Athletes and spectators from around the world to descend on Shropshire town of Much Wenlock for 126th Games

The athletes are polishing their skills, the organisers are making last-minute tweaks to the venues and the world's media is about to descend – but not for the London 2012 Olympics. Instead, focus will be on a glorious event with its own unique history: the 126th Wenlock Olympian Games. Starting on Sunday, hundreds of competitors will descend on the Shropshire town of Much Wenlock and its environs to take part in a range of sports and disciplines from athletics to tennis, football to fencing.

They no longer chase a piglet, climb a greasy pole or try to hook a ring with a lance while charging along on horseback as they once did but they do host events that have not made the cut at the larger Games 150 miles away such as crown green bowling, cricket and gliding.

Still, they are entitled to do things their way. After all, the Wenlock Olympian Games, and the competition's extraordinary founder, William Penny Brookes, played a huge part in kick-starting the modern Olympic movement.

Without Wenlock there might not be a London 2012. "It was Brookes who ignited the Olympic flame that burns so brightly today," says Chris Cannon, the archivist for the Wenlock Olympian Society. "This is the spiritual home of the modern Olympics. It's as simple as that."

The tale deserves re-telling for it remains unfamiliar to many. Born in Much Wenlock in 1809, Brookes became the town's doctor and championed the benefits of physical activity for "people of every grade".

"His philosophy was that everyone, rich and poor, has the right to be fit and healthy," says Cannon.

In 1850 he launched the Wenlock Olympian Games. Word spread and competitors flocked from across England and abroad to take part in events. Cultural events – art exhibitions, music evenings, poetry readings, often ran alongside the Games.

The French educationalist and historian Baron Pierre de Coubertin visited the Wenlock Games in 1890 and he and Brookes discussed a shared dream of beginning an international Olympic Games. Driven by Coubertin, the first modern Games took place in Athens in 1896.

Sadly Brookes did not live to see them but Coubertin acknowledged the Wenlock man's contribution, writing that the Games would not have happened without him.

Cannon is still amazed that Brookes's story is not particularly familiar in the UK. "Anywhere else he would be a great hero," he says. "Oddly, it may be that Brookes' story is more known on the world stage."

Over the last few days, television crews from Japan, China, Mexico, Russia and Australia have been arriving in Wenlock to tell the story of the Games and Brookes. Even the French seem content to allow an English GP to share credit for the greatest show on earth.

Coachloads of visitors, not only Midlands schoolchildren but tourists from Europe and America, have been dropped off near the Linden Field, where many of the activities are staged, to find out about the Wenlock Olympic connection.

The organisers of the London Games have tried to make sure the role Wenlock played is not forgotten by naming one of its mascots after the town and Olympic gold medallist Jonathan Edwards is the president of the Wenlock Olympian Society.

It may be tempting to dismiss the Wenlock Olympian Games as a quaint English tradition. But serious sport takes place here — 21 events over 12 days at nine sites. Steve Cowen, who organises the fencing competition, says that thousands of pounds are spent on making sure the pistes [the playing area] and scoreboards are world-standard. "We have people coming from all over the country.

"Someone is coming in from Germany this year. We have to make sure everything is just right."

The status of the archery competition has been upgraded so that if records are set here they will stand. They are proud of their archery: Alison Williamson won silver here in 1981, aged 10 and went on to take bronze at the Athens Games in 2004 and is competing in London. Olympic runner David Moorcroft has competed in the seven-mile road race.

Dr Jim Wentel, who follows in Brookes's footsteps, as Much Wenlock's GP, is in training for the half marathon and triathlon. He believes the Wenlock Games are still a wonderful way of making sure local people learn about the benefits of exercise. "The message is as relevant now as it was in Brookes's day," says Wentel.

And while London 2012 is being sponsored by the likes of global manufacturers of fizzy drinks, fast food and electronics equipment, in Wenlock the local butcher, A Ryan and Sons, sponsors the clay pigeon shooting while one of the town's hotel, the Raven (where Brookes and Coubertin dined when the Frenchman visited) supports the volleyball.

At the town's museum, Peter Thompson, secretary of the Wenlock Olympian Society, points out some of the best exhibits: a pole that athletes once used to vault hedges, a penny farthing bicycle that predecessors of Chris Hoy rode, and the silver medal made by Queen Victoria's silversmith for the winner of the pentathlon.

But he is keen to emphasise that these Games are not about the past.

"We are proud of our history but that's not what the Games are about. The exciting thing is the sport that will take place here over the next few days and in years to come."

No doubt, William Penny Brookes would have approved.

Wenlock Games: a brief history



• The original objective of the Games was to "promote the moral, physical and intellectual improvement of the inhabitants of the town and neighbourhood of Wenlock, and especially of the working classes, by the encouragement of outdoor recreation".

• Held in October 1850, the first Games were a mixture of classic athletic events and other sports, such as football, cricket and quoits. They sometimes included a fun event, such as a blindfold wheelbarrow race.

•By 1851 athletes had started to travel to the Games – "Badger of Wolverhampton" came second in the half-mile race, while "Mainwaring of Birmingham" won the "leaping in distance". Since then competitors have come from various corners of the UK, Europe and further afield.

• Brookes was one of the champions of the National Olympian Games, which took place at Crystal Palace in 1866. He sent £10 as a prize when the first modern revival of the Games took place in Athens. Then came his meeting with Pierre de Coubertin in 1890 in Wenlock, which led to the first modern international Games in Greece in 1896. Brookes died in 1895.

Source: William Penny Brookes and the Olympic Connection, published by Wenlock Olympian Society