Challenge - Keep Ancient Olympics going or Earliest Modern Olympics

It's that time, every 4 years, so...

Your challenge is to take one of the two (or both if you choose):

1. Keep the Ancient Olympics going as long as you can. It may be changed from a pagan thing to just a sproting event. They may be cancelled due to major wars, as ours are, or plagues, but no more than...I'll give you 40 years between them, given the times. (So, if you want to go between 393 and 433 while they work out a way to keep them from becoming pagan, you can.)
Bonus points if you can get Byzantium diong them after the Western Empire falls. Extra bonus points if you can get several nations competing during the Dark Ages. Mega Bonus Points if you can have China, Japan, or some other faraway place send athletes a few times. Super Giganto Dinosaur Points if you can have them morph into modern ones without much of a hitch, while keeping close to OTL.

2. Maybe easier, I don't know. Have the Modern Olympics start as soon as possible; that meaning not a contest within a nation, but actually starting as much like the 1896 Games as possible. Nations within an Empire don't count, so no counting Britain and India as 2. because of trvel and such, I'll lower the number of athletes - since slightly over this number are known for sure for 1896, I'll say 150 athletes minimum and at least 10 countries.
Bonus points if you can pull it off before 1850. Extra bonus points if you can start it before Greek Independence. Mega bonus points if you can pull it off before the Industral Revolution. Super Giganto Dinosaur points if you can pull it off starting in the Rennaissance.
As witht he first, you can go 40 years between Games at first, but after the Napoleonic Wars it has to be close to 4.
 
Perhaps the Olympics get Christianized somewhere along the line in the 4th century giving them just enough of a Christian feel to avoid Theodosius I's ban on pagan rites. (Competitors clothed etc.) Let's say that then, Arcadius, Theodosius' elder son, fascinated by these Olympics, gives the games an imperial patronage moving the Olympic games to Constantinople.

News of Arcadius' actions lead to Rome holding her own Olympics on an annual basis (honestly, who want's to wait 4 years?). However Rome's Olympic games eventually die out with the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

However in the East the Olympic Games persist and Constantinople's Olympic Stadium becomes one of the wonders of the world. Athletes from across the empire make the journey to Constantinople to participate and win the coveted Crown of Olive Leaves along with a hefty monetary prize. Eventually, as Western Europe stabilizes they too begin to send athletes to Constantinople to participate in the games. These athletes would be accompanied by numerous scribes and witnesses to spread news of their exploits to their fans at home.

As the middle ages progress the Olympic games continue to gain popularity and serve as the basis for a burgeoning Pan-European culture. Olympia is rebuilt during this time along with several other "Olympic Cities" across Europe. The games, officiated by the Byzantine Emperor, also begin to move during this time.

Anyhow it's an idea...
 
Could a POD in the Renaissance, and its increase in interest in Greek culture, lead to a reestablishment of the Olympic Games? They would have to be outside of Greece, obviously. Maybe in Rome? Of course, the Reformation is going to put a stop to it, but maybe someone could at least attempt to...
 
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