Ancient Olympics Mixed Naked Sports, Pagan Partying
Nude athletes, performance-enhancing lizard meat, and animal sacrifices are just a few of the things that separate the ancient Olympics from the modern games, says the author of The Naked Olympics.
The games were dedicated to [the god] Zeus. There were athletic games all over Greece, but because of the sanctity of Zeus, the Olympics quickly became revered. The first games had just a single foot race, which was won by the cook Koroibos.
They had to appear at the [nearby] city of Elis a month before the games. This was the first Olympic village. There, they had to submit to a grueling training regime designed to weed out those who weren't up to Olympic standards.
While there was no shame in dropping out before the games, athletes who dropped out during the actual games were humiliated. There is a story of one huge wrestler showing up for training. As soon
