Ancient Greek Athletes
Gymnasiums were introduced in 900BC and Greek athletes practiced in the nude to accompany the music. They also performed naked at the Olympic Games.
Gymnasiums were introduced in 900BC and Greek athletes practiced in the nude to accompany the music. They also performed naked at the Olympic Games.
Why did the athletes compete in the nude?
The truth is that no one knows. According to one story, it began when a runner lost his loincloth and tripped on it. Everyone took off his loincloth after that. But ancient historians have traced it back to initiation rites, young men walking around naked and entering manhood.
We know how fundamental nudity was to Greek culture. It really appealed to the exhibitionism and the vanity of the Greeks. Only barbarians were afraid to show their bodies. The nude athletes would parade like peacocks up and down the stadium. Poets would write in a shaky hand these wonderful odes to the bodies of the young men, their skin the color of fired clay.
But other cultures, like the Persians and the Egyptians, looked at these Greek men oiling one another down and writhing in the mud and found it very strange. They believed it promoted sexual degeneracy.
There is a hybrid sport birthed from the comic book of a French artist and filmmaker called Chess Boxing.
In 1937, A goalkeeper had stayed on the field for 15 minutes, not knowing that the soccer match had been canceled due to heavy fog.
Gymnasiums were introduced in 900BC and Greek athletes practiced in the nude to accompany the music. They also performed naked at the Olympic Games.
Unlike athletes in many other countries, American Olympians receive no direct support from the federal government.
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