The dream of uniting sport and art, as they were once paired in the original Greek Olympiads, was in fact central to the mission of Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the godfather of the Games. The goal was “to reunite in the bonds of legitimate wedlock a long-divorced couple — Muscle and Mind,” the baron loftily announced to an organizing committee in an early attempt to get the idea off the ground. But while the first athletic competitions got under way in Athens in 1896, it was not until the Stockholm Games in 1912 that medals would be given for architecture, sculpture, painting, music and literature.
What a noble aim. Sadly it proved too difficult to judge such contests objectively (amongst other difficulties explained in the New York Times article) and the marriage of sports and the arts did not last very long. Read more about it at the NYT Website.
More info about art competitions at the Olympic games at wikipedia.