In the ancient Olympic Games, all of the contestants were naked, and females were prohibited from watching the events, under threat of death. When did those traditions end?

Asked by JackAdams (6574

) August 20th, 2008

The word “gymnastics” springs from the Greek word “gymnos,” which means “naked,” in English. Thus, a “gymnast” is a “naked athlete,” and a “gymnasium,” is literally, “a place for naked athletics.”

Studies have shown that naked athletes score higher and perform their physical tasks better, than do those who are resticted by confining clothes.

And, in the ancient games, the Grecian Queen was allowed to watch the games, but she was the only female accorded that privilege.

So, in what year did athletes begin wearing clothing for the events, and in what year were females allowed to witness the events, and participate in them?

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6 Answers

There wasn’t really a year when the Olympics changed.

The Ancient Olympics ceased to exist in the 4th century CE. The first modern Olympics was in 1896. In the Ancient Olympics, athletes competed nude and women were generally not present. In the modern Olympics, these customs are not true.

lefteh (9429

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good question
when they got sunburned in places that prevented them form gettin it on if you know what i mean ^o^

imcrazy23 (37

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This isn’t a direct answer to your question, but when I was on the high school swimming team in the 1960s we only put on swimming suits for public competitions. All the practices were in the nude. When we had swimming sessions in my physical education class, that was also done in the nude. This was in the same time period that Mark Spitz was a high school student and held a huge fraction of all the high school swimming records.

JWTK (49

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