Above: statue of a Greek athlete in the British Museum. The Olympic Games originated in Olympia, one of the city-states of ancient Greece. In his book Greek Athletics and the Genesis of Sport David Sansone, Professor of Classics at the University of Illinois, specifically challenged the idea that the role of sport is to "stem the tide of moral and physical degeneration and to inculcate the healthful lessons offered by the model of Greek athletics" (the plan for regeneration of the East End was apparently one of the key reasons London won the Games).