The Panionian and the Apollo of Smyrna
In 1890 was founded in Smyrna Orpheus, an association originally active in the field of sport. However, its main contribution was the general cultural development of the Greek inhabitants of the city (music, fine arts). A year later was founded another association, Apollo, which soon (1893) developed its own sports department. The next year the first sports games were held in Smyrna. They were organized mainly by the English inhabitants of Smyrna and Bournova, who had already created their own association, the only purely sports association of the city. Athletes of the Orpheus and Apollo participated in those games, which continued to be held over the following years, whereas from 1904 they were organized by the Apollo.
In 1894 many members of the sports department of the Orpheus departed and created a sports association called Gymnasium. This was the first Greek exclusively sports association of Smyrna. In 1895 athletes from Smyrna participated in the Tinia, while in 1896, a few months after the Olympic Games, the Gymnasium organized the Panionian Games, an institution that constituted over the following years one of the most important sports organizations in Greek sport. In 1898 the Gymnasium was united with the Orpheus (from which it had been created) and this union gave birth to the Panionian Gymnastic Association of Smyrna, which thenceforward organized the Panionian Games.
Over the following years new associations were created, such as the Sports Union of Smyrna and the Pelops (1906). Still, he most active associations were the Panionian and the Apollo. These two associations took part in the Panhellenic Games, the former from 1904 and the latter from 1908, namely the year when it became an exclusively sports association with the name Gymnastic Club Apollo. Initially the Apollo claimed from the Panionian Gymnastic Association the co-organization of the Panionian Games, without success, whereas from 1904 it organized its own games, the Apollonia. Often, rivalry between the two associations for supremacy in the sports activity of Smyrna had been intense, bringing to mind the ups and downs in the relation between the two major Athenian sports associations, the Panhellenic and the Ethnikos. After the destruction of Smyrna (1922) and the expulsion of the Greeks who lived in the city, the Panionian and the Apollo pursued their activity in Athens. The Panionian continued to organize the Panionian Games for some more years. However, the games never regained the prestige that they had in the early 20th century.

 

The Olympic Games in Antiquity:
From ancient Olympia to Athens of 1896