bomb fell on Hiroshima, he was a symbol of Japan’s postwar reconstruction and peace

Tokyo Olympics 1964: the Games that defined Japan

The first modern Olympics at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens

The first modern Olympics: what happened at the 1896 games?