Competitive sports: The naked truth!

WITH all the controversy about sports in the news, it may be interesting to touch on history and put things into perspective. Competitive sports has its roots in ancient Greece where it was a way to appease the gods. Zeus, the god of the sky was also the king of Olympus. He was married to Hera.

Hence came the Olympics held at Olympia in the southwest of Greece every four years from late 700BC. Besides other competitive sports like the Isthmos, and then the Pythian Games, the Olympics was the best known. Involving the gods, it took a religious reverence, where sacrifices were made in their honour.

For more than 290 consecutive Olympiads, the Games were considered to be the most important religio-cultural event in ancient Greece until AD393. It was not until Emperor Theodosius banned all cult practices that the Games came to a halt after a run of over a millennium.

Reportedly, the tradition was to compete in the nude. This is apparent in many ancient artefacts featuring athletic men throwing the discus or the javelin, or wrestling. It was perceived as a symbol of being a "truly civilised society" to be cherished and promoted. Nudity involving women was somehow not part of the Games, except partially when dedicated to the goddess Hera.

Purportedly one Orsippos, who won the short sprint in the 15th Olympics, was the first nude runner. Although Orsippos was dressed with a type of loincloth – the perizoma – at the start of a race, he apparently tripped on it while competing. His "nude" race to victory changed everything and led to a decree that henceforth all Olympians should take part in the nude. The nude state was hailed for its freedom of movement in executing the various sporting activities. Even the trainers were to be naked.

Over time this practice became a symbol of pride with the display of the human body as an ultimate art form. It tossed aside the views of the so-called "barbarians" (from other cultures) who deemed being nude was shameful and uncivilised. Still the Spartans had no qualms claiming that nudity in sports was their tradition, and allegedly one Spartan, Akanthos, had long raced nude and even secured a win in the Olympics.

While women were not permitted to compete in person, they could do so through the horses they owned. It was during the penultimate year of 392BC that a woman was crowned a winner. The equestrian event thus was particularly popular among women at Olympia. Surprisingly, not only were women barred from participation, married women were not allowed to even watch the Games which opened to some 40,000-odd spectators. Exceptions were made for rich unmarried women looking for soul-mates.

Eventually, the "barbarians" won the day when their "uncivilised" ways became the norm edging out what was hailed with pride the "truly civilised society". Garments were brought back as an integral part of the sports and women were formally welcomed in Paris for the 1900 Games.

As Zeus and Hera faded into the background of modern competitive sports, the "barbaric" views took centre stage. Despite being thankful that taking part in sports in the nude is no longer deemed as "civilised", it created new gods that symbolically assumed different names made up by powerful corporate brands. Sportswear replaced the cult that Theodosius had halted so much so that the new cult of branded items, not just garments, hold sway over major sporting events today. Their sleek design and fashionable hi-tech materials are redefining what competitive sports means. No less than the scandals that come with it.

The Daily Mail of UK reported last month on a famous sportswear and described the company as behaving like "the worst kind of oppressive, greedy corporation". This includes the exploitative "sweatshops" in several developing countries, where workers are paid a pittance for slaving over long hours to produce the branded garments.

Yet we are caught in heated arguments about sportswear worn by the athletes, naively forgetting what these branded garments have become to epitomise – the exploitation, the discrimination and the humiliation – each of which is so perverse to what sports claims to represent. The truth is that competitive sports in general has been figuratively stripped of higher purpose beyond merely counting medals, never mind if all the athletes are properly attired – some less "barbaric" than others.