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Abydos, ancient town of Phrygia

(Encyclopedia)Abydos, ancient town of Phrygia, Asia Minor, on the Asian side of the Hellespont opposite Sestos, in present-day Turkey. It was originally a Milesian colony. Near there Xerxes built his bridge of boat...

Veneti, people of ancient Gaul

(Encyclopedia)Veneti vĕnˈətī [key], Celtic people of ancient Gaul, who inhabited an area of NW France, now in Morbihan dept. Forming the most important of the Gallic maritime states, they rebelled in 57 b.c. ag...

Phelps, Michael Fred

(Encyclopedia)Phelps, Michael Fred, 1985–, American swimmer, b. Baltimore. One of the world's greatest competitive swimmers, Phelps became (2001) the youngest world record holder (in the 200-m butterfly) at 15 an...

marathon race

(Encyclopedia)marathon race, long-distance foot race deriving its name from Marathon, Greece. According to legend, in 490 b.c., Pheidippides, a runner from Marathon, carried news of victory over the Persians to Ath...

Brundage, Avery

(Encyclopedia)Brundage, Avery āˈvərē brŭnˈdĭj [key], 1887–1975, American sports executive, b. Detroit, Mich. A member of the 1912 U.S. Olympic track and field team, he became a leader of the Olympic moveme...

Theagenes of Thasos

(Encyclopedia)Theagenes of Thasos, fl. 5th cent. b.c., ancient Greek athlete. He excelled in boxing and the pankration, which combined wrestling and boxing, and won 10 victories at the Isthmian Games, nine at the N...

Bach, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Bach, Thomas, 1953–, German sports executive, b. Würzberg. A lawyer and businessman, he won a gold medal in team fencing representing West Germany in the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Bach served as pres...

Leonidas of Rhodes

(Encyclopedia)Leonidas of Rhodes rōdz [key], fl. 2d cent. b.c., ancient Greek athlete. He won three different foot races—the stadion, about 200 m, the diaulos, about 400m, and the hoplitodromos, in which athlete...

Abydos, ancient city of Egypt

(Encyclopedia)Abydos əbīˈdəs [key], ancient city of Egypt, c.50 mi (80 km) NW of Thebes, near modern El Balyana. Associated in religion with Osiris, Abydos became the most venerated place in Egypt. It was the f...

Elis

(Encyclopedia)Elis ēˈlĭs [key], region of ancient Greece, in W Peloponnesus, W of Arcadia. It was divided into three parts—Elis proper, Pisatis, and Triphylia. A plain watered by the Alpheus and the Peneus riv...